Docked already with Russia’s Mir Space Station and backdropped against a half globe of Earth featuring the Crimean Peninsula, the space shuttle Atlantis is partially visible through a window on the Kvant 2 Module. A 70mm camera, carried into space by the STS-71 crew aboard the space shuttle Atlantis, was used to expose the image. The crew cabin and forward cargo bay of Atlantis are most prominent. Below center can be seen the Androgynous Peripheral Docking System (APDS) and the Kristall Module on Mir. The APDS is connected to a port in a tunnel leading to the Spacelab Science Module in Atlantis’ cargo bay. The linkup enabled the seven STS-71 crew members to visit Mir and it allowed the three Mir-18 crew members, in space since March of this year, access to Spacelab. That module was quite busy with tests and data collection involving the three, Mir-18 crew, until Atlantis brought them home on July 7, 1995. The Black Sea lies directly beneath Atlantis, with Ukraine’s diamond-shaped Crimean Peninsula immediately to the right of the cockpit. The wide lower course of the Dnepr River can be seen entering the Black Sea at far right. The coast of Romania and Bulgaria lies at a point where the cloud begins at top right. The peninsula of Asia Minor lies across the left of the view, mostly under cloud cover. The Mediterranean Sea is the cloud-free, blue mass beyond. Still further, at about 1,300 miles distance, the north edge of Africa is stretched out as a line across the horizon with its characteristic sandy color. The nose of Atlantis points southwest toward the only outlet of the Black Sea known as the Bosporus.
Image Credit: NASA