STS-79 and Mir 22 crew exchange greetings after hatch opening

STS079-355-016 (16-26 Sept. 1996) --- Astronauts Shannon W. Lucid and John E. Blaha reunite soon after the Space Shuttle Atlantis - Russia's Mir Space Station docking. Later, Lucid exchanged the blue Mir suit for an outfit like that Blaha is wearing. And Blaha changed from the red and white to the Mir attire. The two astronauts have shared duty on two previous STS flights. This photograph is one of fifteen 35mm frames (along with four 70mm frames) of still photography documenting the activities of NASA's STS-79 mission, which began with a September 16, 1996, liftoff from Launch Pad 39A the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and ended with a landing at KSC on Sept. 26, 1996. Onboard for the launch were astronauts William F. Readdy, commander; Terrence W. Wilcutt, pilot; Blaha, Jerome (Jay) Apt, Thomas D. Akers and Carl E. Walz, all mission specialists. On flight day 4, the crew docked with Mir. Lucid, who had spent six months aboard Mir, switched cosmonaut guest researcher roles with Blaha. The latter joined fellow Mir-22 crew members Valeri G. Korzun, commander, and Aleksandr Y. Kaleri, flight engineer.