STS-71 made the first Space Shuttle docking with Mir.
Atlantis launched STS-71 on June 27, 1995, and docked with the Russian space station Mir on June 29. The mission delivered two cosmonauts, Anatoly Solovyev and Nikolai Budarin, to Mir and returned the previous station crew, including American astronaut Norman Thagard. The joined Shuttle and station formed the largest spacecraft ever assembled in orbit at that time.
STS-71 followed STS-60, the first Shuttle-Mir program flight, and STS-63, which performed a rendezvous and fly-around without docking. It also marked the first Shuttle crew exchange with a space station and the first U.S. Shuttle docking with a Russian space station. Atlantis remained the main Shuttle used for subsequent Shuttle-Mir flights, completing seven missions to Mir.