1995: Shuttle and Mir dock for first time

In 1994, the US and Russia began to co-operate more closely regarding space travel, with the start of the Shuttle-Mir Programme.

For the first time American astronauts flew into space on board Soyuz rockets and Russian cosmonauts travelled into orbit on Nasa's shuttles.

In June 1995, Atlantis lifted off from Florida with a crew of seven, including two cosmonauts, to dock with the Russian Mir space station for the first time.

The five-day docking was the first of nine over the course of three years, ahead of the start of construction on the International Space Station.

James Wilkinson reported on the mission.