Space History, 1996: Shannon Lucid Returned to Earth After 188 Days on Mir, Setting a New American Record

Shannon Lucid, one of NASA's first six female astronauts, landed aboard space shuttle Atlantis on September 26, 1996, after 188 days on the Russian space station Mir, setting a new duration record for both women and Americans, NASA said.

Lucid lived and worked alongside two Russian cosmonauts for those six months, conducting life science studies and other experiments in microgravity, according to NASA. Three days before she came home, she was still checking on wheat growing in the station's Svet greenhouse. NASA said the lessons from her mission helped the agency prepare for the psychological and cultural challenges of long-duration stays on the International Space Station.

In December 1996, President Bill Clinton awarded Lucid the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, NASA said. She was the tenth person and the first woman to receive it. After Mir, she served as a CAPCOM (the primary voice between Mission Control and astronauts in orbit) and later as NASA's Chief Scientist. She retired from NASA in 2012, according to NASA, after more than three decades with the agency.

What the full record of her post-mission medical recovery showed is not in the NASA account.

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