WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

STS-91 Mission Commander Charles Precourt and Pilot Dominic Gorie visit Launch Pad 39A from which they are scheduled to be launched aboard Space Shuttle Discovery on June 2 around 6:10 p.m. EDT. Discovery is behind them, protected by the pad's Rotating Service Structure. The mission will feature the ninth Shuttle docking with the Russian Space Station Mir, the first Mir docking for Discovery, the conclusion of Phase I of the joint U.S.-Russian International Space Station Program, and the first flight of the new Space Shuttle super lightweight external tank. The STS-91 flight crew also includes Mission Specialists Franklin Chang-Diaz, Ph.D.; Wendy B. Lawrence; Janet Kavandi, Ph.D.; and Valery Ryumin, with the Russian Space Agency. Andrew Thomas, Ph.D., will be returning to Earth with the crew after living more than four months aboard Mir.