WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

The STS-81 flight crew addresses the news media during a break in Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT) exercises for that mission at Launch Pad 39B. They are (from left): Mission Specialist John M. Grunsfeld; Mission Commander Michael A. Baker; Pilot Brent W. Jett, Jr. ; and Missions Specialists J.M. "Jerry" Linenger, Peter J. K. "Jeff" Wisoff; and Marsha S. Ivins. STS-81 is the fifth Shuttle-Mir docking mission and will feature the transfer of Linenger to Mir to replace astronaut John Blaha, who has been on the orbital laboratory since Sept. 19 after arrival there during the STS-79 mission. During STS-81, Shuttle and Mir crews will conduct risk mitigation, human life science, microgravity and materials processing experiments that will provide data for the design, development and operation of the International Space Station.