96PC-854

Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building, workers prepare to lift the orbiter Atlantis off the specially-designed transporter which carried it from the Orbiter Processing Facility.   The yellow sling visible in the upper right corner will be used to tilt the orbiter from a horizontal position to a vertical in preparation for mating with the external tank/twin solid rocket booster assembly.   After assembly and checkout are completed in about five working days, the Space Shuttle will be rolled to Launch Pad 39A.   Atlantis is scheduled for liftoff on Mission STS-79 at the end of July.

96PC-849 and 852

A vantage point high atop the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) shrinks the size and scale of the orbiter Atlantis as it is rolled from the Orbiter Processing Facility to the VAB.   During the five working days it spends inside the huge building, Atlantis will be mated to the external tank/twin solid rocket booster assembly, and then rolled out to Launch Pad 39A.   Here, the SPACEHAB Double Modules will be installed in the orbiter's payload bay and final launch preparations will get under way.   Atlantis is scheduled for liftoff on Mission STS-79, the fourth docking with the Russian Space Station Mir, on July 31.

96PC-659

Craig Martin of the University of British Columbia holds a Northwest Passage Starfish which is part of the Aquatic Research Facility (ARF) payload on the STS-77 Space Shuttle mission aboard Endeavour. The middeck payload is being prepared for flight at KSC. The ARF, a joint NASA/Canadian Space Agency project, will study the process of fertilization, embryo formation and differentiation, development of calcified tissue and feeding behaviors of small aquatic organisms. Starfish, mussels and sea urchins will be subjects of experiments in the facility by investigators from three universities. STS-77, targeted for a May 19 liftoff, will be the first flight of the Canadian-built ARF.


UKRAINIAN ASTRONAUT VISIT
96PC-869

In NASA's Hangar L Life Sciences Support Facility on Cape Canaveral Air Station, Dr. Bill Piastuch (second from left) of KSC Life Sciences Support Contractor Dynamac Corp. demonstrates plant tissue freezing and grinding techniques to visiting Ukrainian cosmonaut candidates Col. Leonid Kadenyuk (left) and Dr. Vyacheslav Meytarchan from the National Space Agency of the Ukraine, as Dynamac microscopist Elizabeth Stryjewski looks on. The two Ukrainians are vying for the position of payload specialist on Space Shuttle flight STS-87 in October 1997, and are visiting KSC to learn more about a joint U.S.-Ukrainian plant biology experiment that will be flown on the mission. Ukrainians have flown in space before, but as Soviet citizens, not as representatives of their own country.


96PC-870

In NASA's Hangar L Life Sciences Support Facility on Cape Canaveral Air Station, Dr. Bill Piastuch (second from left) of KSC Life Sciences Support Contractor Dynamac Corp. demonstrates plant tissue freezing and grinding techniques to visiting Ukrainian cosmonaut candidates Dr. Vyacheslav Meytarchan (left) and Col. Leonid Kadenyuk from the National Space Agency of the Ukraine, as Dynamac microscopist Elizabeth Stryjewski looks on. The two Ukrainians are vying for the position of payload specialist on Space Shuttle flight STS-87 in October 1997, and are visiting KSC to learn more about a joint U.S.-Ukrainian plant biology experiment that will be flown on the mission. Ukrainians have flown in space before, but as Soviet citizens, not as representatives of their own country.

96PC-871, 872 and 873

The Space Shuttle Atlantis completes the final Earth-bound leg of its journey into space, arriving at the top of the hardstand at Launch Pad 39A. Atlantis is slated for liftoff July 31 on Mission STS-79, the fourth Shuttle-Mir docking flight.

96PC-969

The STS-79 external tank is removed from the solid rocket booster (SRB) stack in the 
Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB).  The orbiter Atlantis was the first element to be de-
mated and is now in the Orbiter Processing Facility.  The STS-79 boosters also will be 
de-stacked, separated, and eventually built up again into SRBs.  Atlantis is scheduled 
to return to the VAB around August 13, when it will be mated with a new external 
tank/SRB assembly.  Return to Launch Pad 39A and resumption of final preparations 
for liftoff on STS-79 is targeted for August 20.

96PC-997

The Space Shuttle Atlantis begins the slow journey back to Launch Pad 39A from the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB).  This dramatic view looking directly down onto the Shuttle atop the mobile launcher platform and crawler-transporter was taken from the VAB roof approximately 525 feet (160 meters) above the ground.  Atlantis is scheduled to lift off on Mission STS-79 around September 12.

96PC-995

The Space Shuttle Atlantis departs the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) with its destination, Launch Pad 39A, visible in the distance.  The trip marks the second time Atlantis was rolled out to the pad in this mission flow.  The Shuttle was rolled back from Pad 39A in July due to the threat from Hurricane Bertha, and then stayed long enough to allow a swapout of its original solid rocket boosters with another set.  Atlantis is currently on track for liftoff on the fourth Shuttle-Mir docking flight around September 12.

96PC-993 and 996

The Space Shuttle Atlantis heads back to Launch Pad 39A and liftoff on Mission STS-79 around September 12.  The journey to the launch pad began shortly before 2:30 p.m. and will take approximately six hours to complete.

96PC-994

The Space Shuttle Atlantis arrives at Launch Pad 39A at twilight.  The second rollout to the pad brings Atlantis one step closer to a launch scheduled around September 12.  Mission STS-79 will be highlighted by the fourth docking between the U.S. Space Shuttle and the Russian Space Station Mir, and the return to Earth of U.S. astronaut Shannon Lucid after a record-setting stay aboard the station.

96PC-1006

The orbiter Ku-band antenna looms large in this view of the Space Shuttle Atlantis' payload bay.  Visible just past the antenna system -- stowed on the starboard side of the payload bay wall -- is the Orbiter Docking System (ODS), and connected to the ODS via a tunnel is the Spacehab Double Module in the aft area of the payload bay.  This photograph was taken from the starboard wing platform on the fifth level of the Payload Changeout Room (PCR) at Launch Pad 39A.  Work is under way in the PCR to close Atlantis' payload bay doors for flight.  Atlantis currently is being targeted for liftoff on Mission STS-79, the fourth docking of the U.S. Shuttle to the Russian Space Station Mir, around September 12.

96PC-1005

Workers in the Payload Changeout Room (PCR) at Launch Pad 39A are preparing to close the payload doors for flight on the Space Shuttle Atlantis, targeted for liftoff on Mission STS-79 around September 12.  The payloads in Atlantis' cargo bay will play key roles during the upcoming spaceflight, which will be highlighted by the fourth docking between the U.S. Shuttle and Russian Space Station Mir.  Located in the aft (lowermost) area of the payload bay is the SPACEHAB Double Module, filled with supplies and other items slated for transfer to the Russian Space Station Mir as well as research equipment.  The SPACEHAB is connected by tunnel to the Orbiter Docking System (ODS).  This view looks directly at the top of the ODS and shows clearly the Androgynous Peripheral Docking System (APDS) that interfaces with the Docking Module on Mir to achieve a linkup.

96PC-1004

Workers in the Payload Changeout Room (PCR) at Launch Pad 39A are preparing to close the payload doors for flight on the Space Shuttle Atlantis, targeted for liftoff on Mission STS-79 around September 12.  The SPACEHAB Double Module located in the aft area of the payload bay is filled with supplies that will be transferred to the Russian Space Station Mir.  STS-79 marks the second flight of a SPACEHAB in support of the Shuttle-Mir dockings, and the first flight of the double-module configuration.  The SPACEHAB is connected by tunnel to the Orbiter Docking System (ODS), with the Androgynous Peripheral Docking System (APDS) clearly visible on top of the ODS.  The APDS provides the docking interface for the linkup with Mir, while the ODS provides a passageway from the orbiter to the Russian space station and the SPACEHAB. 

96PC-1009

The STS-79 astronauts arrive at KSC's Shuttle Landing Facility in their T-38 aircraft from Johnson Space Center in Houston.  From left are Mission Specialists John E. Blaha and Tom Akers; Commander William F. Readdy; Pilot Terrence W. Wilcutt; and Mission Specialists Jay Apt and Carl E. Walz.  The astronauts are at KSC for the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test, a dress rehearsal for launch.  They are scheduled to lift off around September 12 on Mission STS-79, the fourth docking between the U.S. Shuttle and Russian Space Station Mir.  

96PC-1008

STS-79 Commander William F. Readdy arrives at KSC's Shuttle Landing Facility with five fellow astronauts, ready to participate in the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT).  The TCDT is a dress rehearsal for launch for the flight crew and launch team.  Over the next several days, the astronauts will take part in training exercises at the launch pad that will culminate in a simulated launch countdown.  The Space Shuttle Atlantis is being prepared for liftoff on STS-79 around September 12.

96PC-1007

STS-79 Mission Specialist John E. Blaha arrives at KSC's Shuttle Landing Facility with five fellow astronauts, ready to participate in the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT).  The TCDT is a dress rehearsal for launch for the flight crew and launch team.  Over the next several days, the astronauts will take part in training exercises at the launch pad that will culminate in a simulated launch countdown.  The Space Shuttle Atlantis is being prepared for liftoff around September 12 on STS-79, the fourth docking between the U.S. Shuttle and Russian Space Station Mir.  During the approximately nine-day flight Blaha will change places with fellow spaceflight veteran Shannon Lucid, who is wrapping up a record-setting stay on Mir.  Blaha will remain aboard the station for about four months, returning to Earth in January 1997 with the crew of Shuttle Mission STS-81.