{author} National Aeronautics and Space Administration (taken by
Bionetics)
{captionsby} Sherikon Space Systems (Susan Maurer, Susan Walsh and Chuck
Weirauch)
{category} SHUTTLE.sts-91
{date} 02-Jun-1998
{description} Startled by the thunderous roar of the Space Shuttle Discovery's
engines as it lifts off, several birds hurriedly leave the Launch
Pad 39A area for a more peaceful site. Liftoff time for STS-91,
the 91st Shuttle launch and last Shuttle-Mir mission, was 6:06:24
p.m. EDT June 2. On board Discovery are Mission Commander Charles
J. Precourt; Pilot Dominic L. Gorie; and Mission Specialists
Wendy B. Lawrence, Franklin R. Chang-Diaz, Janet Lynn Kavandi and
Valery Victorovitch Ryumin. The nearly 10-day mission will
feature the ninth and final Shuttle docking with the Russian
space station Mir, the first Mir docking for the Space Shuttle
orbiter Discovery, the first on-orbit test of the Alpha Magnetic
Spectrometer (AMS), and the first flight of the new Space Shuttle
super lightweight external tank. Astronaut Andrew S. W. Thomas
will be returning to Earth as an STS-91 crew member after living
more than four months aboard Mir.
{highres} 1824 x 2280
{highsize} 482563
{hightype} JPEG
{keywords} SHUTTLE,sts-91
{lasteditor} M.
Downs
{lowres} 192 x 240
{lowsize} 24972
{lowtype} GIF
{mediumres} 614 x 768
{mediumsize} 46782
{mediumtype} JPEG
{number} KSC-98PC-0732
{scannedby} Bionetics and NASA/KSC Internet Lab (Dumoulin, Downs)
{slideres} 122 x 156
{slidesize} 27699
{slidetype} GIF
{tinyres} 80 x 100
{tinysize} 12069
{tinytype} GIF
{title} STS-91 Launch of Discovery from Launch Pad 39-A
{type} Image
{end}