KSC-97PC1252

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- With Commander Curtis L. Brown, Jr. and Pilot Kent V. Rominger at the controls, the Space Shuttle orbiter Discovery prepares to touch down on Runway 33 at KSC’s Shuttle Landing Facility at approximately 7:08 a.m. EDT Aug. 19 to complete the nearly 12-day-long STS-85 mission. The first landing opportunity on Aug. 18 was waved off due to the potential for ground fog. Also onboard the orbiter are Payload Commander N. Jan Davis, Mission Specialist Robert L. Curbeam, Jr., Mission Specialist Stephen K. Robinson and Payload Specialist Bjarni V. Tryggvason. During the 86th Space Shuttle mission, the crew deployed the Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the Atmosphere-Shuttle Pallet Satellite-2 (CRISTA-SPAS-2) free-flyer to conduct research on the Earth’s middle atmosphere, retrieving it on flight day 9. They also conducted investigations with the Manipulator Flight Demonstration (MFD), Technology Applications and Science-1 (TAS-1) and International Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker-2 (IEH-2) experiments. Robinson also made observations of the comet Hale-Bopp with the Southwest Ultraviolet Imaging System (SWIS) while other members of the crew conducted biological experiments in the orbiter’s crew cabin