KSC-97PC1418

With the Rotating Service Structure rolled back, at left, the Space Shuttle Atlantis undergoes final prelaunch preparations at Launch Pad 39A for the STS-86 mission. One of the final steps will be to load the external tank with approximately 500,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen for fueling the orbiter’s three main engines. STS-86 is slated to be the seventh docking of the Space Shuttle with the Russian Space Station Mir. Liftoff is targeted for Sept. 25 at 10:34 p.m. EDT during a preferred launch window which lasts six minutes and 45 seconds. Seven crew members will lift off for the scheduled 10-day flight. One of those crew members, David A. Wolf, will transfer to the Mir for an approximate four-month stay. He will replace U.S. astronaut C. Michael Foale, who will return to Earth with the remainder of the STS86 crew. Foale has been on the Russian space station since mid-May