KSC-97PC1427

STS-86 crew members smile and wave to the crowd of press representatives, KSC employees and other well-wishers as they prepare to board the astronaut van, at right, after departing from the Operations and Checkout Building. Leading the way are Pilot Michael J. Bloomfield, at left, and Commander James D. Wetherbee. Mission Specialists David A. Wolf, at left, and Vladimir Georgievich Titov of the Russian Space Agency are directly behind them, followed by Mission Specialist Wendy B. Lawrence, at center. Bringing up the rear are Mission Specialists Scott E. Parazynski, at left, and Jean-Loup J.M. Chretien of the French Space Agency, CNES. The seven-member crew is en route to Launch Pad 39A, where the Space Shuttle Atlantis awaits liftoff on a planned 10-day mission slated to be the seventh docking of the Space Shuttle and the Russian Space Station Mir. Wolf is scheduled to transfer to the Mir 24 crew for an approximate four-month stay aboard the Russian space station. He will replace U.S. astronaut C. Michael Foale, who will return to Earth aboard Atlantis with the remainder of the STS-86 crew