KSC-97pc136

STS-81 Mission Specialist John M. Grunsfeld. gives a thumbs-up as he completes his launch/entry suitup in the Operations and Checkout (O&C) Building. He is on his second Shuttle flight and holds doctorate and master’s degrees in physics. He will be have overall responsibility for science experiments on the 7-day space flight and will watch over environmental and biological samples that will be taken on the Mir space station and returned to Earth on the Space Shuttle Atlantis. He and five crew members will shortly depart the O&C and head for Launch Pad 39B, where the Space Shuttle Atlantis will lift off during a 7-minute window that opens at 4:27 a.m. EST, January 12