KSC-98pc1743

A smiling STS-88 Mission Specialist Jerry L. Ross prepares to exit the T-38 jet aircraft that brought him to the Shuttle Landing Facility. He joins the five other crew members, Commander Robert D. Cabana, Pilot Frederick W. "Rick" Sturckow, and Mission Specialists Nancy J. Currie, James H. Newman and Sergei Konstantinovich Krikalev, a Russian cosmonaut, for prelaunch preparations for mission STS-88 aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour. The scheduled time of launch is 3:56 a.m. EST on Dec. 3 from Launch Pad 39A. The mission is the first U.S. launch for the International Space Station. Endeavour carries the Unity connecting module which the crew will be mating with the Russian-built Zarya control module already in orbit. In addition to Unity, Endeavour will carry two small replacement electronics boxes for possible repairs to Zarya batteries. The mission is scheduled to last nearly 12 days