KSC-98pc581

STS-91 Mission Specialist and Russian cosmonaut Valery Victorovitch Ryumin, arrives at Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility aboard a T-38 jet. He is here to participate in the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT), a dress rehearsal for launch. The STS-91 launch is targeted for June 2 with a launch window opening around 6:10 p.m. EDT. The mission will conclude Phase I of the joint U.S.-Russian International Space Station Program. Although it will be the ninth Shuttle docking with the Russian Space Station Mir, it will be the first Mir docking for the Space Shuttle orbiter Discovery. Ryumin is a veteran of three space flights and has logged 362 days in space. The STS-91 mission will also be the first flight for the new Space Shuttle super lightweight external tank. The STS-91 flight crew also includes Mission Commander Charles Precourt; Pilot Dominic Gorie; and Mission Specialists Wendy B. Lawrence; Franklin Chang-Diaz, Ph.D.; and Janet Kavandi, Ph.D. Andrew Thomas, Ph.D., will be returning to Earth with the crew after living aboard Mir since January 25, 1998