KSC-99pp0477

The STS-96 crew pose for a group photo after emergency egress training at Launch Pad 39B. From left are Mission Specialist Ellen Ochoa (Ph.D.); Pilot Rick Douglas Husband; Mission Specialists Julie Payette, Daniel Barry (M.D., Ph.D.), and Tamara E. Jernigan (Ph.D.); Commander Kent V. Rominger; and Mission Specialist Valery Ivanovich Tokarev. Payette is with the Canadian Space Agency, and Ivanovich Tokarev with the Russian Space Agency. Behind them is the tip of the external tank, which is 153.8 feet high. The external tank provides fuel to the three space shuttle main engines in the orbiter during liftoff and ascent. It is eventually jettisoned, entering the Earth's atmosphere, breaking up and impacting a remote ocean area. STS-96, scheduled for liftoff on May 20 at 9:32 a.m., is a logistics and resupply mission for the International Space Station, carrying such payloads as a Russian crane, the Strela; a U.S.-built crane; the Spacehab Oceaneering Space System Box (SHOSS), a logistics items carrier; and STARSHINE, a student-led experiment