STS-81 preflight photos taken at the Kennedy Space Center

S97-00254 (17 Dec 1996) --- The STS-81 flight crew goes over pre-flight checklists on the flight deck of the Space Shuttle Atlantis during the final phase of the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT) exercises for the January 1997 mission. Crew members pictured, are (from the left) Brent W. Jett, Jr., pilot; Peter J. K. (Jeff) Wisoff and John M. Grunsfeld, mission specialists; along with Michael A. Baker, mission commander. The TCDT represents a simulated final countdown until just before main engine ignition. The astronauts are in their flight positions with the Orbiter in a vertical attitude at Launch Pad 39B, with the camera pointed down from the forward cabin. This angle creates the illusion that astronaut Pam Melroy (in lab suit), mission support assistant, is floating in space. On the mid-deck and out of frame are astronauts Marsha S. Ivins and Jerry M. Linenger. The six will visit Russia?s Mir Space Station, from which they will retrieve John M. Blaha who has been aboard the Mir since September of 1996. Linenger is to replace Blaha, as cosmonaut guest researcher.