SPACEPHOTOS

(05/11/1997) --- STS-84 Mission Specialist Carlos I. Noriega arrives in a T-38 jet at KSC’s Shuttle Landing Facility. The pilot of the plane is astronaut Frank Culbertson, who is the NASA director of the Phase One Program of the International Space Station. STS-84 will be Noriega’s first space flight. The nine-day mission will be the sixth docking of the Space Shuttle with the Russian Space Station Mir. During the docking, STS-84 Mission Specialist C. Michael Foale will transfer to the Russian space station to become a member of the Mir 23 crew, replacing U.S. astronaut Jerry M. Linenger, who will return to Earth on Atlantis. Foale is scheduled to remain on Mir about four months until his replacement arrives on STS-86 in September