SPACEPHOTOS

(01/12/1997) --- STS-81 Mission Specialist Marsha S. Ivins gets a helping hand from a suit technician as she prepares to don the helmet of her launch/entry suit in the suitup room of the Operations and Checkout (O&C) Building. She is the veteran of three Shuttle flights and became an astronaut in 1984. Among other responsibilities, Ivins will perform photo and video surveys of the Russian Mir space station and operate the experiment camera on the orbiter’s aft flight deck. She and five crew members will shortly depart the O&C and head for Launch Pad 39B, where the Space Shuttle Atlantis will lift off during a 7-minute window that opens at 4:27 a.m. EST, January 12