SPACEPHOTOS

(03/08/2001) --- Before entering Space Shuttle Discovery, STS-102 Mission Specialist Andrew Thomas is helped with his launch and entry suit by technicians in the White Room. The mission is Thomas’s third Shuttle flight. Discovery is carrying the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo on the eighth construction flight to the International Space Station. The primary delivery system used to resupply and return Station cargo requiring a pressurized environment, Leonardo will deliver up to 10 tons of laboratory racks filled with equipment, experiments and supplies for outfitting the newly installed U.S. Laboratory Destiny. Discovery is set to launch March 8 at 6:42 a.m. EST. The 12-day mission is expected to end with a landing at KSC on March 20