SPACEPHOTOS

Flying along the Indian River toward KSC's Shuttle Landing Facility is the orbiter Columbia as it nears touchdown on Runway 33 to complete the nearly 16-day STS-90 mission. This unique view with Titusville and the Indian River in the background was taken from the roof of the 525-foot-high Vehicle Assembly Building. Main gear touchdown was at 12:08:59 p.m. EDT on May 3, 1998, landing on orbit 256 of the mission. The wheels stopped at 12:09:58 EDT, completing a total mission time of 15 days, 21 hours, 50 minutes and 58 seconds. The 90th Shuttle mission was Columbia's 13th landing at the Space Center and the 43rd KSC landing in the history of the Space Shuttle program. During the mission, the crew conducted research to contribute to a better understanding of the human nervous system. The crew of the STS-90 Neurolab mission included Commander Richard Searfoss; Pilot Scott Altman; Mission Specialists Richard Linnehan, D.V.M., Dafydd (Dave) Williams, M.D., with the Canadian Sapce Agency, and Kathryn (Kay) Hire; and Payload Specialists Jay Buckey, M.D., and James Pawelczyk, Ph.D.