SPACEPHOTOS

(09/25/1997) --- After donning her launch and entry suit, STS-86 Mission Specialist Wendy B. Lawrence gives a 'thumbs up' to show she’s ready to fly in a few hours on the Space Shuttle Atlantis. This will be Lawrence’s second spaceflight. She and the six other crew members will depart shortly from the Operations and Checkout Building for Launch Pad 39A, where Atlantis awaits liftoff on a 10-day mission slated to be the seventh docking of the Shuttle with the Russian Space Station Mir. Lawrence was given the nickname 'too short,' as shown on her orange spacesuit, because she was withdrawn from training for an extended stay aboard the Mir when it was determined that she was too short to fit into the Russian spacewalk suit. Lawrence remains a member of the STS-86 crew, but fellow Mission Specialist David A. Wolf will take her place for an approximate four-month stay aboard the Russian space station