SPACEPHOTOS

(10/11/2000) --- The STS-92 crew eagerly walk out of the Operations and Checkout Building for the second time for their trip to Launch Pad 39A. On the left side, from front to back, are Pilot Pamela Ann Melroy and Mission Specialists Leroy Chiao and Koichi Wakata of Japan. On the right side, front to back, are Commander Brian Duffy and Mission Specialists Peter J.K. “Jeff” Wisoff, William S. McArthur Jr. and Michael E. Lopez-Alegria. During the 11-day mission to the International Space Station, four extravehicular activities (EVAs), or spacewalks, are planned for construction. The payload includes the Integrated Truss Structure Z-1 and the third Pressurized Mating Adapter. The Z-1 truss is the first of 10 that will become the backbone of the Space Station, eventually stretching the length of a football field. PMA-3 will provide a Shuttle docking port for solar array installation on the sixth Station flight and Lab installation on the seventh Station flight. This launch is the fourth for Duffy and Wisoff, the third for Chiao and McArthur, second for Wakata and Lopez-Alegria, and first for Melroy. Launch is scheduled for 7:17 p.m. EDT. Landing is expected Oct. 22 at 2:10 p.m. EDT. [Photo taken with a Nikon D1 camera.