WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

The multi-national STS-75 flight crew departs the Operations and Checkout Building. Leading the way are Mission Commander Andrew M. Allen (far right) and Pilot Scott J. "Doc" Horowitz. Behind them are, from left, Payload Specialist Umberto Guidoni, representing the Italian Space Agency (ASI); Mission Specialist Maurizio Cheli, representing the European Space Agency (ESA); Payload Commander Franklin R. Chang-Diaz (behind Cheli); Mission Specialist Claude Nicollier, also of ESA; and Mission Specialist Jeffrey A. Hoffman. Awaiting the crew at Launch Pad 39B is the Space Shuttle Columbia, scheduled to lift off during a a two-and- a-half-hour launch window opening at 3:18 p.m. EST. The second Shuttle flight of 1996 is scheduled to last nearly 14 days and will feature the re-flight of the U.S./Italian Tethered Satellite System (TSS-1R) and the third flight of the U.S. Microgravity Payload (USMP-3). Four of the STS-75 crew members -- Allen, Chang-Diaz, Hoffman and Nicollier -- flew on the first TSS flight, STS-46, and a fifth -- Guidoni -- served as alternate payload specialist for the mission.