The Space Shuttle Columbia clears the tower following an on-time liftoff at 3:18:00 p.m. EST, February 22, 1996, from Launch Pad 39B. On board Columbia for a mission scheduled to last nearly 14 days are a crew of seven: Mission Commander Andrew M. Allen; Pilot Scott J. "Doc" Horowitz; Payload Commander Franklin R. Chang-Diaz; Mission Specialists Maurizio Cheli, Jeffrey A. Hoffman and Claude Nicollier; and Payload Specialist Umberto Guidoni. Cheli and Nicollier represent the European Space Agency (ESA) while Guidoni represents the Italian Space Agency (ASI). Space Shuttle Mission STS-75 will be highlighted by the re-flight of the Tethered Satellite System (TSS-1R) and the third flight of the U.S. Microgravity Payload (USMP-3).