KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- STS-89 Commander Terrence Wilcutt, at left, shakes hands with Pilot Joe Edwards Jr. under the orbiter Endeavour after it landed on Runway 15 at KSC’s Shuttle Landing Facility Jan. 31. Kneeling in front of the wheel of the orbiter's nose, the commander and pilot congratulate each other on a perfect alignment of the wheel down the center of the runway. The 89th Space Shuttle mission was the 42nd (and 13th consecutive) landing of the orbiter at KSC, and STS-89 was the eighth of nine planned dockings of the orbiter with the Russian Space Station Mir. STS-89 Mission Specialist Andrew Thomas, Ph.D., succeeded NASA astronaut and Mir 24 crew member David Wolf, M.D., who was on the Russian space station since late September 1997. Dr. Wolf returned to Earth on Endeavour with the remainder of the STS-89 crew, including Commander Wilcutt; Pilot Edwards; and Mission Specialists James Reilly, Ph.D.; Michael Anderson; Bonnie Dunbar, Ph.D.; and Salizhan Sharipov of the Russian Space Agency. Dr. Thomas is scheduled to remain on Mir until the STS-91 Shuttle mission returns in June 1998. In addition to the docking and crew exchange, STS-89 included the transfer of science, logistical equipment and supplies between the two orbiting spacecrafts KSC-98pc259

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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- STS-89 Commander Terrence Wilcutt, at left, shakes hands with Pilot Joe Edwards Jr. under the orbiter Endeavour after it landed on Runway 15 at KSC’s Shuttle Landing Facility Jan. 31. Kneeling in front of the wheel of the orbiter's nose, the commander and pilot congratulate each other on a perfect alignment of the wheel down the center of the runway. The 89th Space Shuttle mission was the 42nd (and 13th consecutive) landing of the orbiter at KSC, and STS-89 was the eighth of nine planned dockings of the orbiter with the Russian Space Station Mir. STS-89 Mission Specialist Andrew Thomas, Ph.D., succeeded NASA astronaut and Mir 24 crew member David Wolf, M.D., who was on the Russian space station since late September 1997. Dr. Wolf returned to Earth on Endeavour with the remainder of the STS-89 crew, including Commander Wilcutt; Pilot Edwards; and Mission Specialists James Reilly, Ph.D.; Michael Anderson; Bonnie Dunbar, Ph.D.; and Salizhan Sharipov of the Russian Space Agency. Dr. Thomas is scheduled to remain on Mir until the STS-91 Shuttle mission returns in June 1998. In addition to the docking and crew exchange, STS-89 included the transfer of science, logistical equipment and supplies between the two orbiting spacecrafts KSC-98pc259

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Summary

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- STS-89 Commander Terrence Wilcutt, at left, shakes hands with Pilot Joe Edwards Jr. under the orbiter Endeavour after it landed on Runway 15 at KSC’s Shuttle Landing Facility Jan. 31. Kneeling in front of the wheel of the orbiter's nose, the commander and pilot congratulate each other on a perfect alignment of the wheel down the center of the runway. The 89th Space Shuttle mission was the 42nd (and 13th consecutive) landing of the orbiter at KSC, and STS-89 was the eighth of nine planned dockings of the orbiter with the Russian Space Station Mir. STS-89 Mission Specialist Andrew Thomas, Ph.D., succeeded NASA astronaut and Mir 24 crew member David Wolf, M.D., who was on the Russian space station since late September 1997. Dr. Wolf returned to Earth on Endeavour with the remainder of the STS-89 crew, including Commander Wilcutt; Pilot Edwards; and Mission Specialists James Reilly, Ph.D.; Michael Anderson; Bonnie Dunbar, Ph.D.; and Salizhan Sharipov of the Russian Space Agency. Dr. Thomas is scheduled to remain on Mir until the STS-91 Shuttle mission returns in June 1998. In addition to the docking and crew exchange, STS-89 included the transfer of science, logistical equipment and supplies between the two orbiting spacecrafts

Space Shuttle Program

The Space Shuttle program was the United States government's manned launch vehicle program from 1981 to 2011, administered by NASA and officially beginning in 1972. The Space Shuttle system—composed of an orbiter launched with two reusable solid rocket boosters and a disposable external fuel tank— carried up to eight astronauts and up to 50,000 lb (23,000 kg) of payload into low Earth orbit (LEO). When its mission was complete, the orbiter would re-enter the Earth's atmosphere and lands as a glider. Although the concept had been explored since the late 1960s, the program formally commenced in 1972 and was the focus of NASA's manned operations after the final Apollo and Skylab flights in the mid-1970s. It started with the launch of the first shuttle Columbia on April 12, 1981, on STS-1. and finished with its last mission, STS-135 flown by Atlantis, in July 2011.