KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Greeted by cheers from wellwishers at KSC and eager for their venture into space on the Neurolab mission, the STS-90 astronauts depart the Operations and Checkout Building on their way to Launch Pad 39B. Leading the seven-member crew is Mission Commander Richard Searfoss (far right), with Pilot Scott Altman by his side. Behind Altman are Mission Specialist Dafydd (Dave) Williams, M.D., (waving) with the Canadian Space Agency, and Mission Specialist Kathryn (Kay) Hire. Behind Hire is Mission Specialist Richard Linnehan, D.V.M., and next to Linnehan is Payload Specialist Jay Buckey, M.D. At the rear behind Linnehan is Payload Specialist James Pawelczyk, Ph.D. Their trip to the pad will take about 25 minutes aboard the Astrovan. Once there, they will take their positions in the crew cabin of the Space Shuttle Columbia to await a liftoff during a two-and-a-half hour window that will open at 2:19 p.m. EDT KSC-98pc495

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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Greeted by cheers from wellwishers at KSC and eager for their venture into space on the Neurolab mission, the STS-90 astronauts depart the Operations and Checkout Building on their way to Launch Pad 39B. Leading the seven-member crew is Mission Commander Richard Searfoss (far right), with Pilot Scott Altman by his side. Behind Altman are Mission Specialist Dafydd (Dave) Williams, M.D., (waving) with the Canadian Space Agency, and Mission Specialist Kathryn (Kay) Hire. Behind Hire is Mission Specialist Richard Linnehan, D.V.M., and next to Linnehan is Payload Specialist Jay Buckey, M.D. At the rear behind Linnehan is Payload Specialist James Pawelczyk, Ph.D. Their trip to the pad will take about 25 minutes aboard the Astrovan. Once there, they will take their positions in the crew cabin of the Space Shuttle Columbia to await a liftoff during a two-and-a-half hour window that will open at 2:19 p.m. EDT KSC-98pc495

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Summary

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Greeted by cheers from wellwishers at KSC and eager for their venture into space on the Neurolab mission, the STS-90 astronauts depart the Operations and Checkout Building on their way to Launch Pad 39B. Leading the seven-member crew is Mission Commander Richard Searfoss (far right), with Pilot Scott Altman by his side. Behind Altman are Mission Specialist Dafydd (Dave) Williams, M.D., (waving) with the Canadian Space Agency, and Mission Specialist Kathryn (Kay) Hire. Behind Hire is Mission Specialist Richard Linnehan, D.V.M., and next to Linnehan is Payload Specialist Jay Buckey, M.D. At the rear behind Linnehan is Payload Specialist James Pawelczyk, Ph.D. Their trip to the pad will take about 25 minutes aboard the Astrovan. Once there, they will take their positions in the crew cabin of the Space Shuttle Columbia to await a liftoff during a two-and-a-half hour window that will open at 2:19 p.m. EDT

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.