Atlantis Gallery

STS-86 Launch

The Space Shuttle Atlantis blazes through the night sky to begin the STS-86 mission, slated to be the seventh of nine planned dockings of the Space Shuttle with the Russian Space Station Mir. Liftoff on September 25 from Launch Pad 39A was at 10:34 p.m. EDT, within seconds of the preferred time, during a six minute, 45 second launch window. The 10 day flight will include the transfer of the sixth U.S. astronaut to live and work aboard the Mir. After the docking, STS-86 Mission Specialist David A. Wolf will become a member of the Mir 24 crew, replacing astronaut C. Michael Foale, who will return to Earth aboard Atlantis with the remainder of the STS-86 crew. Foale has been on the Russian Space Station since mid May. Wolf is scheduled to remain there about four months. Besides Wolf (embarking to Mir) and Foale (returning), the STS-86 crew includes Commander James D. Wetherbee, Pilot Michael J. Bloomfield, and Mission Specialists Wendy B. Lawrence, Scott E. Parazynski, Vladimir Georgievich Titov of the Russian Space Agency, and Jean-Loup J.M. Chretien of the French Space Agency, CNES. Other primary objectives of the mission are a spacewalk by Parazynski and Titov, and the exchange of about 3.5 tons of science/logistical equipment and supplies between Atlantis and the Mir

© NASA

Space shuttle Atlantis twin solid rocket boosters ignite to propel the spacecraft

Cape Canaveral, Florida, May 14, 2010 - Space shuttle Atlantis twin solid rocket boosters ignite to propel the spacecraft off Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A and into orbit. Atlantis primary payload for the STS-132 mission is the Russian-built Mini Research Module-1, which will provide additional storage space and a new docking port for Russian Soyuz and Progress spacecraft aboard the International Space Station

© Stocktrek Images

Ancient islands between Atlantis and the Mediterranean, from deep-sea soundings (engraving)

6002730 Ancient islands between Atlantis and the Mediterranean, from deep-sea soundings (engraving) by American School, (19th century); Private Collection; (add.info.: Ancient islands between Atlantis and the Mediterranean, from deep-sea soundings. Illustration for Atlantis, The Antidiluvian World by Ignatius Donnelly (Harper, c 1898).); © Look and Learn; American, out of copyright

© © Look and Learn / Bridgeman Images