This picture was taken on February 16, 2001, by the crew of the ISS. The crew took the picture of the underside of the shuttle as the shuttle pulled away from the ISS. The picture was taken with a digital camera.
Click on image for full size
Courtesy of NASA

Coming Home from the ISS
News story originally written on February 21, 2001

After several missed landing opportunities due to weather, the Atlantis shuttle landed at Edwards Air Force Base on February 20, 2001, at 2:33 p.m. CST. This STS-98 mission carried 5 astronauts and the Destiny laboratory to the International Space Station (ISS). The crew of Atlantis helped the ISS crew to connect the Destiny laboratory to the ISS. Destiny was sucessfully installed on February 11, 2001.

Another shuttle will visit the space station in early March - the Discovery shuttle as part of STS-102. The Discovery shuttle will bring the 2nd crew for the ISS. These team members are Yury Usachev, James Voss and Susan Helms. The Discovery shuttle will then give the 1st ISS crew a ride home! The 1st crew of the ISS, Yuri P. Gidzenko, Sergei K. Krikalev and William M. Shepherd, have been aboard the station since November 2, 2000. I'm sure by early March, they will be anxious to come home to Earth where they can grab a hot shower and a pizza whenever they want!

Discovery will also carry the Leonardo Multipurpose Logistics Module to the ISS. This Italian-built module will act as a moving van for laboratory materials that will be put into the newly delivered Destiny laboratory.

Last modified February 20, 2001 by Jennifer Bergman.

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