This is the STS-98 mission patch.
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Courtesy of NASA

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Images from life aboard the ISS

Adding on To The International Space Station
News story originally written on January 31, 2001

Shuttle Atlantis is undergoing final preparations for launch on February 7, 2001. This shuttle mission, STS-98, will carry 5 astronauts and the Destiny laboratory to the International Space Station (ISS). The astronauts scheduled for this mission are Commander Kenneth Cockrell, Pilot Mark Polansky, Mission specialists Robert Curbeam, Marsha Ivins and Thomas Jones. These astronauts will work with the 3 men aboard the ISS to connect the Destiny lab to the ISS. In order to attach the new lab to the ISS, 3 spacewalks and use of the shuttle's robotic arm are scheduled.

The American-built Destiny laboratory will be the center of research aboard the station. Experiments and studies will even be done there to aid in cancer and diabetes research.

Bill Sheperd, Yuri Gidzenko, and Sergei Krikalev are now in their 4th month aboard the ISS. They will spend the next week preparing for the arrival of the new laboratory.

The STS-98 launch is scheduled for February 7 at 4:11 p.m. EST. There will be a press conference on February 1st at 4 p.m. EST. This mission briefing can be seen on NASA TV.

Last modified February 1, 2001 by Jennifer Bergman.

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