Photos: Shuttle prepares for liftoff


Atlantis
See News.com's related photo galleries on Discovery's return to Earth, shuttle repairs, the International Space Station, the launch of Discovery and preparations for lift-off.
Atlantis crew
The crew of the next shuttle mission take a tour of Atlantis. From left, facing the camera, are mission specialists Michael Fossum, Piers Sellers and Lisa Nowak; commander Steven Lindsey; pilot Mark Kelly and mission specialist Stephanie Wilson.
docked with MIR
The Atlantis is shown docked to the Russian space station Mir in June 1995 to mark a new era in international space cooperation. It has spent 220 days in space, completed 3,468 orbits and flown 89.9 million miles in total.
Fuel tank
The external fuel tank that will send Atlantis into orbit arrives at the Vehicle Assembly Building in Florida.