SPACEPHOTOS

(06/06/1999) -- With a contrail streaming off its wing, the Space Shuttle orbiter Discovery nears touchdown on KSC's Shuttle Landing Facility Runway 15 to complete the 9-day, 19-hour, 13-minute and 1-second long STS-96 mission. Main gear touchdown was at 2:02:43 a.m. EDT June 6 , landing on orbit 154 of the mission. Nose gear touchdown was at 2:02:59 a.m., and the wheels stopped at 2:03:39 a.m. At the controls are Commander Kent V. Rominger and Pilot Rick D. Husband. Also onboard the orbiter are Mission Specialists Ellen Ochoa (Ph.D.), Tamara E. Jernigan (Ph.D.), Daniel T. Barry (M.D., Ph.D.), Julie Payette and Valery Ivanovich Tokarev. Payette represents the Canadian Space Agency and Tokarev the Russian Space Agency. The crew are returning from the second flight to the International Space Station on a logistics and resupply mission. This was the 94th flight in the Space Shuttle program and the 26th for Discovery, also marking the 47th at KSC, the 24th in the last 25 missions, 11th at night, and the 18th consecutive landing in Florida