The Space Shuttle Discovery's international crew of seven will become the first visitors to a new star in orbit on mission STS-96.

Discovery's 10-day journey is the first flight to the International Space Station planned for 1999. This mission prepares the station for the arrival of its early living quarters -- the Russian-built Service Module, scheduled to be launched on a Russian rocket later this year -- and for the first station crew, scheduled to occupy the Station early next year.

Discovery will spend six days linked to the station, during which the crew will deliver and install supplies that could not be launched aboard the station's two initial modules because of weight limitations. In addition to external items attached during a space walk, the crew will deliver approximately 5,000 pounds of internal cargo -- ranging from laptop computers, cameras and a printer to maintenance tools, spare parts and clothing -- through a corridor to the interior of the station.

Other scheduled tasks include installing battery chargers and a noise muffler in Zarya, the Russian-built segment of the station, and making a photographic record of the station's key elements. The highlight of the flight will be a space walk by mission specialists Tamara E. Jernigan and Daniel T. Barry, scheduled for the fourth day of flight.

The astronauts' space walk will attach a U.S.-developed "crane" to the exterior of the station, as well as parts of a Russian-built crane. During the space walk, Mission Specialist Ellen Ochoa will operate the Shuttle's mechanical arm to maneuver Jernigan into position. Jernigan will use a foot platform attached to the end of the arm.

Discovery's cargo bay will be outfitted with versatile carriers in order to accommodate the mission's wide variety of payloads. The mission will employ the SPACEHAB double module, a pressurized container that can carry cargo both internally and externally. The module complements the orbiter middeck with a cargo capacity of up to 10,000 pounds and also contains systems necessary to support a habitat for the astronauts.

The orbiter's cargo bay also will house the Integrated Cargo Carrier, a structure designed to haul payloads that do not require a pressurized environment. The Carrier will transport three crucial items: the SPACEHAB Oceaneering Space System Box, a logistics carrier that can handle loads of up to 400 pounds; a U.S.-built crane called the Orbital Replacement Unit Transfer Device; and the Russian-made cargo crane known as Strela.

When complete in the year 2004, the International Space Station will comprise more than 100 elements with a total weight of more than one million pounds. It will allow humankind to harness as never before one of the fundamental forces of nature – gravity -- to perform research that may result in new medicines, materials and industries on Earth.

The station's scientific studies, performed in six state-of-the-art laboratories, may even lead to a new understanding of the fundamental laws of nature while they pave the way for the future human exploration of space. The project, which unites the resources and scientific expertise of 16 nations, is the largest scientific cooperative program in history. A total of 45 missions involving the Space Shuttle and two types of Russian rockets will assemble the station.

The 94th Space Shuttle launch and the 26th flight of Discovery will begin with liftoff from Launch Pad 39B. Discovery will ascend at a 51.6-degree inclination to the equator for direct insertion to a 199-statute-mile (173 nautical- mile/320-kilometer) orbit.

Landing is planned at Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility.

The seven-member flight crew will be commanded by Kent V. Rominger (Cdr., USN), a veteran flier with more than 1,090 hours in space. He carries a master of science degree in aeronautical engineering from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School. During 12 years as a Naval aviator, he surpassed 5,000 flying hours in more than 35 types of aircraft and made 685 carrier landings. He completed an aviation deployment in Operation Desert Storm before being selected in 1992 for the astronaut program. He has flown three times as a Shuttle pilot, most recently on STS-85 in 1997.

Rick D. Husband (Lt. Col., USAF) fills the role of pilot on his first space flight. During 15 years as an Air Force officer, he accumulated over 3,800 hours of flight time in more than 40 different types of aircraft. That service included an assignment as an exchange test pilot with the Royal Air Force in Boscombe Down, England. He was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in December 1994.

Mission specialists Tamara Jernigan and Daniel T. Barry, a pair of veteran space fliers, are assigned the task of fastening elements to the station during an Extravehicular Activity, or space walk. Barry, who is making his second Shuttle flight, took part in a space walk of more than six hours on STS-72 in 1996. He has separate doctorates in electrical engineering/computer science and medicine.

Jernigan is the crew's most experienced flier, with more than 1,277 hours in space to her credit. She will make her fifth Shuttle flight, having flown most recently on STS-80 in 1996. The possessor of a doctorate degree in space physics and astronomy from Rice University, she served as a research scientist in the Theoretical Studies Branch at NASA Ames Research Center before entering the 1985 NASA astronaut class. Before being assigned to STS-96, she served as Assistant for Station to the Chief of the Astronaut Office, directing crew involvement in the development and operation of the station.

Mission Specialist Ellen Ochoa embarks on her third Shuttle flight, having served as payload commander on a previous mission. She joined the astronaut program in 1990. Ochoa, who has a doctorate in electrical engineering from Stanford, is a co-inventor on three patents for an optical inspection system, an optical object recognition method and a method for noise removal in images. She has served a variety of roles for NASA, including one as a spacecraft communicator in Mission Control.

The International Space Station remains true to its name with the presence of the final two mission specialists. Julie Payette makes her first trip into space after being selected as an astronaut by the Canadian Space Agency in 1992. The owner of a military instrument rating in the Canadian Air Force, she has logged more than 600 hours of flight time, including 150 hours on the Tutor CT-114 jet aircraft. She has worked as a technical advisor for the Mobile Servicing System, the Canadian contribution to the International Space Station. In preparation for a space assignment, she studied Russian and accumulated more than 120 hours of flight time in reduced gravity.

Valery Ivanovich Tokarev, a colonel in the Russian Air Force, is making his first space flight. He has participated in the testing of 44 types of aircraft in his native country. He joined the Russian cosmonaut corps in 1987. Since 1997, he has served as a test cosmonaut for the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia.

In addition to the orbiter's primary cargo, Discovery will carry components of the Student Tracked Atmospheric Research Satellite for Heuristic International Networking Experiment (STARSHINE). The payload features a mirrored sphere, 19 inches in diameter, covered with more than 800 reflective pieces of polished aluminum.

Technology students in Utah machined the pieces, which were then shipped by project officials to schools in the U.S. as well as Argentina, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, England, Finland, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Spain, Turkey and Zimbabwe. Teams of elementary, middle and high school students polished the pieces to make them suitably reflective.

Once deployed from the orbiter's cargo bay, the STARSHINE sphere will be visible without instrumentation for months at dusk and dawn. Volunteer teams of students will track the satellite's progress visually, using the resulting observations to make deductions about the effects of aerodynamic drag. If the experiment is deemed successful, it may be repeated on future Shuttle flights.

Another payload on STS-96 is the Shuttle Vibration Forces Experiment, an update of an experiment used on a previous mission. The payload consists of sensors attached to the mounting brackets holding the cargo in place. The sensors will activate automatically upon liftoff and continue to record for about 100 seconds, measuring the vibrations exchanged between the orbiter and its cargoes during that interval.

A second set of sensors and avionics equipment mounted in the payload bay, the Integrated Vehicle Health Monitoring System, will record the performance of various onboard systems. The results could produce changes in the design of the system, leading to improved efficiency in orbiter processing and enhanced safety on future Shuttle missions.

A final test aboard Discovery will explore the use of new equipment, called the Volatile Removal Assembly, that may one day be used for recycling water aboard the International Space Station.