June 8, 2011
Russia's Mir space station is backdropped over the blue and white planet Earth in this medium range photograph recorded during the final fly-around of the members of the fleet of NASA's shuttles. Seven crew members, including Andrew S.W. Thomas, were aboard the Discovery when the photo was taken; and two of his former cosmonaut crewmates remained aboard Mir. Thomas ended up spending 141 days in space on this journey, including time aboard the Space Shuttles Endeavour and Discovery, which delivered and retrieved him to and from the Mir.
Topics: Human spaceflight, Spacecraft, Space exploration, Shuttle–Mir Program, Space Shuttle Discovery, STS-86, Space Shuttle Endeavour, Mir, Manned spacecraft, Astronaut, Space Shuttle program, NASA