Looking as part of a Multi-Equipment Interface Test are STS-98 Pilot Mark Polansky left and Kenneth D. Cockrell.

Looking over equipment inside the U.S. Lab Destiny as part of a Multi-Equipment Interface Test are STS-98 Pilot Mark Polansky (left) and Commander Kenneth D. Cockrell (center). They are joined by astronaut James Voss (right), who will be among the first crew to inhabit the International Space Station on a flight in late 2000. During the STS-98 mission, the crew will install the Lab on the station during a series of three space walks. The mission will provide the station with science research facilities and expand its power, life support and control capabilities. The U.S. Laboratory Module continues a long tradition of microgravity materials research, first conducted by Skylab and later Shuttle and Spacelab missions. Destiny is expected to be a major feature in future research, providing facilities for biotechnology, fluid physics, combustion, and life sciences research. Others in the five-member crew on STS-98 are Mission Specialists Robert L. Curbeam Jr., Thomas D. Jones (Ph.D.) and Marsha S. Ivins. The Lab is planned for launch aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis on the sixth ISS flight, currently targeted no earlier than Aug. 19, 2000