STS098-312-0020 (16 February 2001) ---
Backdropped against the blackness of space, the International Space Station (ISS)was photographed with a 35mm camera by one of the astronauts onboard Atlantis. The crew of the station, onboard the outpost since early November 2000, is made up of astronaut William M. (Bill) Shepherd, mission commander; Yuri P. Gidzenko, Soyuz commander; and Sergei K. Krikalev, flight engineer. Krikalev and Gidzenko represent the Russian Aviation and Space Agency. On Atlantis were astronauts Kenneth D. Cockrell, mission commander; Mark L. Polansky, pilot; and Marsha S. Ivins, Robert L. Curbeam and Thomas D. Jones, all mission specialists. The shuttle and the station parted company at 8:06 a.m. (CST), Feb. 16, as Polansky flew the shuttle halfway around the outpost and its new Destiny laboratory before moving off.