STS-93 / Columbia Flight Crew Photo Op & QA at Pad for TCDT

The primary objective of the STS-93 mission was to deploy the Advanced X-ray Astrophysical Facility, which had been renamed the Chandra X-ray Observatory in honor of the late Indian-American Nobel Laureate Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar. The mission was launched at 12:31 on July 23, 1999 onboard the space shuttle Columbia. The mission was led by Commander Eileen Collins. The crew was Pilot Jeff Ashby and Mission Specialists Cady Coleman, Steve Hawley and Michel Tognini from the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES). This videotape shows a pre-flight press conference. Prior to the astronauts' arrival at the bunker area in front of the launch pad, the narrator discusses some of the training that the astronauts are scheduled to have prior to the launch, particularly the emergency egress procedures. Commander Collins introduces the crew and fields questions from the assembled press. Many questions are asked about the experiences of Commander Collins, and Mission Specialist Coleman as women in NASA. The press conference takes place outside in front of the Shuttle Columbia on the launch pad.