This illustration compares the size of a gargantuan star and its surrounding dusty disk top to that of our solar system. Monstrous disks like this one were discovered around two hypergiant stars by NASA Spitzer Space Telescope.

On the Space Shuttle Orbiter Atlantis' middeck, Astronaut Donald R. McMonagle, mission commander, works with the Heat Pipe Performance (HPP-2) experiment during STS-66 mission. HPP-2 was flown to investigate the thermal performance and fluid dynamics of heat pipes operating with asymmetric and multiple heating zones under microgravity condition.

On the Space Shuttle Orbiter Atlantis' middeck, Astronaut Joseph R. Tarner, mission specialist, works at an area amidst several lockers which support the Protein Crystal Growth (PCG) experiment during the STS-66 mission. This particular section is called the Crystal Observation System, housed in the Thermal Enclosure System (COS/TES). Together with the Vapor Diffusion Apparatus (VDA), housed in Single Locker Thermal Enclosure (SLTES), the COS/TES represents the continuing research into the structure of proteins and other macromolecules such as viruses.

STS066-66-005 (3-14 Nov 1994) --- On the Space Shuttle Atlantis' flight deck, Jean-François Clervoy, mission specialist representing the European Space Agency (ESA), moves a platform for the recumbent seat device which was being evaluated for a future Space Shuttle flight. The platform is just part of the mid-deck arrangement designed to accommodate crew members when the Space Shuttle docks with Russia's Mir Space Station next year. Other crew members onboard Atlantis for the 11-day day Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science (ATLAS-3) mission were astronauts Donald R. McMonagle, Curtis L. Brown, Jr., Ellen Ochoa, Scott E. Parazynski and Joseph R. Tanner.

S94-40082 (23 June 1994) --- Astronaut Joseph R. Tanner, mission specialist, checks his glove during a rehearsal for launch and entry phases of the scheduled November flight of STS-66. This rehearsal, held in the Crew Compartment Trainer (CCT) of the Johnson Space Center's (JSC) Shuttle Mockup and Integration Laboratory, was followed by a training session on emergency egress procedures. In November, Tanner will join four other NASA astronauts and a European mission specialist for a week and a half aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis in Earth-orbit in support of the Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science (ATLAS-3).

S94-40079 (23 June 1994) --- Astronaut Scott E. Parazynski looks at fellow STS-66 mission specialist Joseph R. Tanner, (partially visible in foreground) during a rehearsal of procedures to be followed during launch and entry phases of the their scheduled November flight. This rehearsal, held in the Crew Compartment Trainer (CCT) of the Johnson Space Center's (JSC) Shuttle Mockup and Integration Laboratory, was followed by a training session on emergency egress procedures. In November, Parazynski and Tanner will join three other NASA astronauts and a European mission specialist for a week and a half aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis in Earth-orbit in support of the Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science (ATLAS-3).

S94-40083 (23 June 1994) --- Astronaut Scott E. Parazynski looks at fellow STS-66 mission specialist Joseph R. Tanner, (foreground) during a rehearsal of procedures to be followed during launch and entry phases of the their scheduled November flight. This rehearsal, held in the Crew Compartment Trainer (CCT) of the Johnson Space Center's (JSC) Shuttle Mockup and Integration Laboratory, was followed by a training session on emergency egress procedures. In November, Parazynski and Tanner will join three other NASA astronauts and a European mission specialist for a week and a half aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis in Earth-orbit in support of the Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science (ATLAS-3).