JSC2002-E-41160 (7 October 2002) --- Astronauts Kenneth T. Ham (foreground) and Duane G. Carey, spacecraft communicators (CAPCOM), watch the large screens from their consoles in the shuttle flight control room (WFCR) in Houston’s Mission Control Center (MCC). At the time this photo was taken the Space Shuttle Atlantis was about to launch from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Atlantis lifted off at 2:46 p.m. (CDT) on October 7, 2002. Once the vehicle cleared the tower in Florida, the Houston-based team of flight controllers took over the ground control of the flight.
Photographer James Blair