With an international payload and crew aboard, the Space Shuttle Columbia lifted off from Launch Pad 39B, at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on June 20, 1996. Onboard for Columbia’s 20th flight were astronauts Terence T. (Tom) Henricks, mission commander; Kevin R. Kregel, pilot; Susan J. Helms, payload commander; and Richard M. Linnehan and Charles E. Brady, Jr., both mission specialists, along with payload specialists Jean-Jacques Favier of the French Space Agency (CNES) and Robert B. Thirsk of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).

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