Stock Photo - 10/21/1998 ___ Towering atop the mobile launcher platform and crawler transporter in the early morning light, Space Shuttle Endeavour arrives at Launch Pad 39A after rollout from the Vehicle Assembly Building. At its left are the Rotating Service Structure and the Fixed Service Structure, at the right is the 300,000_gallon water tank, part of the sound suppression water system. While at the pad, the orbiter, external tank and solid rocket boosters will undergo final preparations for the STS_88 launch targeted for Dec. 3, 1998. Mission STS_88 is the first U.S. flight for the assembly of the International Space Station and will carry the Unity connecting module. While on orbit, the flight crew will deploy Unity from the payload bay and connect it to the Russian_built Zarya control module which will be in orbit at that time. Unity will be the main connecting point for later U.S. station modules and components. More than 40 launches are planned over five years involving the resources and expertise of 16 cooperating nations. Comprising the STS_88 crew are Commander Robert D. Cabana, Pilot Frederick W. Rick Sturckow, Mission Specialists Nancy J. Currie, Jerry L. Ross, James H. Newman and Russian cosmonaut Sergei Konstantinovich Krikalev. Ross and Newman will make three spacewalks to connect power, data and utility lines and install exterior equipment