Date Taken: 10/30/85

  Title: STS 61-A crew leave operations & checkout facility for launch pad

  Description:

  STS 61-A crew leave the operations and checkout facility for the launch pad.  Leading the way is Henry W. Hartsfield, Jr., mission commander, as Steven R.  Nagel, pilot, trails the blue-suited team members. At center are James F.  Buchli, Bonnie J. Dunbar and Guion S. Bluford, Jr. -- all mission specialists. They are flanked by Wubbo J. Ockels and Ernst Messerschmid on the left and Reinhard Furrer on the right. John W. Young, chief of the Astronaut Office at JSC and George H.S. Abbey, Director of Flight Crew Operations at JSC, follow the crew. Richard W. Hydgren, Assistant to the Director, is in the background.