WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

STS-88 Mission Specialist Sergei Konstantinovich Krikalev poses for a photograph in the white room on Launch Pad 39A while taking part in Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT) activities. The TCDT provides the crew with simulated countdown exercises, emergency egress training, and opportunities to inspect their mission payloads in the orbiter's payload bay. This will be Krikalev's second space flight. Others in the STS-88 crew are Mission Commander Robert D. Cabana, Pilot Frederick W. "Rick" Sturckow, Mission Specialists Nancy J. Currie, Jerry L. Ross, and James H. Newman. Mission STS-88 is targeted for launch on Dec. 3, 1998. It is the first U.S. flight for the assembly of the International Space Station and will carry the Unity connecting module.