WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

The crew of the STS-87 mission, scheduled for launch Nov. 19 aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia from pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), participated in the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT) at KSC. Simulating the walk-out from the Operations and Checkout Building before entering a van to take them to the launch pad are Payload Specialist Leonid Kadenyuk of the National Space Agency of Ukraine (at back left); Pilot Steve Lindsey (back right); Mission Specialist Kalpana Chawla, Ph.D. (middle left); Mission Specialist Winston Scott (middle right); Takao Doi, Ph.D., of the National Space Development Agency of Japan (front left); and Commander Kevin Kregel. The TCDT is held at KSC prior to each Space Shuttle flight providing the crew of each mission opportunities to participate in simulated countdown activities. The TCDT ends with a mock launch countdown culminating in a simulated main engine cut-off. The crew also spends time undergoing emergency egress training exercises at the pad and has an opportunity to view and inspect the payloads in the orbiter's payload bay.