Shuttle Astronauts Ham it up in Launch Practice

CAPE CANAVERAL - A collection of kidders who employ hilarity to handle stress, Discovery's astronauts wound up a practice countdown Wednesday with a bit of playfulness.

Led by veteran astronaut Pam Melroy, crew members are pilot George Zamka and mission specialists Scott Parazynski, Stephanie Wilson, Douglas Wheelock, Dan Tani and Paolo Nespoli of the European Space Agency.

All wore bright orange partial-pressure spacesuits and boarded Discovery for the dress rehearsal for their planned Oct. 23 launch.

A close look showed that Melroy, who will be only the second woman to command a shuttle mission, was wearing a name tag that read "Pambo." The nickname was given to her by former astronaut Brian Duffy. The rest of the crew followed suit.

Velcroed on Zamka's chest was a name tag that read "Zambo." Parazynski, who is about 6 feet 4 inches tall, was "Longbow."

Wilson, a robot arm operator, was "Robeau," and Wheelock -- a guy who can start a campfire with wet sticks -- was "Flambo."

Tani, the second Asian-American to fly in space, was "Bo-Ichi," and Nespoli was just "Rocky" because no one could figure out a good "Bo" nickname for the Italian astronaut, who looks a little like Sylvester Stallone.

Known at acronym-happy NASA as the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test, or TCDT, the training exercise enables launch engineers and astronaut crews to walk through the steps they'll take on launch day. But the drill has been known for occasional merrymaking.

Astronauts training for a top-secret military mission in 1989 left crew quarters wearing funny fedoras, cavalry hats and party hats the day before Halloween.

Two years later, on the day after Halloween, another crew walked out wearing dark glasses and hairless skull caps in honor of bald astronaut Story Musgrave.

For Melroy's crew, amusement is just part of life.

"That is how this group of individuals copes with stress," the veteran astronaut said in a recent interview. "A couple of them are just hysterical. And it's very hard, even when things are stressful and bad to be depressed when you are doubled over laughing."

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