CAPE CANAVERAL, FL - The mock countdown
has begun for NASA's first astronaut crew to ride a space shuttle into orbit
since the Columbia
disaster.
The seven
astronauts of NASA's STS-114 mission have begun a multi-day training session
here at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) to rehearse launch operations and
emergency procedures.
"Whenever
we're ready to go, the crew's going to be ready," said veteran astronaut
Eileen Collins, commander of the STS-114 mission, during a press conference at
Discovery's Pad 39B launch site.
A dress
rehearsal of the final hours of launch, with the crew inside the Discovery
orbiter atop its launch pad, is scheduled for Wednesday morning, culminating with
a mock-main engine cutoff at about 11:00 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT).
Collins and
her crew are now slated to launch aboard Discovery no earlier than July 13.
Last week, NASA shuttle program managers delayed
the mission past its first launch window, running from May 22 to June 3, to
allow additional time to complete debris analysis, external fuel tank
modifications and other paperwork. The announcement marked the second
time NASA officials delayed the launch in two weeks.
"We cannot
fly with what we define as unacceptable risk," Collins said, who said earlier
that the decision to delay STS-114's launch was the right
call.
NASA's
STS-114 mission is the space agency's first attempt to resume space shuttle
flights, which have been grounded since the Columbia orbiter broke up during reentry on
Feb. 1, 2003, killing its seven-astronaut crew. In addition to delivering vital
supplies to the International Space Station (ISS), the mission will also test a
modified external fuel tank, as well as new tools and procedures designed to
improve shuttle safety.
"We're
going to use [this] time for training in order to prepare even better for our
mission ... and vacation," Collins told
reporters, adding that the additional 10 weeks will allow her crew and other
shuttle officials some time off. "Because of the delay, some of these folks
will be able to get a well-deserved break."
Training for flight
Collins and
her STS-114 crewmates arrived
at KSC late Sunday aboard NASA's T-38 jets for their Terminal Countdown
Demonstration Test (TCDT), a standard training session that precedes every
shuttle launch.
On Monday,
Collins, STS-114 pilot Jim Kelly and mission specialist Stephen Robinson, who
will serve as flight engineer during the spaceflight, performed a series of
training flights aboard NASA's shuttle training aircraft. The entire STS-114
crew also took turns driving the M-113 tank, an armored personnel carrier used
by shuttle crews to escape their launch pad during an emergency.
"This is my
first TCDT," said STS-114 lead spacewalker and mission specialist Soichi
Noguchi, of the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). "The highlight is
yesterday, when we got to drive the tank, so we are all certified."
Noguchi and
Robinson, his partner for the three spacewalks planned for STS-114, plan to
conduct additional dives at NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory pool to rehearse
their extravehicular activities.
"We're
going to use these two months wisely," he said.
The STS-114
crew will report to their Discovery orbiter atop Launch Pad 39B at 7:45 a.m.
EDT (1145 GMT) for the final countdown test Wednesday.
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