CAPE
CANAVERAL, Fla. - Seven astronauts aborted the launch of the space
shuttle Discovery just seconds before a simulated liftoff Thursday
during a dress rehearsal of their planned July 1 space shot.
A mock main
engine shutdown four seconds before "liftoff" prompted the abort and escape
exercise for the STS-121
astronauts, NASA's second shuttle crew to launch since the 2003 Columbia accident, during
a two-day training session here at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC).
"It went very
well, we had a good test," NASA KSC spokesperson Bruce Buckingham told
reporters after the training session, adding that the Discovery orbiter could
have launched today if the simulation were real. "I would have been here on
launch day saying we had no problems at all."
Thursday's
mock countdown was part of the STS-121 crew's Terminal
Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT), a two-day activity that allows
astronaut crews to rehearse the final hours before launch alongside pad workers
and flight controllers.
"The
training we get here is invaluable," STS-121 commander Steve Lindsey said
Wednesday in a press briefing. "There's really only one other time we get to
get inside the vehicle."
Shuttle
crews also inspect their spacecraft during the Crew Equipment Interface Tests (CEITs) that precede each shuttle launch. The STS-121 crew arrived
at KSC Tuesday for their TCDT training one day later than expected
due to stormy weather. They rehearsed
some launch pad escape procedures and attending mission briefings on Wednesday.
"It's close
to the simulator...but it's a little bit different," said Lindsey, a three-time
shuttle flyer, of the TCDT training. "This is my fourth time doing it and I
still get excited."
NASA's
STS-121 shuttle flight will mark the second post-Columbia mission after the
July 2005 launch of the STS-114
return to flight space shot. The mission, the second of two test flights to
check orbiter inspection and repair methods, will fly to the International
Space Station (ISS) on a 13-day spaceflight.
Hundreds of
NASA shuttle engineers, workers and mission managers are expected to begin a
two-day meeting at KSC Friday to pick a final launch date for the STS-121
mission, Buckingham said.
Discovery's
launch window stretches between July 1 and July 19, with another flight
opportunity in late August.
A clean
simulation
Shuttle
astronauts, pad close-out crews and launch controllers worked smoothly through
today's launch simulation, which began at about 7:45 a.m. EDT (1145 GMT) when the STS-121 crew
walked out to their AstroVan in their orange flight
suits.
"We did not
throw any gremlins into the mix like we do in some of our simulations,"
Buckingham said. "This was basically a clean, crisp dress rehearsal like one we
do anytime before launch."
There were
a few minor glitches, associated with the simulation and not the actual
countdown, but Buckingham assured that there was no cause for concern for an
actual space shot.
"It's not something
that would have been a problem on launch day," Buckingham said.
Lindsey and
his fellow STS-121 astronauts are expected to return to Discovery at Pad 39B
later today to survey the orbiter's payload bay. Lindsey is expected to speak
with the media Friday before he and his crewmates return to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston later that day.
"Just being
down here and seeing the vehicle on the pad and seeing everybody really
excited, it makes it all seem very, very real," Lindsey said of the Discovery's
upcoming launch.
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