STS-121 Crew Arrives at NASA Spaceport for Launch Rehearsal

By Tariq Malik
published

STS-121 Crew Arrives at NASA Spaceport for Launch Rehearsal
Joining STS-121 commander Steven Lindsey are mission specialist Michael Fossum, pilot Mark Kelly, and mission specialists Lisa Nowak (partly visible at left), Stephanie Wilson, Piers Sellers and Thomas Reiter, who represents the European Space Agency. The crew is at the space center to take part in a Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test, or TCDT on June 14-15, 2006. (Image credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett.)

CAPECANAVERAL, Fla. - The next sevenastronauts to fly the space shuttle Discovery arrived at NASA's Florida spaceport Tuesday, each confident they will launch early next month and eager for afinal dress rehearsal, their commander said.

Veteranshuttle astronaut StevenLindsey, commander of NASA's STS-121shuttle mission slated to launch July 1, said he believes the mission willlift off early in its 19-day flight window.

"I and mycrew are pretty optimistic that early July looks good," Lindsey said after hiscrew landed here at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) to practice launch countdownprocedures with shuttle ground crews and mission controllers.

NASAmanagers will meet at KSC this weekend to pick a hard launch date forthe STS-121 mission to the International Space Station (ISS), the space agency'ssecond planned shuttle flight since the 2003 Columbia accident, andhold press conference Saturday afternoon, NASA said in a statement.

Lindsey andhis fellow shuttle crewmates walked off their jet transport at about 4:37 p.m.EDT (2037 GMT) after a two-hour flight from Houston, home to NASA's Johnson Space Center, and one day of delays due to stormy weather spawned by Tropical StormAlberto.

A veteran ofthree shuttle flights, Lindsey introduced reporters to his STS-121 crew: Discovery pilot Mark Kelly, mission specialists Michael Fossum,Lisa Nowak, Piers Sellers, Stephanie Wilson, and European Space Agencyastronaut ThomasReiter.

"He onlypaid for a one-way trip, so we're going to leave him up on space station,"Lindsey said of Reiter, who will join the Expedition13 crew aboard the ISS once Discovery departs the orbital laboratory.

The STS-121spaceflight is the second of two test missions - the first of which, STS-114, launched in July 2005 -to shake down orbiter inspection and repair techniques, as well as shuttle externaltank changes to reduce flight risks during launch.

Lindsey andhis crewmates are in the final stages of training for their mission and willspend the next two days in a Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT), asort of launch countdown rehearsal that culminates in a simulationaboard Discoveryon Pad 39B.

Theastronauts were expected to fly to KSC Monday in their own T-38 jet aircraft,but settled for a group arrival a day later as Tropical Storm Alberto loosedtorrents of rain and other stormy weather across Central Florida.

"We'verearranged our schedule and we're going to stay an extra day to get everythingdone down here," Lindsey said. "As far as we know, everything's okay."

KSCspokesperson Tracy Young told SPACE.com that the STS-121 crew shifteda training session to practice driving NASA's M-113armored personnel carrier, which is designed to carry astronaut crews during an emergency evacuation ofthe shuttle launch pad, to late Wednesday instead of today as part of theirschedule change.

The crewwill now stay at KSC through about midday Friday before returning to Houston, Young said.

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Tariq Malik
Tariq Malik
Editor-in-Chief

Tariq is the Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001, first as an intern and staff writer, and later as an editor. He covers human spaceflight, exploration and space science, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Managing Editor in 2009 and Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. In October 2022, Tariq received the Harry Kolcum Award for excellence in space reporting from the National Space Club Florida Committee. He is also an Eagle Scout (yes, he has the Space Exploration merit badge) and went to Space Camp four times as a kid and a fifth time as an adult. He has journalism degrees from the University of Southern California and New York University. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast with space historian Rod Pyle on the TWiT network. To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik.