Atlantis Crew Gets Driver's Ed Course

Atlantis astronauts this morning learned to drive the M113 armored personnel carriers they would use to escape the launch pad in an emergency.

The lime green, turret-less tanks - like the one shown here during training earlier this year by the Discovery crew - would carry the seven-person Atlantis crew to helipads outside the blast zone where medical teams would be standing by.

The astronauts' pre-launch training continues at Kennedy Space Center days before senior shuttle managers will meet to discuss the planned Oct. 10 launch date for Atlantis, on a mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope.

That date could slide for several reasons.

First, the Oct. 10 schedule didn't allow for any delays preparing and loading the instruments and equipment that will be taken to the telescope, a process that is now one day behind.

The cargo was placed in the changeout room at launch pad 39A earlier today, after workers removed two "shoes" with teflon pads, shown here, that had kept the canister carrying the payload from sliding in properly. The pads were replaced after being shaved down about a quarter of an inch.

The telescope's highly sensitive instruments are expected to be latched into the shuttle's cargo bay Thursday.

Second, Hurricane Ike kept the astronauts from training in Houston for more than a week.

And Johnson Space Center in Houston, which just resumed normal operations today, is still recovering from the storm.

After meetings Wednesday and Thursday, shuttle mangers will make recommendations that senior NASA officials will consider at a flight readiness review next Thursday and Friday. That's when the launch date will officially be set.

Today, Atlantis Commander Scott Altman and Pilot Gregory Johnson will do more practice landings in modified Gulfstream jets.

The astronauts have a media question-and-answer session planned at 9:40 a.m. Tuesday at the launch pad. You can watch a webcast of live NASA TV coverage in The Flame Trench.

The crew on Tuesday will practice emergency escapes from the shuttle in their orange spacesuits, leading up to a simulated three-hour countdown exercise on Wednesday.

IMAGE NOTE: Click to enlarge both of the photos. In the first photo, launch pad 39B can be seen in the background while STS-124 Pilot Ken Ham drives the M113 armored personnel carrier as part of emergency training earlier this year. The second image shows two "shoes" from the Hubble payload canister that technicians removed and shaved down at launch pad 39A. Photo credits: NASA/Kim Shiflett.