Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Atlantis delays push back countdown dress rehearsal

Delays moving Atlantis to its Kennedy Space Center launch pad will push a practice countdown back by one day, to Saturday.

The shuttle's six-person crew, led by mission commander Ken Ham, arrived Tuesday evening for several days of training that culminates in a launch dress rehearsal, known as the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test, or TCDT.

The crew will suit up in orange launch and entry suits, ride to launch pad 39A and strap into their orbiter seats for a countdown drill, following all the steps they hope to execute before a May 14 liftoff to the International Space Station.

But a wet crawlerway kept KSC workers from rolling Atlantis to the pad this morning, so the shuttle won't quite be ready for the test that was planned Friday. The rollout is now scheduled to begin at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, with the countdown rehearsal on Saturday.

The crew's training schedule over the next few days is being revised accordingly.

Typically on the first day, crew members train to drive an M-113 tank they would use to flee the pad area in the event of an emergency. The crew was previously scheduled to field questions from reporters at the pad Thursday morning.

IMAGE: At Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday, the STS-132 crew posed for a group portrait following their arrival for a practice launch dress rehearsal called the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test, or TCDT, in preparation for their upcoming mission. From left are mission specialists Garrett Reisman and Michael Good; pilot Tony Antonelli; commander Ken Ham; and mission specialists Steve Bowen and Piers Sellers. Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston.

1 comment:

Clark C. McClelland, ScO said...

Three missions are remaining. Are all you Sheeple that stupid to ALLOW the Obama destruction of OUR Manned Space Program??
Are we a nation of COWARDS now??
Clark C. McClelland, former ScO
Open my website: www.stargate-chronicles.com
Read the book chapter on it.