Discovery Crew Arrives For Practice Countdown At KSC

Discovery's astronauts are at Kennedy Space Center tonight, gearing up for a practice countdown that serves as the last major training exercise in Florida prior to a shuttle crew's launch into space.

Discovery and the seven astronauts are slated to blast off from launch pad 39A on April 5, setting sail on an International Space Station outfitting mission. The 13-day flight is one of only four remaining before station assembly is complete and the nation's shuttle fleet is retired.

Mission commander Alan Poindexter said he and his crew are excited about the upcoming mission.

"We've been working real hard getting ready for flight," said Poindexter. He and the four-man, three-woman crew had spent the day in a mission simulation at Johnson Space Center in Houston and their arrival at KSC "means that the end of our training has come," mission specialist Stephanie Wilson said.

"We've been waiting for this day for a long time and we're just excited to get down here and get this major milestone completed," Discovery pilot James Dutton said.

"We're looking forward to finishing up our training and getting going," mission specialist Rick Mastracchio said.

The crew also includes mission specialists Clay Anderson, Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger and Naoko Yamazaki of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

The astronauts this week will take part in emergency training at launch pad 39A and a two-day practice countdown. They'll don launch-and-entry suits on Friday and climb aboard Discovery for the last few hours of the mock countdown, which serves as a full-up dress rehearsal for the flight crew and the KSC launch team.

The Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test, or TCDT, is the last major training exercise for shuttle crews at KSC prior to launch.

Discovery is scheduled to roll out of the KSC Vehicle Assembly Building at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday.

ABOUT THE PHOTO: Click to enlarge the Florida Today photo of the STS-131 crew at the Shuttle Landing facility tonight. Left to right are mission specialists Clay Anderson, Naoko Yamazaki of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Stephanie Wilson, Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Rick Mastracchio, pilot James Dutton and mission commander Alan Poindexter. Photocredit: Craig Rubadoux/Florida Today.