KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL - Discovery's astronauts wrapped up three days of prelaunch training at Kennedy Space Center with a mock launch rehearsal and simulated emergency evacuation of the shuttle this morning. The seven astronauts returned to Johnson Space Center in Houston to make final preparations for their launch on STS-128 currently targeted for the early morning hours of August 25.
FREE VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS ARRIVE AT KSC FREE VIDEO: SHUTTLE PAYLOAD IS MOVED TO THE LAUNCH PAD FREE VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS TAKE QUESITONS FROM THE MEDIA AT LC-39A Dressed in orange launch and entry pressure suits, the crew boarded Discovery this morning to take part in a practice countdown simulating the activities that will take place on the actual launch day. With personnel manning the consoles in Firing Room 4 of KSC's Launch Control Center, the entire launch team ran through a complete simulation of launch countdown during the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test, the final major training activity prior to launch day. At T-4 seconds, computers simulated a main engine shutdown on the launch pad - the engines are never actually started during the practice countdown - followed by the astronauts swiftly exited the orbiter's crew cabin, simulating a potential launch pad emergency requiring the astronauts to evacuate the launch pad. The astronauts climbed out through Discovery's quick-release hatch and carefully, but swiftly walked to the opposite side of the launch pad tower where emergency escape baskets are always on standby. In a real emergency, pairs of astronauts would climb into the baskets and hit a lever that would release them down slidewires to blastproof shelters at the perimeter of the launch pad. However, the ride down carries its own risk of injury to anyone inside, so, during the practice evacuation today the astronauts didn't ride them down to the ground, opting instead to use the elevator. After the completion of TCDT, the astronauts flew back to Houston for two weeks of final preparations for launch, including brushing up on the mission flight plan which isn't finalized until just before launch. Veteran astronaut Rick Sturckow will command Discovery's STS-128 mission. Flying to the International Space Station along with Sturckow and pilot Kevin Ford will be mission specialists Danny Olivas, Patrick Forrester, Jose Hernandez, KSC's former shuttle Endeavour flow diretor Nicole Stott and European Space Agency astronaut Christer Fuglesang. Stott will remain onboard ISS when Discovery leaves, replacing flight engineer Timothy Kopra who launched to the station on Endeavour July 15. STS-128 will feature three spacewalks and will deliver three new science racks for the complex's laboratory modules, replace some of the station cooling system's aging ammonia tanks and will return a European science experiment package to Earth. Discovery will also deliver a new treadmill for the station, the Combined Operational Load-Bearing External Resistance Treadmill - the COLBERT, named after comedian Stephen Colbert as part of a "comporomise" after NASA's contest to name the new Node 3 module went awry. NASA held a contest to let the public vote on suggested named for the new module. The four choices were Serenity, Earthrise, Legacy and Venture. However, the space agency also allowed people to write in their own suggestions. On his show, The Colbert Report, Colbert urged viewers to write in his name. In the end, "Colbert" beat out all other suggestions, including NASA's. NASA, taking advantage of the free, if unwanted, publicity, compromised with Colbert by naming the module Tranquility but also naming the new treadmill COLBERT, and came up with a clever acronym for it, of course. Discovery is targeted for launch at 1:36 in the morning of August 25. (The Spacearium / Space Media Corporation)
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