Intro music.
NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida was the meeting place for six of the seven members of
the STS-121 mission to participate in the Crew Equipment Interface Test.
For two days in February, the astronauts were able to perform hands-on tasks with the flight hardware
they'll use on Space Shuttle Discovery. The crew, outfitted in clean-room suits, inspected various
elements of the orbiter -- testing hose connections, peering into wheel wells and taking a close
look at the tiles and leading edge of the orbiter's reinforced carbon-carbon panels.
Commander Steve Lindsey watched closely as Mission Specialists Lisa Nowak, Stephanie Wilson,
Piers Sellers and Mike Fossum listened to the vehicle crew describe components of the shuttle.
Discovery Pilot Mark Kelly crawled into the orbiter to check out the cockpit and its multitude
of switches, dials and buttons. Working with the equipment on Earth gives the crew even
further knowledge of the spacecraft they'll fly during the mission. STS-121 is the second
return-to-flight mission to the International Space Station for Discovery, focusing on
evaluating flight safety procedures, shuttle inspection and repair techniques.