WEBVTT

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Music

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Commander Dom Gorie, Pilot Greg Johnson and Mission Specialists Rick Linnehan,

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Bob Behnken, Mike Foreman, Garrett Reisman and Japanese astronaut Takao Doi

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are looking to rocket into orbit on March 11 aboard space shuttle

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Endeavour on the STS123 mission.

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Before they can do that, though, they have to practice.

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That's why they flew to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida

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for intense launch training on February 23 to the 25th.

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The seven climbed into the same orange suits they will wear on launch day and

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took a ride in the Astrovan to Launch Pad 39A.

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They crawled into Endeavour's hatch and took their places.

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The emphasis is on doing the same things they will do on the real launch day,

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so technicians were on hand to strap them in and remove equipment covers,

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just as they will for the ride into orbit.

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The session also included something they hope doesn't happen on launch day:

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getting out of the space shuttle during a potential emergency.

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The crew ran across the deck and climbed inside baskets that would zip them to

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safety in an unlikely real-life crisis.

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Crew members also practiced driving armored personnel carriers called M113s

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that would be called on in an emergency.

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The astronauts looked over the Kibo lab segment and Dextre as they stood

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inside Endeavour's cargo bay.

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For Gorie and Johnson, who will be at the controls of Endeavour during launch

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and landing, the practice reached into the skies above Kennedy.

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Both took turns piloting the Shuttle Training Aircraft along a steep flight path identical

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to that of a shuttle returning from space.

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With all their practices concluded safely, the astronauts took their seats in

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NASA's training jets and headed back to Johnson Space Center.

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They will return in about two weeks to do it all again - this time for real.

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