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The STS-118 astronauts get a chance to test their skills during three days of training at Kennedy.
The mission STS-118 astronauts flew to Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the terminal countdown
demonstration test to prepare for Endeavour's upcoming launch.
For three days, the seven-member crew participated in training exercises,
practiced safety procedures and attended weather, launch, payload and safety briefings.
Commander Scott Kelly and Pilot Charlie Hobaugh took to
the skies in the Shuttle Training Aircraft to practice landings.
Practice makes perfect because the flight team only gets one chance to
land the space shuttle because it lands like a glider.
At the pad's 195-ft. level, the astronauts tested their agility getting
in and out of the slidewire baskets that are part of the emergency exit system.
The entire crew practiced driving the M-113 armored personnel carriers.
The M-113 was developed to help the crew leave the pad quickly
and safely in the unlikely event of an emergency.
The test wrapped up with a full dress rehearsal and a second trip to pad 39A.
The crew members donned their custom-fitted orange flight suits and helmets
at the Operations and Checkout Building and made the traditional "walkout" to board NASA's silver Astrovan.
They arrived at the pad's White Room and climbed into their assigned seats on the orbiter's flight deck
for a simulated launch countdown and main engine cutoff exercise.
The preflight activities concluded after the bunny-suited astronauts inspected
the payload stowed securely inside Endeavour's payload bay.
Mission Specialists Rick Mastracchio and Dr. Dave Williams of the Canadian Space Agency
will be returning to space for the second time and this flight will be first for Mission Specialists,
Al Drew, Dr. Tracy Caldwell, and teacher-turned-astronaut Barbara Morgan.
The astronauts returned to the Johnson Space Center in Texas,
where they will continue training for the upcoming mission to bring the International Space Station
a step closer to completion.