WEBVTT 00:00:02.000 --> 00:00:02.000 00:00:02.000 --> 00:00:08.000 Before every space shuttle launch, astronauts and ground crews prepare for liftoff with training and a full launch dress 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:12.000 rehearsal at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:18.000 For more than 27 years, Travis Tod Thompson, Closeout Crew lead with United Space Alliance, has been part of the 00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:23.000 Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test, or TCDT, training activities at Kennedy. 00:00:23.000 --> 00:00:30.000 "TCDT is a great time for us to get to know the crew and for them to get to know us. We go through this dry count -- 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:38.000 it's like a dress rehearsal. We get to know what their comfort level is, what they're going to need on launch day, and 00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:43.000 it helps launch day to go smoother when we get to do this." 00:00:43.000 --> 00:00:52.000 TCDT training gives the flight crew a chance to review launch procedures, check the fit of their spacesuits, practice launch pad 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:57.000 evacuations, and check out their mission's cargo in the shuttle's payload bay. 00:00:57.000 --> 00:01:02.000 The slidewire baskets have been part of the pad's emergency egress system since STS-1 00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:05.000 but have never been used for an emergency. 00:01:05.000 --> 00:01:10.000 Training for the unexpected on the launch pad, though, is nevertheless a staple during TCDT. 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:17.000 "This is the primary egress route, if we had to evacuate the White Room in a hurry we would egress down this yellow path 00:01:17.000 --> 00:01:25.000 here. There's Fire-X nozzles that spray heavy amounts of water on us and the flight crew as we'd be egressing. 00:01:25.000 --> 00:01:31.000 So, the reason this pad is painted yellow with black chevrons is to -- 00:01:31.000 --> 00:01:36.000 because with all the water coming into your face you can only really see your feet. 00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:39.000 So we follow this, we call it the 'yellow brick road' and it will take us straight 00:01:39.000 --> 00:01:43.000 to the egress to the slidewire baskets." 00:01:43.000 --> 00:01:48.000 The astronauts also receive instruction on driving the M-113 armored personnel carriers as 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:54.000 part of their emergency pad escape training. Every crew member gets a chance to drive the M-113 00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:59.000 instructed by Kennedy's fire chief. Thompson also is there to lend a hand. 00:01:59.000 --> 00:02:04.000 "This gives me a good time to get to know the crew a little bit on a comfortable basis -- 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:09.000 before we really have to do a lot of work. And it's fun for them and they like it." 00:02:09.000 --> 00:02:14.000 In addition to pad and field training, the commander and pilot practice touch-and-go landings 00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:19.000 in NASA's Shuttle Training Aircraft -- Gulfstream jets that have been modified to simulate the orbiter's 00:02:19.000 --> 00:02:24.000 unpowered, high-speed glide at Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility. 00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:30.000 TCDT wraps up with a full launch dress rehearsal where the astronauts climb into their launch 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:35.000 and entry suits and helmets and step into NASA's Astrovan for a short trip to the launch pad's White Room on the 00:02:35.000 --> 00:02:37.000 195-foot level. 00:02:37.000 --> 00:02:41.000 There, Thompson and his team are waiting to help the crew members board the shuttle. 00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:46.000 Once on board, the astronauts go through the entire launch sequence, stopping just before the main engines start. 00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:52.000 At that point training is over and in just a couple of weeks they'll return to do the real thing. 00:02:52.000 --> 00:03:00.000 "One of my main duties is to watch out for them on launch day -- their safety and their comfort. 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:14.000 I take a lot of pride in that and I'm happy to say some of them are my friends."