SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468
STS-117 Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test
STS-117 crew members gather at the Shuttle Landing Facility.*Ready for Practice.* The STS-117 crew members gather at Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility after arriving in T-38 jets. Led by Commander Rick Sturckow, the crew is at Kennedy to take part in the terminal countdown demonstration test, a preparation for their launch to the International Space Station. From left are Pilot Lee Archambault, Mission Specialists Danny Olivas and Steven Swanson, Sturckow, and Mission Specialist Patrick Forrester. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
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*Getaway Drivers.* At Launch Complex 39, members of the STS-117 crew are instructed in the operation of an M-113 armored personnel carrier by the astronaut rescue team. The M-113 could be used to move the crew away from the launch pad quickly in the event of an emergency. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
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*Plotting Their Escape.* In addition to M-113 training, the terminal countdown demonstration test includes teaching each astronaut how to make an emergency egress from the launch pad using the slidewire basket system. From left are Commander Rick Sturckow, Mission Specialist Patrick Forrester, Pilot Lee Archambault, and Mission Specialists Danny Olivas, Steven Swanson and James Reilly. Photo Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett.
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*Preparing for Takeoff.* At the Shuttle Landing Facility, Commander Sturckow sits in the cockpit of the shuttle training aircraft, ready to begin practice flights. The aircraft is a Grumman American Aviation-built Gulf Stream II jet that was modified to simulate an orbiter's cockpit, motion and visual cues, and handling qualities. In flight, it duplicates the orbiter's descent from approximately 35,000 feet altitude to landing on a runway. Photo Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
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*Posing at the Top.* On the 215-foot level of the fixed service structure on Launch Pad 39A, STS-117 crew members gather for a photo near the solid rocket boosters and external tank of Space Shuttle Atlantis after completing the terminal countdown demonstration test. From left are Mission Specialists Danny Olivas and Steven Swanson, Pilot Lee Archambault, Commander Rick Sturckow, and Mission Specialists Patrick Forrester and James Reilly. The STS-117 mission is No. 21 to the International Space Station. Mission payloads aboard Atlantis include the S3/S4 integrated truss structure, a third set of solar arrays and batteries. The crew of six astronauts will install the truss to continue assembly of the station. Photo Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
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