Astronaut Wakata's training report (10)

Arriving at KSC by T-38

Leaving the Crew Quarters

Ergent escape by the Baskets

Escaping by an M113 vehicle

For a Space Shuttle mission, the crew leaves Ellington Field by T-38 jet-trainer for Kennedy Space Center three or four days before the launch and stays in an area called Crew Quarters, rooms separated from public until launch to adjust their physiological time to the on-orbit schedule.

TCDT is a training course conducted three to four weeks before launch. The STS crew and the ground crew rehearse the procedures from the T-38 arrival to the launch in the same manner as the actual operation. They try to find and solve hidden problems, which is the purpose of the TCDT. An emergency launch-pad-evacuation training assuming a contingency case is conducted during this test as well.


The TCDT for STS-92
Along with the procedures evaluation, launch-pad-evacuation emergency training was conducted on Sep. 14,under the assumption that cryogenic propellant had been found leaking from the External Tank. In an emergency, the astronauts will try to escape from the launch pad as soon as possible using the escape basket located on the Rotating Service Structure at the level of Shuttle cockpit. The baskets will reach the ground point 370m away from the pad by sliding along steel cables. The astronauts then drive the M113 vehicle and try to get as far away from the pad as possible. This day the astronauts reviewed the emergency procedures and confirmed how to use the basket and the route of evacuation.

Now there are only a few weeks left to the launch and not much is being pointed out concerning the time line. Just miner problems, if any, are pointed. However, no mistake is allowed during the actual launch. STS-92 crew members, together with the ground crew at Kennedy Space Center, conducted the final evaluation earnestly.