KSC-2010-2123

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - On Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Mission Specialists Naoko Yamazaki of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, and Pilot James P. Dutton Jr. experience a slidewire basket first hand during training on the emergency exit system at the pad. The system includes seven baskets suspended from seven slidewires that extend from the fixed service structure to a landing zone 1,200 feet west of the pad. The crew members of space shuttle Discovery's STS-131 mission are at Kennedy for training related to their launch dress rehearsal, the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test. The seven-member crew will deliver the multi-purpose logistics module Leonardo, filled with resupply stowage platforms and racks, to the International Space Station aboard Discovery. Targeted for launch on April 5, STS-131 will be the 33rd shuttle mission to the station and the 131st shuttle mission overall. For information on the STS-131 mission and crew, visit http:__www.nasa.gov_mission_pages_shuttle_shuttlemissions_sts131_index.html. Photo credit: NASA_Kim Shiflett