KSC-81PC-0015

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - On the Fixed Service Structure on Launch Complex 39A, space shuttle prime and backup astronaut crews plus other astronauts and ground personnel are given training on the use of the emergency pad escape system known as the “slidewire”. The slidewire system provides a quick escape from upper launch pad platforms in case of a serious emergency. The flight crews wear the spacesuits and other equipment to be worn during a mission, but sandbags are used to duplicate the weight of riders in the slidewire baskets during the training. The STS-1 mission, known as a shuttle systems test flight, will seek to demonstrate safe launch into orbit and safe return of the orbiter and crew and verify the combined performance of the entire shuttle vehicle -- orbiter, solid rocket boosters and external tank. STS-1 will be launched from Pad A at the Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39 no earlier than March 1981.