KSC-00pp1186

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- STS-106 Pilot Scott D. Altman pauses to talk to a worker after climbing out of a slidewire basket on the 195-foot level of Launch Pad 39B. The basket is part of emergency egress equipment from the pad. Altman and the STS-106 crew are taking part in Terminal Countdown Demonstration Activities (TCDT), which include emergency egress training, opportunities to inspect their mission payload in the orbiter’s payload bay, and a simulated launch countdown. STS-106 is scheduled to launch Sept. 8, 2000, at 8:31 a.m. EDT from Launch Pad 39B. On the 11-day mission, the seven-member crew will perform support tasks on orbit, transfer supplies and prepare the living quarters in the newly arrived Zvezda Service Module. The first long-duration crew, dubbed “Expedition One,” is due to arrive at the Station in late fall