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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the White Room on Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, STS-124 Pilot Ken Ham secures the parachute required for launch. He and the other crew members are taking part in a simulated launch countdown, part of the launch dress rehearsal known as the terminal countdown demonstration test. The simulation serves as a practice exercise in which both the launch team and flight crew rehearse launch day time lines and procedures. The test culminates in a simulated ignition and automated shutdown of the orbiter's main engines. On the STS-124 mission, the crew will deliver and install the Japanese Experiment Module – Pressurized Module and Japanese Remote Manipulator System. Discovery's launch is targeted for May 31. Photo credit: NASA/Amanda Diller