KSC-2009-1199

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, STS-119 Commander Lee Archambault is in the driver's seat of the M-113 armored personnel carrier used for emergency escape, if needed, from Launch Pad 39A. Other crew members behind him are (from left) Mission Specialist Steve Swanson, Pilot Tony Antonelli, and Mission Specialists Joseph Acaba, Richard Arnold, John Phillips and Koichi Wakata, who represents the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. The crew members are at Kennedy for prelaunch preparation known as terminal countdown demonstration test, or TCDT. The training provides astronauts and ground crews with an opportunity to participate in various simulated countdown activities, including equipment familiarization and a simulated launch countdown. The crew of space shuttle Discovery is targeted to launch on the STS-119 mission Feb. 12. During Discovery's 14-day mission, the crew will install the S6 truss segment and solar arrays to the starboard side of the International Space Station, completing the station's truss, or backbone. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett