KSC-2009-1216

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – STS-119 Commander Lee Archambault heads across the tarmac of the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to practice shuttle landings in the shuttle training aircraft, or STA. Archambault and the rest of the crew are at Kennedy to prepare for launch as part of the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test activities. The TCDT includes equipment familiarization and a simulated launch countdown. The STA is a Grumman American Aviation-built Gulf Stream II jet that was modified to simulate a shuttle’s cockpit, motion and visual cues, and handling qualities. In flight, the aircraft duplicates the shuttle’s atmospheric descent trajectory from approximately 35,000 feet to landing. 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