KSC-98pc1281

STS-95 Payload Specialist John H. Glenn Jr. (right) releases the slidewire basket, an emergency egress vehicle, at the 195-foot level of Launch Pad 39-B, while Mission Specialist Stephen K. Robinson (left) watches. The STS-95 crew are at KSC to participate in a Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT) which includes mission familiarization activities, emergency egress training, and a simulated main engine cut-off exercise. Other crew members are Mission Specialist Scott E. Parazynski, Mission Specialist Pedro Duque of Spain, representing the European Space Agency (ESA), Pilot Steven W. Lindsey, Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai, representing the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA), and Mission Commander Curtis L. Brown. The STS-95 mission, targeted for liftoff on Oct. 29, includes research payloads such as the Spartan solar-observing deployable spacecraft, the Hubble Space Telescope Orbital Systems Test Platform, the International Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker, as well as the SPACEHAB single module with experiments on space flight and the aging process. Following the TCDT, the crew will be returning to Houston for final flight preparations