KSC-99pp1298

STS-103 Mission Specialist Claude Nicollier of Switzerland, with the European Space Agency, smiles after landing at Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility to begin Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT) activities. The TCDT provides the crew with emergency egress training, opportunities to inspect their mission payloads in the orbiter's payload bay, and simulated countdown exercises. Also participating are Commander Curtis L. Brown Jr., Pilot Scott J. Kelly, and Mission Specialists Steven L. Smith, C. Michael Foale (Ph.D.), John M. Grunsfeld (Ph.D.), and Jean-François Clervoy of France, also with the European Space Agency. The mission, to service the Hubble Space Telescope, is targeted for launch Dec. 6 at 2:37 a.m. EST aboard Space Shuttle Discovery