SPACEPHOTOS

(11/04/1997) --- The crew of the STS-87 mission, scheduled for launch Nov. 19 aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia from pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), participates in the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT) at KSC. Testing a slidewire basket that is part of the pad’s emergency egress system are, from left, Mission Specialist Takao Doi, Ph.D., of the National Space Development Agency of Japan; Payload Specialist Leonid Kadenyuk of the National Space Agency of Ukraine (NSAU); and Mission Specialist Kalpana Chawla, Ph.D. The TCDT is held at KSC prior to each Space Shuttle flight providing the crew of each mission opportunities to participate in simulated countdown activities. The TCDT ends with a mock launch countdown culminating in a simulated main engine cut-off. The crew also spends time undergoing emergency egress training exercises at the pad and has an opportunity to view and inspect the payloads in the orbiter's payload bay