WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

Standing in a slidewire basket at KSC's Launch Pad 39A are, left to right, STS-89 Pilot Joe Edwards Jr. and Commander Terrence Wilcutt. The seven astronauts assigned to the eighth Shuttle-Mir docking flight are completing Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT) activities. A dress rehearsal for launch, the TCDT includes emergency egress training at the launch pad and culminates with a simulated countdown. STS-89 Mission Specialist Andrew Thomas, Ph.D., will transfer to the Russian Space Station Mir and succeed David Wolf, M.D., who will return to Earth aboard Endeavour. The Space Shuttle Endeavour is undergoing preparations for liftoff, scheduled for Jan. 22. Dr. Thomas will live and work on Mir until June.