14 DAY TRIAL // The seven members of the new Discovery mission arrived yesterday at the Kennedy Space Center, after flying in from Houston via jet, NASA announced on Monday. The astronauts are to exercise safety measures to be employed in case something goes wrong with the lift-off sequence, and the shuttle catches fire while still on the ground.
Exercises thus far have included flying a jet designed to be handled like a shuttle on descent, driving a turret-less tank for escaping the perimeter, and sliding down emergency baskets to underground bunkers in case of an emergency.
Today, the astronauts have underwent a full launch rehearsal drill, designed to test all the systems onboard the space shuttle that is to fly the first of six missions planned for America's space fleet in 2009. All the flights have only one goal – to finish installing the solar wings on the International Space Station (ISS), thus completing its power station, and allowing it to operate at full capacity.
"This is very valuable training. We've been in training for almost a year, so we're very anxious to get going with the mission," Lee Archambault, who is the mission commander for the new Discovery mission, says. He will be accompanied by pilot Tony Antonelli, and by five mission specialists – Richard Arnold, Steve Swanson , Joseph Acaba, John Phillips, and Koichi Wakata.
Upon arrival, the team has learned to drive the M-113 turret-less tank, that has been specifically designed to carry them out of the launch pad 39A area, in the event the fuel of the booster ignites, and they have time to get to the machine. The tank can bust through perimeter fences, and take the astronauts to safety.
Archambault has told reporters that he strongly encourages president Obama not to quit on their dream of going to the Moon and to Mars over the next 3 to 4 decade tops, and to green-light the Constellation project, designed to do just that. Lately, voices in Washington have been saying that the president doesn't favor the idea of America being left without orbit capabilities between 2010-2015. The current shuttle fleet will be retired in 2010, and Ares-Orion will only be ready 6 years from now,at the earliest.