STS-124 Crew Arrives for Rehearsal

The STS-124 crew members arrived at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida this afternoon for the terminal countdown demonstration test. Flying in T-38 training jets, the astronauts touched down on the Shuttle Landing Facility on a warm, clear Central Florida afternoon. During this three-day prelaunch training event, crew members will try on for their orange launch and entry suits, practice an emergency escape from the launch pad, and complete a fully suited dress rehearsal of their upcoming launch aboard space shuttle Discovery.

“We went over the launch pad to take a quick look. It’s great to see the vehicle at the pad,” said Commander Mark Kelly.

Discovery rolled out to Launch Pad 39A on May 3. Carried by the slow-moving crawler-transporter, the shuttle assembly atop the mobile launcher platform began rolling out of the Vehicle Assembly Building at 11:47 p.m. EDT the night before and was secured at the pad at 6:06 a.m.

The canister carrying the STS-124 payloads arrived at the launch pad April 29. Primary payloads are the tour-bus-sized Japanese Experiment Module-Pressurized Module and the lab’s robotic arm system. With Discovery in place at the launch pad, the payload components have been installed in the orbiter’s payload bay.

Launch is targeted for May 31.

STS-124 Mission Information

STS-124 Mission Summary (524 Kb PDF)