SPACEPHOTOS

(04/27/1999) --- STS-96 Mission Specialist Julie Payette (right) practices driving a small armored personnel carrier that is part of emergency egress training during Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT) activities. The tracked vehicle could be used by the crew in the event of an emergency at the pad during which the crew must make a quick exit from the area. The TCDT also provides simulated countdown exercises and opportunities to inspect the mission payloads in the orbiter's payload bay. At left are Mission Specialist Valery Ivanovich Tokarev, with the Russian Space Agency, and Pilot Rick Douglas Husband. Payette is with the Canadian Space Agency. Riding on the front of the carrier is Capt. Steve Kelly, with Space Gateway Support, who is assisting the crew with their training. Other crew members are Commander Kent V. Rominger and Mission Specialists Ellen Ochoa (Ph.D.), Tamara E. Jernigan (Ph.D.), and Daniel Barry (M.D., Ph.D.). Mission STS-96 is a logistics and resupply mission for the International Space Station, carrying such payloads as a Russian crane, the Strela; a U.S.-built crane; the Spacehab Oceaneering Space System Box (SHOSS), a logistics items carrier; and STARSHINE, a student-led experiment