SPACEPHOTOS

(08/18/2000) -- Strapped into their seats inside the orbiter Atlantis for a simulated countdown exercise are (left to right) STS-106 Mission Specialists Boris V. Morukov, Yuri I. Malenchenko and Daniel C. Burbank. The simulation is part of Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT) activities. The TCDT also provides the crew with emergency egress training and opportunities to inspect their mission payload in the orbiter’s payload bay. STS-106 is scheduled to launch Sept. 8, 2000, at 8:31 a.m. EDT from Launch Pad 39B. On the 11-day mission, the seven-member crew will perform support tasks on orbit, transfer supplies and prepare the living quarters in the newly arrived Zvezda Service Module. The first long-duration crew, dubbed “Expedition One,” is due to arrive at the Station in late fall