WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

The STS-103 crew poses for photographers after landing at at Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility to begin Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT) activities. Standing (left to right) in front of the T-38 jets that brought them are Mission Specialists Steven L. Smith, John M. Grunsfeld (Ph.D.), Claude Nicollier of Switzerland, with the European Space Agency, C. Michael Foale (Ph.D.), Jean-Frangois Clervoy of France, also with the European Space Agency, Pilot Scott J. Kelly, and Commander Curtis L. Brown Jr. The TCDT provides the crew with emergency egress training, opportunities to inspect their mission payloads in the orbiter's payload bay, and simulated countdown exercises. The STS-103 mission, to service the Hubble Space Telescope, is targeted for launch Dec. 6 at 2:37 a.m. EST aboard Space Shuttle Discovery.