Discovery’s seven astronauts will spend much of the day at NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A reacquainting themselves with the pad’s myriad systems and emergency procedures. The crew, preparing to fly the STS-128 mission, also spoke with news media representatives in the morning before visiting the launch pad. Later today, Commander Rick Sturckow and Pilot Kevin Ford again will take the controls of the Shuttle Training Aircraft to practice landing the space shuttle. Friday’s schedule includes an all-up practice countdown that will involve the crew and their support team, the launch team at Kennedy and the Mission Control ascent team based at Johnson Space Center in Houston.
