Atlantis astronauts training for next mission

The six astronauts for space shuttle Atlantis' STS-129 mission were at Nasa's Kennedy Space Centre in Florida yesterday. They arrived at Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility in staggered waves between about 5 p.m. and 6.45 p.m. EST.

The crew finished the full launch dress rehearsal known as the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test.

STS-129 Commander Charlie Hobaugh and Pilot Barry Wilmore practised shuttle landings in modified Gulfstream II jets called Shuttle Training Aircraft.

The launch team with all six crew members inside Atlantis on Launch Pad 39A yesterday went through a countdown simulation.

Additional training associated with TCDT was done last month, but the simulated countdown was postponed until this week because of a scheduling conflict with the launch of Nasa's Ares I-X test rocket.

After the launch simulation and emergency pad escape training, the astronauts inspected the cargo that they will take to the International Space Station before returning to Johnson Space Centre.

Atlantis is scheduled to launch on its 11-day supply mission to the space station on November 16 at 2.28 p.m.

(Source: Nasa)