Capt. George Hoggard greets STS-123 Mission Specialist Takao Doi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

At NASA Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39, astronaut rescue team leader Capt. George Hoggard, at right, greets STS-123 Mission Specialist Takao Doi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency as fellow crew members, from left, Mission Specialist Robert L. Behnken and Pilot Gregory H. Johnson look on. The crew for space shuttle Endeavour's STS-123 mission will practice driving the M-113 armored personnel carrier, in the background, part of their training on emergency egress procedures. An M-113 will be available to transport the crew to safety in the event of a contingency on the pad before their launch. The STS-123 crew is at Kennedy for a full launch dress rehearsal, known as the terminal countdown demonstration test or TCDT. Endeavour's seven astronauts arrived at Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility in their T-38 training aircraft between 10:45 and 10:58 a.m. EST. The terminal countdown demonstration test provides astronauts and ground crews with an opportunity to participate in various simulated countdown activities, including equipment familiarization and emergency training. Endeavour is targeted to launch March 11 at 2:28 a.m. EDT on a 16-day mission to the International Space Station. On the mission, Endeavour and its crew will deliver the first section of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory and the Canadian Space Agency's two-armed robotic system, Dextre. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett