Mission Specialist Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper is ready to take her turn driving the M-113 armored personnel carrier.

At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, STS-126 Mission Specialist Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper is ready to take her turn driving the M-113 armored personnel carrier. Piper and the other crew members are at Kennedy for pre-launch preparation known as Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test, or TCDT. The training provides astronauts and ground crews with an opportunity to participate in various simulated countdown activities, including equipment familiarization and a simulated launch countdown. On the STS-126 mission, space shuttle Endeavour's crew will deliver equipment and supplies to the International Space Station in preparation for expansion from a three- to six-person resident crew aboard the complex. The mission also will include four spacewalks to service the station’s Solar Alpha Rotary Joints. Endeavour is targeted to launch Nov. 14. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett