Mission Specialists Sergei Konstantinovich Krikalev are ready to leave Launch Pad 39A in the slidewire basket during an egress exercise.

STS-88 Mission Specialists Sergei Konstantinovich Krikalev (left) and James H. Newman (right) are ready to leave Launch Pad 39A in the slidewire basket during an emergency egress exercise. The crew are at KSC to participate in the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT) which includes mission familiarization activities, emergency egress training, and the simulated main engine cut-off exercise. Mission STS-88 is targeted for launch on Dec. 3, 1998. It is the first U.S. flight for the assembly of the International Space Station and will carry the Unity connecting module. Unity will be mated with the already orbiting Russian-built Zarya control module. The 12-day mission includes three planned spacewalks to connect power, data and utility lines and install exterior equipment