The Shuttle Training Aircraft or STA with STS-126 Commander Chris Ferguson and Pilot Eric Boe is ready to take off.

At the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Shuttle Training Aircraft, or STA, with STS-126 Commander Chris Ferguson and Pilot Eric Boe on board, is ready to take off. Ferguson and Boe will practice shuttle landings on the STA, a Grumman American Aviation-built Gulf Stream II jet that was modified to simulate a shuttle’s cockpit, motion and visual cues, and handling qualities. In flight, the aircraft duplicates the shuttle’s atmospheric descent trajectory from approximately 35,000 feet to landing. The practice is part of the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test, which includes equipment familiarization, emergency exit procedures 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