William Parsons greets STS-116 Mission Specialist Robert Curbeam after his arrival for the Crew Equipment Interface Test.

At Kennedy Space Center’s Shuttle Landing Facility, Deputy Director William Parsons (left) greets STS-116 Mission Specialist Robert Curbeam after his arrival for the Crew Equipment Interface Test. Mission crews make frequent trips to the Space Coast to become familiar with the equipment and payloads they will be using. STS-116 will be mission No. 20 to the International Space Station and construction flight 12A.1. The mission payload is the SPACEHAB module, the P5 integrated truss structure and other key components. Launch is scheduled for no earlier than Dec. 7. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett