CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - On Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, STS-129 Mission Specialist Leland Melvin, dressed in his launch-and-entry suit, is strapped into his seat aboard space shuttle Atlantis. The six astronauts for space shuttle Atlantis’ STS-129 mission are participating in their launch dress rehearsal, the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test. Additional training associated with the test was done last month, but the simulated countdown was postponed because of a scheduling conflict with the launch of NASA’s Ares I-X test rocket. Launch of Atlantis on its STS-129 mission to the International Space Station is set for Nov. 16. On STS-129, the crew will deliver to the station two spare gyroscopes, two nitrogen tank assemblies, two pump modules, an ammonia tank assembly and a spare latching end effector for the station's robotic arm. For information on the STS-129 crew and mission objectives, visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts129/index.html. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett KSC-2009-6069
