STS-114 astronauts pose for their group photo. In front row are pilot James Kelly, left; Mission Specialist Wendy Lawrence, center; and Commander Eileen Collins, right. Second row from left, Mission Specialists Stephen Robinson, Andy Thomas, Charles Camarda, and Soichi Noguchi The astronauts are preparing for launch onboard the Space Shuttle Discovery, the first space shuttle flight since the Columbia disaster.
In this image released by NASA, space shuttle Discovery commander Eileen Collins sits in the cockpit of the shuttle training aircraft, STA, after practicing landings at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., July 24, 2005. The countdown is under way for a Tuesday morning, July 26, launch of Discovery. The STA duplicates the orbiters descent trajectory for landing.
The van carrying the crew of STS-114 drives past the Vehicle Assembly Building after the launch was scrubbed by NASA officials at the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Fla., July 13, 2005. The weather had been deteriorating at the Kennedy Space Center, but in the end, it was a problem with fuel flow sensors on the external fuel tank that forced the postponement.
It was more like "Green Acres" than "Star Trek." A protective cockpit window cover fell off Discovery on the afternoon of July 12, 2005, falling 60 feet and hitting two heat-shield tiles. No one seems to know for sure how the plastic cover (which was taped in place) came loose. The incident was not expected to affect the launch. The service gantry is shown as it was rolled back from the shuttle late July 12, 2005.
NASA workers at Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39-B walk near a security gate protecting space shuttle Discovery, July 9, 2005, in Cape Canaveral, Fla.
Mission Commander Eileen M. Collins is briefed by United Space Alliance crew trainer Ken Trujillo during a training session in the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility, at the Johnson Space Center, Sept. 12, 2002.
Mission Commander Eileen M. Collins uses a device called a Sky Genie to simulate rappelling from a troubled shuttle in a training session in the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility, at the Johnson Space Center, Sept. 12, 2002. The exercise trains the crewmembers for procedures to follow in egressing a troubled shuttle on the ground.
Astronaut Andrew S. W. Thomas, STS-114 mission specialist, takes a close look at tiles underneath the space shuttle Atlantis, in the Orbiter Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center, Oct. 30, 2003.
Astronaut Rex J. Walheim, who isn't on the mission, uses a tool similar to a putty knife to remove excess material from a membrane-covered cavity on a damaged section of thermal tiles onboard a KC-135 aircraft, Aug. 8, 2003. The aircraft flew a series of special parabolas to afford a number of zero-G "windows" for rehearsing extravehicular activity tasks for repairing damaged shuttle tiles.
Astronaut James M. Kelly, STS-114 pilot, assisted by divers, floats in a small life raft during an emergency egress training session in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, near the Johnson Space Center, April 17, 2002.
Divers assist Discovery astronauts Soichi Noguchi and Stephen K. Robinson, (partially obscured) to be submerged in the waters of the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, near the Johnson Space Center, May 17, 2001. The exercise was to help prepare them for work on the exterior of the International Space Station (ISS). Noguchi and Robinson are wearing the training version of the Extravehicular Mobility Unit spacesuit.
Astronaut Stephen K. Robinson, STS-114 mission specialist, simulates a parachute drop into water during an emergency bailout training session at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, near the Johnson Space Center, April 17, 2002. Robinson is attired in a training version of the shuttle launch and entry suit.
Astronaut Stephen K. Robinson, STS-114 mission specialist, wears a training version of the Extravehicular Mobility Unit spacesuit during an underwater simulation of extravehicular activity scheduled for the shuttle mission, Sept. 20, 2002.
STS-114 Commander Eileen Collins, of Elmira, N.Y.
STS-114 Pilot James Kelly, of Burlington, Iowa.
STS-114 Mission Specialist Stephen Robinson, of Sacramento, Calif.
STS-114 Australian-born U.S. Mission Specialist Andy Thomas.
STS-114 Mission Specialist Wendy Lawrence, of Jacksonville, Fla.
STS-114 Japanese Mission Specialst Soichi Noguchi, of Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan.
STS-114 Mission Specialist Charles Camarda, of Queens, N.Y.