Stock Photo - 01/11/2000 ___ STS_99 Mission Specialist Mamoru Mohri, who is with the National Space Development Agency NASDA of Japan, waves after his arrival at KSC aboard a T_38 training jet aircraft to take part in a Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test TCDT. The TCDT provides the crew with simulated countdown exercises, emergency egress training, and opportunities to inspect the mission payloads in the orbiter´s payload bay. Other crew members taking part are Commander Kevin Kregel, Pilot Dominic L. Pudwill Gorie, and Mission Specialists Janet Lynn Kavandi Ph.D., Janice Voss Ph.D., and Gerhard P.J. Thiele, with the European Space Agency. STS_99 is the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, which will chart a new course, using two antennae and a 200_foot_long section of space station_derived mast protruding from the payload bay to produce unrivaled 3_D images of the Earth´s surface. The result of the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission could be close to 1 trillion measurements of the Earth´s topography. Besides contributing to the production of better maps, these measurements could lead to improved water drainage modeling, more realistic flight simulators, better locations for cell phone towers, and enhanced navigation safety. Launch of Endeavour on the 11_day mission is scheduled for Jan. 31 at 12:47 p.m. EST