Astronaut Richard Hieb prepares to drop into a training pool at the Johnson Space Center prior to his flight on Shuttle Mission STS-39 of 9-17 March 1

---

Astronaut Richard Hieb prepares to drop into a training pool at the Johnson Space Center prior to his flight on Shuttle Mission STS-39 of 9-17 March 1991. This part of the training programme covers the eventuality that the crew has escaped from the Shuttle orbiter by parachute following a launch or descent emergency. During these parts of the flight, all of the crew wear partial pressure suits and parachutes, as seen here. Emergency egress procedures were developed following the Congressional enquiry into the Challenger disaster of 1986 and the overall safety of Shuttle flights.

---

Size: 2454px × 3751px
Photo credit: © NASA/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: ., astronauts, center, emergency, escape, hieb, johnson, manned, mission, program, programme, richard, shuttle, space, spaceflight, sts-39, training, weightless, wet-