After managers decided not to try to begin shuttle Discovery’s ferry flight Friday, teams took a little more time than originally planned overnight preparing for the 2,500 mile cross-country trip. Discovery was lifted for attachment to a modified 747 aircraft just after sunrise this morning at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Shuttle teams expect to have Discovery and its 747, called a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, ready for the piggyback flight by this evening.
Managers will meet with air crews and the weather team at 2 p.m. EDT today to discuss the possibility of a Saturday departure and decide the best route to get Discovery back home to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Forecasters still are tracking a low pressure system over northeast Texas that has been influencing weather across the southeast.