Shuttle Discovery and its modified 747, known as a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, are ready to begin the cross-country trip to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida as soon as weather across the southeastern United States permits it. Managers are optimistic they’ll be able to begin the ferry flight Sunday morning.
Shuttle teams at Edwards Air Force Base in California finished preparations for the 2,500 mile flight overnight, including fully attaching Discovery to the top of the 747 and moving the piggybacked pair into position to be ready for departure.
Managers will meet with air crews and the weather team at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center at 2 p.m. EDT today to discuss the weather forecast for the next several days and formulate a tentative plan for the route that would be flown Sunday. Weather permitting, the team plans to have Discovery back at Kennedy by Monday.