Space shuttle Discovery, joined to its external fuel tank and twin solid rocket boosters, is standing on its mobile launcher platform inside the Vehicle Assembly Building today as technicians get ready to move it to the launch pad this evening. A crawler-transporter has been positioned just outside the VAB’s mammoth doors and will move inside later today so the stack can be placed on its sizeable back for the move. The rollout at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida will take about six hours.
Discovery’s crew of six astronauts are to perform an integrated entry simulation today at their training base at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
NASA TV will cover the rollout this evening beginning at 8 p.m. Coverage will continue until it gets dark at Kennedy.