Sunday, May 04, 2008

Space shuttle Discovery makes trek out to Launch Pad 39A

Space shuttle Discovery made the long, slow trek out to Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The 3.4-mile trek is one of the last major milestones leading up to the launch of Discovery on the STS-124 mission. Launch is targeted for May 31.Carried by the slow-moving crawler-transporter, the shuttle assembly and mobile launcher platform began rolling out of the Vehicle Assembly Building at 11:47 p.m. EDT Friday night and was secured at the pad at 6:06 a.m. on Saturday.The canister carrying the STS-124 payloads arrived at the launch pad April 29. Primary payloads are the tour-bus-sized Japanese Experiment Module-Pressurized Module and the lab's robotic arm system.

The components will soon be installed in the orbiter's payload bay.The STS-124 crew members, commanded by astronaut Mark Kelly, are set to arrive at Kennedy on May 6 for the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test. The three-day event concludes May 9 with a full dress rehearsal of the launch countdown.
-Source: NASA

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