Tuesday, March 29
Shuttle Discovery leaves hangar on road to launch
Space shuttle Discovery emerged from its space-age garage at the Kennedy Space Center at 2 a.m. EST (0700 GMT) this morning for the quarter-mile move to the 52-story Vehicle Assembly Building where the ship will be mated with an external fuel tank and twin solid rocket boosters over the next few days. Discovery will return the shuttle program to flight with its launch now targeted for mid-May.
Misson Status:
http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts114/status.html
NASA Return To Flight homepage:
http://www1.nasa.gov/returntoflight/main/index.html
NASA Press Release:
Discovery Takes First Step Toward Launch Pad
In the early morning hours of Tuesday, March 29, Discovery rolled over from the Orbiter Processing Facility to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. There it will be attached to its redesigned External Tank and twin Solid Rocket Boosters.
On Monday, April 4, Discovery begins its eight hour journey to launch pad 39B. Discovery's mission, STS-114, is targeted for launch in May.
"This is a tremendous accomplishment for the Space Shuttle Program," said Bill Parsons, Space Shuttle Program Manager. "This effort has taken a talented team dedicated to meticulously preparing the vehicle and implementing all the modifications for a safe Return to Flight," he added.