NASA to mate shuttle tank, boosters

NASA is preparing to hoist the external tank for its next shuttle mission and connect it to a pair of solid rocket boosters in Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building.

Operating an overhead crane, NASA contractor technicians are scheduled to lift the tank off a transporter in the transfer aisle of the 52-story building later today.

The crane operators then will ease the tank between two 149-foot solid rocket boosters already stacked atop a mobile launcher platform in one of the building's huge integration cells. Mechanical and electrical connections will follow.

The mating operation is a key milestone in NASA plans to launch Discovery on the agency's second post-Columbia test flight during a window that will extend from July 1 through July 19.

The orbiter Discovery now is scheduled to move from its processing hangar to the assembly building on May 12. The fully assembled shuttle is to be rolled out to the launch pad on May 19.

Still ahead: NASA must complete wind tunnel tests aimed at proving safety modifications made to the 15-story tank will work as intended. Those tests are ongoing at the U.S. Air Force's Arnold Engineering Development Center in Tullahoma, Tenn.