- LIVE: Refresh this page to see a current picture of ongoing work on shuttle Discovery at Pad 39B.
It's been almost a year, but a spaceship is perched on a launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center once again. Shuttle Discovery crawled for nearly eight hours, sliding into final position at Pad 39B about 8:30 p.m. The launch platform then lowered to its pedestals. You can see Chris Kridler's video report on rollout here.
After the shuttle left its assembly building at 12:45 p.m. this afternoon, shuttle program manager Wayne Hale fielded questions from a gaggle of reporters.
Hale says early structural analyses indicate it will be safe to fly the redesigned external tank without the PAL ramp, which was removed because a piece of it came off during the return to flight launch last summer and nearly hit the orbiter's wing.
However, Hale is holding final judgment until all of the analyses are finished and all of his experts have weighed in. The PAL ramp and other foam-debris concerns will be the subject of many meetings between now and the planned July 1 launch.
Hale hopes to launch three shuttle missions before the end of the year.
MORE ROLLOUT EXTRAS:
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