Live at KSC: Two birds perched on twin pads

NASA space shuttles are simultaneously perched on the twin launch pads at Kennedy Space Center today -- a first since 2001 and perhaps the last time before the nation's shuttle fleet is retired in 2010.

See a gallery of high-resolution photos from the rollout.

Endeavour rolled up on to Launch Complex 39B and was hard down on the pad at 6:59 a.m. today after an overnight move from the KSC Vehicle Assembly Building. First motion in the VAB was at 11:15 p.m. Thursday.

The shuttle is being readied to fly a rescue mission should Atlantis -- which is 1.6 miles away on Launch Complex 39A -- sustain serious damage during its upcoming mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. Atlantis and seven astronauts are scheduled to launch from pad 39A on Oct. 10.

If no rescue mission is required, Endeavour will roll around to pad 39A on Oct. 25 and then be readied for a planned Nov. 12 launch on an International Space Station outfitting mission.

Click to enlarge and save the awesome shot of Atlantis (left) and Endeavour (right). The image was captured by Florida Today photographer Michael R. Brown this morning.

An even better media photo opportunity might present itself Saturday morning. There's a chance that the stars will align and the Rotating Service Structures at both pads will be retracted away from the vehicles, opening up a clear shot of both birds.

The 10-story-tall service structure at pad 39B will remain open so engineers can test Endeavour's three Auxiliary Power Units. A "hot-fire" is scheduled to take place later today and then the structure will remain open through about 10 a.m. Saturday.

As it turns out, the service structure at pad 39A is going to swing open after the cargo for the Hubble mission is delivered from the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility in the KSC Industrial Area. A payload transporter is scheduled to deliver the cargo to the pad late today or early Satruday.

The bottom line: The service structures are expected to be retracted at both pads between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. Saturday. The bus tours at the KSC Visitor Complex don't start until 10 a.m., but people driving down the Beach Road at Canaveral National Seashore might have an opportunity to see the shuttles. The park opens at 6 a.m.

This is the 17th time shuttles have been on 39A and 39B simultaneously. For an official NASA list, click here: Shuttles On Both Pads.

At least two of those instances produced opportunities to view shuttles on both pads with the Rotating Services Structures retracted. One was September 1990 when Columbia was on pad B and Discovery was on pad A.

And thanks to the reader who noted that Discovery and Endeavour were on pads 39B and 39A for this shot back in 1994, and sent along this photo: