After a delay of about eight hours because of technical issues and weather, space shuttle Discovery today was rolled from its processing hangar to the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center. The move sets up the spacecraft to be mated with an external tank and solid rocket boosters on Thursday.
Then, mounted on an mobile launcher platform, the shuttle is expected to ride to launch pad 39A next Wednesday in advance of a targeted Feb. 12 launch to the International Space Station.
A 76-wheeled, 107-foot long transporter carried Discovery less than a quarter mile, a trip that began just before 2:30 p.m. and ended about 50 minutes later. The move, which was originally scheduled to start at 6:30 a.m., was delayed first when workers overnight replaced Discovery's left outboard tire, which had lost some air pressure.
Later, technicians examined landing gear on the orbiter's right side to make sure a cable was positioned properly.
By early afternoon, rain showers swept over Cape Canaveral, preventing a move.
But after the rain stopped, workers rolled the 25-year-old spaceship into position.
Discovery's 14-day mission will carry the last pair of American solar wings to the space station.
Earlier today, workers in the Space Station Processing Facility loaded the truss segment holding the packed solar arrays into a canister for transportation to the launch pad, planned over the weekend.
IMAGE NOTES: Click on the images to enlarge them. The shuttle Discovery this afternoon was moved from Orbiter Processing Facility No. 3 to the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center. Photo credit: Mike Brown, Florida Today.
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