Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Rain Postpones Rare Orbiter Encounter

A nose-to-nose meeting between the orbiters Discovery and Endeavour is being pushed back to Thursday as a result of bands of rain showers and thunderstorms rolling toward Kennedy Space Center.

Endeavour had been slated to roll out of of Orbiter Processing Facility Bay No. 1 at 9 a.m., and Discovery was slated to move out of the Vehicle Assembly Building. Plans called for the two spacecraft to stop briefly outside OPF Bay No. 3 for a photo opportunity.

The shuttles are being prepped for display in museums. Discovery will roost in retirement at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum annex outside Washington, D.C., and Endeavour will head to the California Science Center in Los Angeles.

The Orbital Maneuvering System and Forward Reaction Control System pods have been removed from the spacecraft for museum prep work.


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