KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Under post-dawn cloudy skies, Space Shuttle Discovery, resting on the Mobile Launcher Platform, begins rolling off Launch Pad 39B via the Crawler_Transporter underneath. At left are the Rotating and Fixed Service Structures (RSS and FSS). The 80-foot lightning mast is atop the FSS. At right is the 290-foot-tall water tower that holds 300,000 gallons of water, part of the sound suppression system during a launch. Discovery is returning to the Vehicle Assembly Buildling where it will be demated from its External Tank and lifted into the transfer aisle. On or about Ju
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Under post-dawn cloudy skies, Space Shuttle Discovery, resting on the Mobile Launcher Platform, begins rolling off Launch Pad 39B via the Crawler_Transporter underneath. At left are the Rotating and Fixed Service Structures (RSS and FSS). The 80-foot lightning mast is atop the FSS. At right is the 290-foot-tall water tower that holds 300,000 gallons of water, part of the sound suppression system during a launch. Discovery is returning to the Vehicle Assembly Buildling where it will be demated from its External Tank and lifted into the transfer aisle. On or about June 7, Discovery will be lifted and attached to its new tank and Solid Rocket Boosters, which are already in the VAB. Only the 15th rollback in Space Shuttle Program history, the journey allows additional modifications to be made to the External Tank prior to a safe Return to Flight. Discovery is expected to be rolled back to the launch pad in mid-June for Return to Flight mission STS-114. The launch window extends from July 13 to July 31.
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