Preparing \Return to Flight\" mission. Space shuttle Discovery arriving at Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA, on 15 June 2005.


Preparing \Return to Flight\" mission. Space shuttle Discovery arriving at Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA, on 15 June 2005. The shuttle is on a Crawler Transporter that has brought Discovery towards the inspection and service gantries (left) that will enclose it until near launch time. This is part of the preparations for mission STS-114, \"Return to Flight\", the first flight of a space shuttle since the space shuttle Columbia broke up on re-entry in February 2003. Modifications have been made to the space shuttle and fuel tank design to avoid the problems that damaged Columbia's heat shield. The shuttle launched on 26 July 2005."


Size: 1993px × 3000px
Photo credit: © NASA/KSC/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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