KSC-08PD-3276 Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

October 20, 2008) --- Space Space shuttle Atlantis rolls through the open doors of the Vehicle Assembly Building's high bay 3 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida after rolling back from Launch Pad 39A. In the VAB, Atlantis will await launch on its STS-125 mission to repair NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. First motion of Atlantis off the pad was at 6:48 a.m. EDT. The journey was expected to take about six hours. Atlantis' targeted launch on Oct. 14 was delayed when a system that transfers science data from the orbiting observatory to Earth malfunctioned on Sept. 27. The new target launch date is under review.

KSC-08PD-1109 NASA/Troy Cryder Credit: NASA/JPL

(May 3, 2008) --- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center, dawn reveals the arrival of space shuttle Discovery, secured atop the mobile launch platform below, at Launch Pad 39A to begin prelaunch processing for the STS-124 mission. The 3.4-mile journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building began at 11:47 p.m. on May 2. The shuttle arrived at the launch pad at 4:25 a.m. EDT May 3 and was secured, or hard down, by 6:06 a.m. On the 13-day mission, Discovery and its crew delivered the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Japanese Experiment Module – Pressurized Module and the Japanese Remote Manipulator System. Launch was May 31, 2008 at 5:02:12 p.m.

180842 Credit: NASA/Tony Landis

(December 3, 2008) --- Technicians monitor the positioning of a large workstand as it is carefully moved into place around the main engines of the Space Shuttle Endeavour during deservicing and ferry flight preparations at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base. The work is being done at the mate/demate device that will lift Endeavour onto the top of a modified 747 aircraft for its ferry flight back to Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

ISS005-E-21472 Credit: NASA

(25 November 2002) --- The Space Shuttle Endeavour is backdropped over Cook Strait, New Zealand as it approaches the International Space Station (ISS) during STS-113 rendezvous and docking operations. Docking occurred at 3:59 p.m. (CST) on November 25, 2002. The Port One (P1) truss, which was later to be attached to the station and outfitted during three spacewalks, can be seen in Endeavour's cargo bay. Endeavour's namesake, and her captain, First Lieutenant James Cook, moved through the waters of Cook Strait for the first time on Feb. 7, 1770.

KSC-06PD-2211 Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

The movement of Atlantis is reflected in the water next to the tow-way as the orbiter is towed from the Shuttle Landing Facility to the Orbiter Processing Facility. Umbilical lines are still attached to the orbiter. Atlantis landed on Runway 33 at 6:21:30 a.m. EDT after the 11-day, 19-hour, 6-minute mission STS-115 to the International Space Station. Atlantis traveled 4.9 million miles, landing on orbit 187. During the mission, astronauts delivered and installed the massive P3/P4 truss, an integral part of the station's backbone, and two sets of solar arrays that will eventually provide one quarter of the station's power. In the OPF, the process flow will begin to ready the vehicle for its next flight. 09/21/2006

KSC-08PD-1053 Credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

(4/26/2008) In high bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, space shuttle Discovery comes to rest on the mobile launcher platform in front of the solid rocket boosters and external tank. The stacking is in preparation for the launch on the upcoming STS-124 mission to the International Space Station. On the mission, the STS-124 crew will transport the Japanese Experiment Module - Pressurized Module and the Japanese Remote Manipulator System to the space station. Launch of Discovery is targeted for May 31 Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

S114-E-6215 Credit: NASA

(3 August 2005) --- Astronaut Stephen K. Robinson, STS-114 mission specialist, on the end of the station's Canadarm2 (out of frame), slowly and cautiously makes his way to the underside of Space Shuttle Discovery to remove gap fillers from between the orbiter's heat-shielding tiles during the mission's third of three sessions of extravehicular activity (EVA).

KSC-08PD-3013 NASA Credit: NASA/JPL

(September 20, 2008) --- A rainbow completes this unique panorama of two space shuttles on the launch pads at the same time, the first time since July 2001. At upper right is STS-126 mission’s space shuttle Endeavour, which rolled out September 19. At left is space shuttle Atlantis, preparing for its launch on the STS-125 mission to repair NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, originally targeted for October 10. Endeavour was to stand by at pad B in the unlikely event that a rescue mission is necessary during space shuttle Atlantis' upcoming mission. After Endeavour was cleared from its duty as a rescue spacecraft, it was moved to Launch Pad 39A for the STS-126 mission to the International Space Station, launched November 14.

S124-E-005407 Credit: NASA

(1 June 2008) --- Astronaut Mark Kelly, STS-124 commander, takes a moment for a photo near the commander's station on the forward flight deck of Space Shuttle Discovery during flight day two activities.

KSC-08PD-1527 Credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

(5/31/2008) Space shuttle Discovery erupts from the billowing steam below and leaps into a clear blue sky over Central Florida on its STS-124 mission to the International Space Station. Launch was on time at 5:02 p.m. EDT. Discovery is making its 35th flight. The STS-124 mission is the 26th in the assembly of the space station. It is the second of three flights launching components to complete the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory. The shuttle crew will install Kibo's large Japanese Pressurized Module and its remote manipulator system, or RMS. The 14-day flight includes three spacewalks. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

STS126-S-041 Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

(November 14, 2008) --- The moon is seen rising behind the Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-126) on pad 39A Friday, November 14, 2008, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. The Shuttle lifted off from launch pad 39A at 7:55 p.m. EST

STS126-S-035 Credit: NASA/Rusty Backer-George Roberts

(14 Nov. 2008) --- Against a black sky, the Space Shuttle Endeavour and its seven-member STS-126 crew pushes past the fixed service structure as it begins its rapid climb toward Earth orbit and a scheduled link-up with the International Space Station. Liftoff was on time at 7:55 p.m. (EST) on Nov. 14, 2008 from launch pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Onboard are astronauts Chris Ferguson, commander; Eric Boe, pilot; Steve Bowen, Shane Kimbrough, Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, Donald Pettit and Sandra Magnus, all mission specialists. Magnus will join Expedition 18 in progress to serve as a flight engineer aboard the ISS. The mission will feature four spacewalks and work that will prepare the space station to house six crew members for long-duration missions. Also KSC-08PD-3715. Photo credit: NASA/Rusty Backer-George Roberts

KSC-06PP-2896 Credit: NASA

(12/22/2006) Space Shuttle Discovery touches down on an illuminated Runway 15 at NASA Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility as the sun sets on the shortest day of the year, concluding mission STS-116. Main gear touchdown was at 5:32 p.m. EST. Nose gear touchdown was at 5:32:12 p.m. and wheel stop was at 5:32:52 p.m. At touchdown -- nominally about 2,500 ft. beyond the runway threshold -- the orbiter is traveling at a speed ranging from 213 to 226 mph. Discovery traveled 5,330,000 miles, landing on orbit 204. Mission elapsed time was 12 days, 20 hours, 44 minutes and 16 seconds. This is the 64th landing at KSC. Aboard Discovery are Commander Mark Polansky, Pilot William Oefelein, and Mission Specialists Robert Curbeam, Joan Higginbotham, Nicholas Patrick and Christer Fuglesang, who represents the European Space Agency, as well as Thomas Reiter, who is returning from a 6-month stay on the International Space Station. During the mission, three spacewalks attached the P5 integrated truss structure to the station, and completed the rewiring of the orbiting laboratory’s power system. A fourth spacewalk retracted a stubborn solar array.