Shuttle Discovery

Pre-Flight Activities, Rarely Seen by the General Public


These photos deserve a wide viewing audience: the amount of thought and engineering that goes into every launch is immense; each successful take-off represents the Mankind's finest effort, and is a wonder to behold.


 

External tank arrives by barge from Louisiana:










External tank approaches Vertical Assembly Building (VAB):





Removing external tank:




















Preparing to lift the tank to vertical:





Lifting the tank:





Solid rockets are attached:





Orbiter: External tank with Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB):





Engines are attached to the shuttle in the Orbiter Processing Facility:




















Shuttle in sling ready for lift in VAB:





Shuttle has been moved to VAB and will be attached to external tank:










Shuttle is attached:




















Payload Preparation in Space Station Processing Facility:










Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM):





Payload carrier leaves Canister Rotation Facility:










Payload being moved to Launch Pad:










Lifting payload into position for insertion into "Discovery" 
when it arrives at the pad:















Shuttle "Discovery" leaves VAB:










Trip to launch: 
Length - 3 1/2 mi
Time - 6-8 hours
Arrow indicates the Launch Pad. 










Crawler Control










"Discovery" arrives at Pad:





Payload is also inside the Launch Pad:




















Ready for Launch:





We Have Lift Off !