Saturday, September 20, 2008

Space shuttle Atlantis stands ready for launch at Kennedy Space Center's Pad 39A in the foreground, while in the background, at Pad 39B 1.6 miles away, Endeavour begins preps for a potential rescue mission to Atlantis if she is found damaged during next month's flight to the Hubble Space Telescope.
NASA / Troy Cryder

TWO BIRDS, READY FOR FLIGHT... At 3:59 AM, Pacific Time yesterday, space shuttle Endeavour arrived at Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39B to begin preps for a potential rescue mission (STS-400) if Atlantis is found damaged during her flight to the Hubble Space Telescope. Atlantis herself has been at Pad 39A since September 4, and is still on track for an October 9 launch to HST.

Space shuttle Atlantis stands ready for launch at Kennedy Space Center's Pad 39A in the foreground, while in the background, at Pad 39B 1.6 miles away, Endeavour begins preps for a potential rescue mission to Atlantis if she is found damaged during next month's flight to the Hubble Space Telescope.
NASA / Troy Cryder

If Atlantis is found to be unscathed during STS-125, Endeavour will be rolled over to Pad 39A, and begin preparations for her next official flight, STS-126. 39B will then officially be handed over to NASA’s Constellation program, and will be the site of next year’s launch of the Ares I-X rocket. Ares, in case you didn’t know, is the vehicle that will hopefully launch American astronauts back to the Moon by 2020. Hopefully.

Space shuttle Atlantis stands ready for launch at Kennedy Space Center's Pad 39A in the foreground, while in the background, at Pad 39B 1.6 miles away, Endeavour begins preps for a potential rescue mission to Atlantis if she is found damaged during next month's flight to the Hubble Space Telescope.
FLORIDA TODAY / Michael R. Brown

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