NASA / Jim Grossmann
ATLANTIS: Retirement Update #1... While the decommissioning of her sister ship Discovery nears completion inside Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF)-1 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, Atlantis’ retirement process continues in the adjacent OPF-2. Both Orbital Maneuvering System pods have now been removed from the orbiter since early November (as shown in the pics posted with this update), and will be sent to White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico for deservicing and cleaning before being returned to KSC for reinstallation onto Atlantis. The spacecraft is currently scheduled to be transported down the street to the KSC Visitor Complex, Atlantis’ final home, around February 1, 2013 (10 years after the loss of Columbia on STS-107). Details on the visitor complex’s preparation for Atlantis’ arrival will be discussed in the next entry.
NASA / Dimitri Gerondidakis
NASA / Dimitri Gerondidakis
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