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 !