WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

Preparations are under way to separate space shuttle Atlantis from the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, or SCA, underneath via the mate/demate device on the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A hoist is attached to Atlantis to lower the shuttle to the ground. Atlantis returned from California atop the SCA, a modified Boeing 747, after its May 24 landing at Edwards Air Force Base, concluding mission STS-125. The ferry flight from Edwards Air Force Base began June 1. Atlantis' next assignment is the STS-129 mission, targeted to launch in November 2009.