WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

In the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building, workers check under the nose of the orbiter Discovery as the 175-ton bridge crane slowly lifts Discovery off the orbiter transporter. Discovery is being lifted to vertical for the remate with the new External Tank, ET-121, and Solid Rocket Boosters in high bay 3. That tank was originally scheduled to fly with Atlantis on the second Return to Flight mission, STS-121. A new heater was added to the tank's feedline bellows, part of the pipeline that carries the liquid oxygen to the orbiters main engines, to minimize the potential for ice and frost buildup. After the remate, technicians will work final closeouts on the fully assembled Space Shuttle stack, and perform liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen electrical mates and an interface verification test. Discovery is currently scheduled to return to Launch Pad 39B on June 13.