Space shuttle Discovery made the long, slow trek out to Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Saturday. Carried by the slow-moving crawler-transporter, the shuttle assembly atop the mobile launcher platform began rolling out of the Vehicle Assembly Building at 11:47 p.m. EDT Friday night and was secured at the pad at 6:06 a.m. The 3.4-mile journey is one of the last major milestones leading up to the launch of Discovery on the STS-124 mission, targeted for May 31.
The canister carrying the STS-124 payloads arrived at the launch pad April 29. Primary payloads are the tour-bus-sized Japanese Experiment Module-Pressurized Module and the lab's robotic arm system. With Discovery in place at the launch pad, the payload components have been installed in the orbiter's payload bay.
The STS-124 crew members, commanded by astronaut Mark Kelly, are set to arrive at Kennedy on May 6 for the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test. The three-day event concludes May 9 with a full dress rehearsal of the launch countdown.
