KSC-05pd2606

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- United Space Alliance technician Gene Peavler cuts the excess gap filler away from the tile on the orbiter Discovery, which is being processed in Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 3 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. This work is being performed due to two gap fillers that were protruding from the underside of Discovery on the first Return to Flight mission, STS-114. New installation procedures have been developed to ensure the gap fillers stay in place and do not pose any hazard during the shuttle's re-entry to the atmosphere. Discovery is the scheduled orbiter for the second space shuttle mission in the return-to-flight sequence.