KSC-08pd0668

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- With the rotating service structure rolled away on Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, space shuttle Endeavour is in full view. First motion was at 8:23 a.m. and rollback was complete at 8:55 a.m. Behind the shuttle with its large, orange external tank is the blue Atlantic Ocean. Extending toward Endeavour from the left is the orbiter access arm with the White Room at the end, flush against the shuttle. The crew gains access into the orbiter through the White Room. The rotating structure provides protected access to the orbiter for changeout and servicing of payloads at the pad. The structure is supported by a rotating bridge that pivots about a vertical axis on the west side of the pad's flame trench. After the RSS is rolled back, the orbiter is ready for fuel cell activation and external tank cryogenic propellant loading operations. The pad is cleared to the perimeter gate for operations to fill the external tank with about 500,000 gallons of cryogenic propellants used by the shuttle’s main engines. This is done at the pad approximately eight hours before the scheduled launch. Endeavour and its crew will deliver the first section of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory and the Canadian Space Agency's two-armed robotic system, Dextre. Launch is scheduled for 2:28 a.m. EDT March 11. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett