KSC-08pd1069

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Positioned on its 12-wheeled, 24-tire transporter, the payload canister with the STS-124 mission payload, Japanese Experiment Module - Pressurized Module and the Japanese Remote Manipulator System, or RMS, inside, begins its slow journey to Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. At the pad, the payload will be transferred into the payload changeout room on the rotating service structure. The transporter is 65 feet long and 23 feet wide. The transporter’s wheels are independently steerable, permitting it to move forward, backward, sideways or diagonally and to turn on its own axis like a carousel. It is equipped with pneumatic-actuated braking and hydrostat¬ic leveling and drive systems. It is steered from a two-seat operator cab mounted at one end. From the payload changeout room, the pressurized module and RMS then will be transferred into space shuttle Discovery’s payload bay. Launch is targeted for May 31. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett