KSC-2009-1145

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space shuttle Discovery, atop the mobile launcher platform and crawler-transporter, reaches the top of Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. in the foreground is the flame trench, which the launcher platform will straddle for launch. At right is the rotating service structure. Behind the shuttle, the grounds of the space center spread out toward the horizon. Discovery's first motion out of the Vehicle Assembly Building was at 5:17 a.m. EST. Discovery was secured to the pad at 12:16 p.m. Discovery is targeted to launch to the International Space Station Feb. 12. During Discovery's 14-day mission, the crew will install the S6 truss segment and its solar arrays to the starboard side of the station, completing the station's backbone, or truss, enabling a six-person crew to live there starting in May. Photo credit: NASA/Troy Cryder