KSC-2009-2615

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, cranes lift space shuttle Endeavour in order to raise it to vertical. Once vertical, the shuttle will be lifted into High Bay 1, then lowered and attached to the external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters already installed on the mobile launcher platform. Endeavour is scheduled to roll out to Launch Pad 39B on April 17. Endeavour will be prepared on the pad for liftoff in the unlikely event that a rescue mission is necessary following space shuttle Atlantis' launch on the STS-125 mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. After Atlantis is cleared to land, Endeavour will move to Launch Pad 39A for its upcoming STS-127 mission to the International Space Station, targeted to launch in mid-June. Photo credit: NASA/Troy Cryder