KSC-2011-5525

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In Orbiter Processing Facility-2, or OPF-2, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers prepare to tow space shuttle Discovery to the Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB. Protective plastic covers the nose of Discovery where its forward reaction control system (FRCS) once resided. Discovery's FRCS was removed and shipped to White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico for a full cleaning and deservicing before it is returned to Kennedy and reinstalled. Discovery will be stored inside the VAB for approximately one month while shuttle Atlantis undergoes processing in OPF-2 following its final mission, STS-135. Discovery flew its 39th and final mission, STS-133, in February and March 2011, and currently is being prepared for public display at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia. For more information about Discovery's Transition and Retirement, visit www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/launch/discovery_rss_collection_archive_1.html. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann