KSC-2011-5610

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Mobile Launcher Platform-3 (MLP), which supported space shuttle Atlantis for its final flight to the International Space Station on the STS-135 mission, is making its last journey from Launch Pad 39A into the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) atop a massive crawler-transporter. Seen also is the Space Shuttle Program's Launch Control Center (left). For more than 40 years, the MLPs have traveled between the VAB to both launch pads at Launch Complex 39, and then returned to the VAB for future use. MLP-3 was first used to launch Columbia on the STS-32 mission on Jan. 9, 1990. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann