KSC-2011-6400

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttles Discovery and Endeavour, their noses encased in protective plastic where their forward reaction control systems (FRCS) once resided, pause outside Orbiter Processing Facility-3 (OPF-3) for a unique photo opportunity. Discovery, which temporarily was being stored in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), is switching places with Endeavour, which has been undergoing decommissioning in OPF-1. Discovery then will be rolled into OPF-1 and Endeavour into the VAB. In OPF-1, Discovery will undergo further preparations for public display at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia. Endeavour will be stored in the VAB until October when it will be moved into OPF-2 for further work to get it ready for public display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann