KSC-2011-8261

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The high-fidelity space shuttle model which was on display at the NASA Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida backs through the Press Site parking lot toward Kennedy's Launch Complex 39 turn basin. Behind it, the Vehicle Assembly Building towers 525 feet into the sky. The shuttle was part of a display at the visitor complex that also included an external tank and two solid rocket boosters that were used to show visitors the size of actual space shuttle components. The full-scale shuttle model is being transferred from Kennedy to Space Center Houston, NASA Johnson Space Center's visitor center. The model will stay at the turn basin for a few months until it is ready to be transported to Texas via barge. The move also helps clear the way for the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex to begin construction of a new facility next year to display space shuttle Atlantis in 2013. For more information about Space Center Houston, visit http://www.spacecenter.org. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis