KSC-2012-1701

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Discovery is backed out of Orbiter Processing Facility-1 for its move to the Vehicle Assembly Building VAB. The aft view of Discovery reveals the tail cone that covers the three replica shuttle main engines. The work is part of the Space Shuttle Program’s transition and retirement processing of shuttle Discovery, which is being prepared for display at Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va. Discovery will remain in high bay 4 of the VAB until its scheduled transport atop a NASA Shuttle Carrier Aircraft modified 747 jet to Dulles International Airport in Virginia on April 17. Discovery will then be transported to the Smithsonian on April 19. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann