KSC-2012-1972

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In the Orbiter Processing Facility-3 engine shop at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, preparations are under way to load the transportation canister containing the last Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne space shuttle main engine, or SSME, onto a flatbed truck for shipment to NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. The first two groups of engines were shipped from Kennedy to Stennis in November 2011 and January 2012 the remaining engines departed today. Altogether, 15 shuttle-era engines will be stored at Stennis for reuse on NASA’s Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket, under development. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis