KSC-97PC1666

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The orbiter Atlantis sits atop the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft at Kennedy Space Center’s (KSC’s) Shuttle Landing Facility. Atlantis is being prepared for its ferry flight to Palmdale, Calif., for its Orbiter Maintenance Down Period at Palmdale’s Orbiter Assembly Facility, where it will remain until August 1998. There, modifications and structural inspections will be conducted in preparation for Atlantis’ future missions to support International Space Station assembly activities. Atlantis’ next flight into space is scheduled to be Space Shuttle mission STS-92, targeted for launch from KSC in January 1999