Vehicle Assembly Building | Space Shuttle Program Credit:…

Vehicle Assembly Building | Space Shuttle Program
Credit: NASA

In a high bay in the Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Discovery is in position beside its external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters and ready to be released from the lifting device.Next, Discovery will be attached to the tank and boosters completing the STS-131 shuttle stack. Rollout to Launch Pad 39A is planned for March 2. The seven-member STS-131 crew will deliver the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo, filled with resupply stowage platforms and racks, to the International Space Station aboard space shuttle Discovery. Work to attach a spare ammonia tank assembly to the station’s exterior and return a European experiment from outside the station’s Columbus module will be conducted during three spacewalks. STS-131, targeted for launch on April 5, will be the 33rd shuttle mission to the station and the 131st shuttle mission overall. Photo taken Feb 23, 2010