spacetoday.net: Discovery rolled out to launch pad

Discovery rolled out to launch pad

Posted: Mon, Oct 1, 2007, 8:00 AM ET (1200 GMT)
STS-120: rollout (NASA/KSC)

NASA rolled the space shuttle Discovery out to the launch pad on Sunday in advance of a mission scheduled for launch later this month. Discovery made the five-kilometer trip to pad 39A Sunday, leaving the Vehicle Assembly Building at 6:47 am EDT (1047 GMT) and arriving at the pad six and a half hours later. The rollout was scheduled for last week but was delayed to accommodate the replacement of hydraulic seals in a landing gear strut. Despite the delay, the mission is still scheduled for launch on its original launch date, October 23, although there is now little slack in the schedule in the event of additional problems during launch preparations. The STS-120 mission will deliver a new node module, Harmony, to the International Space Station as well as move a solar panel to its permanent location on the station's truss.