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NASA's Space Shuttle Discovery to Move to Launch Pad Wednesday

Posted on: Thursday, 8 January 2009, 07:00 CST

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Jan. 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Space shuttle Discovery is scheduled to roll out to Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday, Jan. 14, as preparations for the STS-119 mission move forward. Discovery is targeted to lift off Feb. 12 to the International Space Station.

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The first motion of the shuttle out of Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building is scheduled for 4 a.m. EST. The fully assembled space shuttle, consisting of the orbiter, external fuel tank and twin solid rocket boosters, was mounted on a mobile launcher platform. It will be delivered to the pad atop a crawler transporter that will travel slower than 1 mph during the 3.4-mile journey. The process is expected to take approximately six hours.

NASA Television will provide live coverage of Discovery's rollout to the launch pad beginning at 6:30 a.m. Video highlights of the rollout will air on NASA TV's Video File.

News media are invited to photograph the shuttle's move to the pad and interview Discovery Flow Director Stephanie Stilson at 8:30 a.m., Wednesday. Dates and times of this event are subject to change. Updates are available by calling 321-867-2525.

News media must arrive at Kennedy's news center by 6 a.m., Wednesday, for transportation to the viewing area. Foreign news media accreditation for the event is closed. Foreign media with credentials must arrive at the Pass and I-D Building on State Road 3 by 6 a.m. for transportation to the news center.

U.S. media without permanent Kennedy Space Center credentials must apply for accreditation online by 4 p.m., Monday, Jan. 12, at:

https://media.ksc.nasa.gov

News media must pick up badges by 4 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 13, at the new Kennedy Badging Office on State Road 405, west of Gate 3, just past the Kennedy Visitor's Complex.

During Discovery's 14-day mission, the crew will install the S6 truss segment and its solar arrays to the starboard side of the station, completing the station's backbone, or truss. Discovery's crew members are Commander Lee Archambault, Pilot Tony Antonelli and Mission Specialists Joseph Acaba, Steve Swanson, Richard Arnold, John Phillips and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata.

For NASA TV downlink information, schedules and links to streaming video, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For more information about the STS-119 mission and crew, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

SOURCE NASA

Source: PR Newswire

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