Space shuttle Discovery rolls out of the Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB, at NASAâs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, into darkness for its trip to the Shuttle Landing Facility, or SLF. Its move got under way at 5 a.m. EDT. Discovery was in storage in the VABâs high bay 4 awaiting departure from Kennedyâs Launch Complex 39 area for the final time. At the SLF, Discovery will be hoisted onto a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, or SCA, with the aid of a mate-demate device. The SCA, a modified Boeing 747 jet airliner, is scheduled to transport Discovery to the Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia on April 17, after which the shuttle will be placed on permanent public display in the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. For more information on shuttle transition and retirement activities, visit www.nasa.gov/transition. Photo credit: (NASA/Kim Shiflett)
