KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Under a clear blue sky, Space Shuttle Discovery is ready for launch of mission STS-116 from Launch Pad 39B. At far left is the rotating service structure, rolled back to enable launch. Beneath Discovery's wings are the tail masts, which provide several umbilical connections to the orbiter, including a liquid-oxygen line through one and a liquid-hydrogen line through another. Seen above the golden external tank is the vent hood (known as the "beanie cap") at the end of the gaseous oxygen vent arm, extending from the FSS. Vapors are created as the liquid oxygen in the external tank boil off. The hood vents the gaseous oxygen vapors away from the space shuttle vehicle. Below it, also extending toward Discovery from the FSS, is the orbiter access arm with the White Room at the end. The crew gains access into the orbiter through the White Room. Discovery is scheduled to launch on mission STS-116 at 9:35 p.m. today. On the mission, the crew will deliver truss segment, P5, to the International Space Station and begin the intricate process of reconfiguring and redistributing the power generated by two pairs of U.S. solar arrays. The P5 will be mated to the P4 truss that was delivered and attached during the STS-115 mission in September. Photo credit: NASA/Ken Thornsley KSC-06pd2672

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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Space Shuttle Atlantis and the mobile launch platform on which it is secured are positioned over the flame trench at Launch Pad 39A. First motion out of the Vehicle Assembly Building was at 4:43 a.m. EST, and the shuttle was hard down on the pad at 11:51 a.m. Rollout is a milestone for Atlantis' launch to the International Space Station on mission STS-122, targeted for Dec. 6. On this mission, Atlantis will deliver the Columbus module to the International Space Station. The European Space Agency's largest contribution to the station, Columbus is a multifunctional, pressurized laboratory that will be permanently attached to U.S. Node 2, called Harmony. The module is approximately 23 feet long and 15 feet wide, allowing it to hold 10 large racks of experiments. The laboratory will expand the research facilities aboard the station, providing crew members and scientists from around the world the ability to conduct a variety of experiments in the physical, materials and life sciences. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett KSC-07pd3276

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the late afternoon shadows, space shuttle Atlantis is still poised on the pad after its launch on mission STS-122 was postponed Thursday. It sits atop the mobile launcher platform. Shuttle program managers decided at 9:56 a.m. to postpone the launch because of an issue with a fuel cut-off sensor system inside the external fuel tank. This is one of several systems that protect the shuttle's main engines by triggering their shut down if fuel runs unexpectedly low. During countdown activities this morning, two sensors failed a routine prelaunch check. There are four engine cut-off, or ECO, sensors inside the liquid hydrogen section of the tank, and Launch Commit Criteria require three of the four sensor systems to be functioning properly. The tank's liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen was drained from the tank, and preparations will begin for a possible launch attempt Friday. NASA's launch rules have a preplanned procedure that states in the case of ECO sensor system failure, engineers need to drain the tank and verify all the sensors are working as they go dry. Atlantis carries the Columbus Laboratory, the European Space Agency's largest contribution to the construction of the space station. When permanently attached to Node 2, the laboratory will carry out experiments in materials science, fluid physics and biosciences, as well as perform a number of technological applications, in a microgravity environment. Photo credit: NASA/George Shelton KSC-07pd3584

View of the STS-102 orbiter Discovery after undocking with the ISS

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- Space Shuttle Atlantis begins rolling out of the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39A. The Shuttle has been in the VAB undergoing tests on the solid rocket booster cables. A prior extensive evaluation of NASA’s SRB cable inventory on the shelf revealed conductor damage in four (of about 200) cables. Shuttle managers decided to prove the integrity of the system tunnel cables already on Atlantis, causing return of the Shuttle to the VAB a week ago. Launch of Atlantis on STS-98 has been rescheduled to Feb. 7 at 6:11 p.m. EST KSC01pp0179

Space Shuttle Discovery: STS-119 Approach OPS

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the early morning hours, Space Shuttle Atlantis, with its solid rocket boosters and orange external tank, sits atop the Mobile Launcher Platform ready to roll to the launch pad. Atlantis began its rollout to Launch Pad 39B at 2:27 a.m. EDT in preparation for launch to the International Space Station. The Shuttle arrived at the Pad and was hard down at 9:38 a.m. Launch is scheduled no earlier than Oct. 2 for mission STS-112, the 15th assembly flight to the International Space Station. Atlantis will carry the S1 Integrated Truss Structure, which will be attached to the central truss segment, the S0 truss, during the mission. KSC-02pd1289

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Under a clear blue sky, Space Shuttle Discovery is ready for launch of mission STS-116 from Launch Pad 39B. At far left is the rotating service structure, rolled back to enable launch. Beneath Discovery's wings are the tail masts, which provide several umbilical connections to the orbiter, including a liquid-oxygen line through one and a liquid-hydrogen line through another. Seen above the golden external tank is the vent hood (known as the "beanie cap") at the end of the gaseous oxygen vent arm, extending from the FSS. Vapors are created as the liquid oxygen in the external tank boil off. The hood vents the gaseous oxygen vapors away from the space shuttle vehicle. Below it, also extending toward Discovery from the FSS, is the orbiter access arm with the White Room at the end. The crew gains access into the orbiter through the White Room. Discovery is scheduled to launch on mission STS-116 at 9:35 p.m. today. On the mission, the crew will deliver truss segment, P5, to the International Space Station and begin the intricate process of reconfiguring and redistributing the power generated by two pairs of U.S. solar arrays. The P5 will be mated to the P4 truss that was delivered and attached during the STS-115 mission in September. Photo credit: NASA/Ken Thornsley KSC-06pd2672

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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Under a clear blue sky, Space Shuttle Discovery is ready for launch of mission STS-116 from Launch Pad 39B. At far left is the rotating service structure, rolled back to enable launch. Beneath Discovery's wings are the tail masts, which provide several umbilical connections to the orbiter, including a liquid-oxygen line through one and a liquid-hydrogen line through another. Seen above the golden external tank is the vent hood (known as the "beanie cap") at the end of the gaseous oxygen vent arm, extending from the FSS. Vapors are created as the liquid oxygen in the external tank boil off. The hood vents the gaseous oxygen vapors away from the space shuttle vehicle. Below it, also extending toward Discovery from the FSS, is the orbiter access arm with the White Room at the end. The crew gains access into the orbiter through the White Room. Discovery is scheduled to launch on mission STS-116 at 9:35 p.m. today. On the mission, the crew will deliver truss segment, P5, to the International Space Station and begin the intricate process of reconfiguring and redistributing the power generated by two pairs of U.S. solar arrays. The P5 will be mated to the P4 truss that was delivered and attached during the STS-115 mission in September. Photo credit: NASA/Ken Thornsley

Space Shuttle Program

The Space Shuttle program was the United States government's manned launch vehicle program from 1981 to 2011, administered by NASA and officially beginning in 1972. The Space Shuttle system—composed of an orbiter launched with two reusable solid rocket boosters and a disposable external fuel tank— carried up to eight astronauts and up to 50,000 lb (23,000 kg) of payload into low Earth orbit (LEO). When its mission was complete, the orbiter would re-enter the Earth's atmosphere and lands as a glider. Although the concept had been explored since the late 1960s, the program formally commenced in 1972 and was the focus of NASA's manned operations after the final Apollo and Skylab flights in the mid-1970s. It started with the launch of the first shuttle Columbia on April 12, 1981, on STS-1. and finished with its last mission, STS-135 flown by Atlantis, in July 2011.