CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The space shuttle Endeavour approaches sister shuttle Atlantis for a brief photo opportunity at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Endeavour moved from Bay 2 of the Orbiter Processing Facility to switch places with Atlantis which had been in Vehicle Assembly Building VAB. In the VAB, Endeavour will undergo final preparations for its cross-country ferry flight targeted for mid-September. The work is part of Transition and Retirement of the remaining space shuttles, Endeavour and Atlantis. Endeavour is being prepared for public display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Endeavour was the last space shuttle added to NASA’s orbiter fleet. Over the course of its 19-year career, Endeavour spent 299 days in space during 25 missions. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/transition Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis KSC-2012-4481

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Space shuttle Discovery is towed into position at the mate-demate device, or MDD, at the Shuttle Landing Facility, or SLF, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The MDD is a large gantry-like steel structure used to hoist a shuttle off the ground and position it onto the back of an SCA. The SCA is a Boeing 747 jet, originally manufactured for commercial use, which was modified by NASA to transport the shuttles between destinations on Earth. The SCA designated NASA 905 is assigned to the remaining ferry missions, delivering the shuttles to their permanent public display sites. Discovery’s new home will be the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va. For more information on the SCA, visit http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/news/FactSheets/FS-013-DFRC.html. For more information on shuttle transition and retirement activities, visit http://www.nasa.gov/transition. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis KSC-2012-2099

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Atlantis is suspended by a crane while its transporter is moved away from the transfer aisle. The shuttle will be raised to a vertical position and lifted into High Bay 3 where it will be attached to its external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters on the mobile launcher platform. After additional preparations are made, the shuttle will be rolled out to Launch Pad 39A for a targeted launch on May 12 on the STS-125 Hubble servicing mission. Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston KSC-2009-2264

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Preparations are under way to lift space shuttle Endeavour into the mate-demate device at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The shuttle will be positioned and connected to the top of NASA's Shuttle Carrier Aircraft with the aid of the device. The SCA, a modified 747 jetliner, will fly Endeavour to Los Angeles where it will be placed on public display at the California Science Center. This is the final ferry flight scheduled in the Space Shuttle Program era. For more information on the shuttles' transition and retirement, visit http://www.nasa.gov/transition. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis KSC-2012-5181

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Space shuttle Endeavour is backed away from the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida so that it can be towed to Orbiter Processing Facility-2 (OPF-2). Shuttle Endeavour will remain in OPF-2 so that the orbiter maneuvering system (OMS) pods and forward reaction control system can be installed. Technicians also will offload water and Freon gas from lines located in Endeavour’s midbody. The work is part of Endeavour’s transition and retirement processing. The spacecraft is being prepared for public display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Endeavour flew 25 missions, spent 299 days in space, orbited Earth 4,671 times and traveled 122, 883, 151 miles over the course of its 19-year career. Endeavour’s STS-134 and final mission was completed after landing on June 1, 2011. Photo credit: Kim Shiflett KSC-2012-1188

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, cranes lift space shuttle Endeavour in order to raise it to vertical. Once vertical, the shuttle will be lifted into High Bay 1, then lowered and attached to the external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters already installed on the mobile launcher platform. Endeavour is scheduled to roll out to Launch Pad 39B on April 17. Endeavour will be prepared on the pad for liftoff in the unlikely event that a rescue mission is necessary following space shuttle Atlantis' launch on the STS-125 mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. After Atlantis is cleared to land, Endeavour will move to Launch Pad 39A for its upcoming STS-127 mission to the International Space Station, targeted to launch in mid-June. Photo credit: NASA/Troy Cryder KSC-2009-2615

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At Edwards Air Force Base in California, the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, or SCA, a modified Boeing 747, is towed beneath space shuttle Atlantis, suspended in the mate/demate device. Atlantis will be bolted to the SCA for a piggyback flight to Florida. A tail cone, which protects the aft engine area and provides a more efficient aeronautical dimension during its piggyback flight, can be seen. Atlantis landed at Edwards on May 24, which concluded mission STS-125, after two landing opportunities at Kennedy were waved off due to weather concerns. Atlantis is being returned to Florida on a ferry flight on the SCA. Atlantis' next assignment is the STS-129 mission, targeted to launch in November 2009. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky KSC-2009-3457

Dimitri Gerondidakis KSC-2012-4481

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The space shuttle Endeavour approaches sister shuttle Atlantis for a brief photo opportunity at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Endeavour moved from Bay 2 of the Orbiter Processing Facility to switch places with Atlantis which had been in Vehicle Assembly Building VAB. In the VAB, Endeavour will undergo final preparations for its cross-country ferry flight targeted for mid-September. The work is part of Transition and Retirement of the remaining space shuttles, Endeavour and Atlantis. Endeavour is being prepared for public display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Endeavour was the last space shuttle added to NASA’s orbiter fleet. Over the course of its 19-year career, Endeavour spent 299 days in space during 25 missions. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/transition Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

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.