S89-41091 (18 July 1989) --- During the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT), STS-28 crew members are assisted with suiting up in the Operations and Checkout Building prior to departing for pad 39-B. STS-28 and the Space Shuttle Columbia are scheduled to be launched in early August on a Department of Defense dedicated mission. The crew for STS-28 are Commander Brewster H. Shaw; Pilot Richard N. Richards; and Mission Specialists Mark N. Brown, James C. Adamson, and David C. Leestma.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Framed by trees and palmetto scrub, Space Shuttle Columbia is viewed atop its Mobile Launcher Platform as it rolls out to Launch Pad 39A. Underneath is the crawler-transporter, which carries the multi-ton vehicles to the launch pad. Columbia is scheduled to be launched Feb. 28 on mission STS-109, a Hubble Servicing Mission. The goal of the mission is to replace Solar Array 2 with Solar Array 3, replace the Power Control Unit, remove the Faint Object Camera and install the ACS, install the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) Cooling System, and install New Outer Blanket Layer insulation

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility, Atlantis is ready to be rolled out on its transporter and moved to the Vehicle Assembly Building. In the VAB, the orbiter will be lifted into high bay 3 for mating to the external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters. Atlantis' launch window begins Aug. 28. During its 11-day mission to the International Space Station, the STS-115 crew of six astronauts will install the Port 3/4 truss segment with its two large solar arrays. Photo credit: NASA/Charisse Nahser

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- A grey sky silhouettes Space Shuttle Columbia, atop its Mobile Launcher Platform, as it rolls out to Launch Pad 39A. Underneath is the crawler-transporter, which carries the multi-ton vehicles to the pad. In the grass behind the towering structures are two white herons. Columbia is scheduled to be launched Feb. 28 on mission STS-109, a Hubble Servicing Mission. The goal of the mission is to replace Solar Array 2 with Solar Array 3, replace the Power Control Unit, remove the Faint Object Camera and install the ACS, install the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) Cooling System, and install New Outer Blanket Layer insulation

JSC2001-E-05535 (28 February 2001) --- The STS-102 crew fields questions from various news media representatives at a press briefing at the Johnson Space Center (JSC). From the right are astronauts James D. Wetherbee, mission commander; James M. Kelly, pilot; and Andrew S.W. Thomas and Paul W. Richards, both mission specialists. Out of frame at left are cosmonaut Yury V. Usachev, and astronauts James S. Voss and Susan J. Helms, all of whom will fulfill STS-102 mission specialist rolls until some point after the Space Shuttle Discovery links up with the International Space Station (ISS). Expedition Two commander Usachev, representing Rosaviakosmos, will join Voss and Helms in the first crew exchange aboard the Earth-orbiting International Space Station (ISS).

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Space shuttle Discovery, mounted to a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, slowly rolls out to the runway of the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The duo is set to begin their 3 1/2 hour ferry flight to the Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia at about 7 a.m. EDT. Discovery is leaving Kennedy after more than 28 years of service beginning with its arrival on the space coast Nov. 9, 1983. Discovery first launched to space Aug. 30, 1984, on the STS-41D mission. Discovery is the agency's most-flown shuttle with 39 missions, more than 148 million miles and a total of one year in space. Discovery is set to move to the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center on April 19 where it will be placed on public display. 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/Jim Grossmann