KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- As Space Shuttle Atlantis begins its crawl back to the Vehicle Assembly Building, work continues on the Fixed Service Structure at Launch Pad 39A. Atlantis’ return to the VAB was determined by Shuttle managers so that inspections, continuity checks and X-ray analysis can be conducted on the 36 solid rocket booster cables located inside each booster’s system tunnel. An extensive evaluation of NASA’s SRB cable inventory revealed conductor damage in four (of about 200) cables on the shelf. The launch has been rescheduled no earlier than Feb. 6
Album Atlantis