KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- United Space Alliance technician Larry Tanner uses a contour tool to determine the fit needed for the gap filler against the orbiter’s frame. Discovery is being processed in Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 3 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. This work is being performed due to two gap fillers that were protruding from the underside of Discovery on the first Return to Flight mission, STS-114. New installation procedures have been developed to ensure the gap fillers stay in place and do not pose any hazard during the shuttle's re-entry to the atmosphere. Discovery is the scheduled orbiter for the second space shuttle mission in the return-to-flight sequence.
Location Kennedy Space Center, FL
Date December 14, 2005