KSC-08pd1072

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – On Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the payload changeout room on the rotating service structure at center is open and ready to receive the STS-124 mission payload inside the approaching payload canister at far left. The payload is composed of the Japanese Experiment Module - Pressurized Module and the Japanese Remote Manipulator System, or RMS. The canister will be lifted up to the changeout room and the payload transferred inside. The changeout room is the enclosed, environmentally controlled portion of the service structure that supports cargo delivery to the pad and subsequent vertical installation into an orbiter's payload bay. At the pad, the payload will be transferred into the payload changeout room on the rotating service structure. The transporter is 65 feet long and 23 feet wide. The transporter’s wheels are independently steerable, permitting it to move forward, backward, sideways or diagonally and to turn on its own axis like a carousel. It is equipped with pneumatic-actuated braking and hydrostat¬ic leveling and drive systems. It is steered from a two-seat operator cab mounted at one end. From the payload changeout room, the pressurized module and RMS then will be transferred into space shuttle Discovery’s payload bay. Launch is targeted for May 31. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – On Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the payload changeout room on the rotating service structure at center is open and ready to receive the STS-124 mission payload inside the approaching payload canister at far left. The payload is composed of the Japanese Experiment Module - Pressurized Module and the Japanese Remote Manipulator System, or RMS. The canister will be lifted up to the changeout room and the payload transferred inside. The changeout room is the enclosed, environmentally controlled portion of the service structure that supports cargo delivery to the pad and subsequent vertical installation into an orbiter's payload bay. At the pad, the payload will be transferred into the payload changeout room on the rotating service structure. The transporter is 65 feet long and 23 feet wide. The transporter’s wheels are independently steerable, permitting it to move forward, backward, sideways or diagonally and to turn on its own axis like a carousel. It is equipped with pneumatic-actuated braking and hydrostat¬ic leveling and drive systems. It is steered from a two-seat operator cab mounted at one end. From the payload changeout room, the pressurized module and RMS then will be transferred into space shuttle Discovery’s payload bay. Launch is targeted for May 31. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett