CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the payload changeout room, or PCR, on Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers prepare for the transfer of the cargo inside the payload canister, at left. Two of the four carriers seen behind the workers are the Orbital Replacement Unit Carrier (top) and the Super Lightweight Interchangeable Carrier. The cargo will be transferred into the PCR via the payload ground-handling mechanism, or PGHM. The PGHM removes payloads from a transportation canister and installs them into the shuttle. It is essentially NASA’s largest fork-lift. Atlantis is targeted to launch Oct. 10. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann
Location Kennedy Space Center, FL
Date September 22, 2008