KSC-2009-4397

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Workers in the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida wait patiently by the crawler-transporter for the decision to start rolling space shuttle Discovery to Launch Pad 39A. Rollout was delayed approximately 2 hours due to lightning in the area. First motion out of the Vehicle Assembly Building was at 2:07 a.m. EDT Aug. 4. The 3.4-mile journey was slower than usual as technicians stopped several times to clear mud from the crawler's treads and bearings. Discovery's 13-day flight will deliver a new crew member and 33,000 pounds of equipment to the International Space Station. The equipment includes science and storage racks, a freezer to store research samples, a new sleeping compartment and the COLBERT treadmill. Launch of Discovery on its STS-128 mission is targeted for late August. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis