KSC-2011-5524

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In Orbiter Processing Facility-2, or OPF-2, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, railings, called strongbacks, are installed along the payload bay doors of space shuttle Discovery. The strongbacks are used to assist with opening and closing of the doors when the shuttle's hydraulic system is not operational and support the doors while they are open. Discovery is awaiting its move to the Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB. Discovery will be stored inside the VAB for approximately one month while shuttle Atlantis undergoes processing in OPF-2 following its final mission, STS-135. Discovery flew its 39th and final mission, STS-133, in February and March 2011, and currently is being prepared for public display at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia. For more information about Discovery's Transition and Retirement, visit www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/launch/discovery_rss_collection_archive_1.html. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann