KSC-2011-5543

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, protective plastic covers the nose of space shuttle Discovery where its forward reaction control system (FRCS) once resided as it rolls from Orbiter Processing Facility-2, or OPF-2, to the Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB. Discovery's FRCS was removed and shipped to White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico for a full cleaning and deservicing before it is returned to Kennedy and reinstalled. 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/Frankie Martin