KSC-2011-5548

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the tail mast of space shuttle Discovery looms above the openings for its space shuttle main engines, long since removed, as it approaches the Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB, at right, on its trek from Orbiter Processing Facility-2, or OPF-2. 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