Space shuttle Endeavour was raised almost to the ceiling of the cavernous Vehicle Assembly Building by a 325-ton heavy-lifting crane. The lift operation began at about 11 a.m. EST Tuesday.

The crane hoisted the orbiter just shy of the VAB's 52-story ceiling, then the space plane was translated over the transom into the building's northeast high bay, where the shuttle's external tank and twin solid rocket boosters are stacked on a mobile launch platform.

The shuttle is being prepared to blast off April 19 on its 25th and final mission. Endeavour and its six-person crew will deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer and a cache of supplies to the International Space Station.

Photo credit: Spaceflight Now

Photo credit: Ben Cooper/Spaceflight Now   Photo credit: Ben Cooper/Spaceflight Now   Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now   Photo credit: Ben Cooper/Spaceflight Now   Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now   Photo credit: Ben Cooper/Spaceflight Now   Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now   Photo credit: Ben Cooper/Spaceflight Now   Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now   Photo credit: Ben Cooper/Spaceflight Now   Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now   Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now   Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now   Photo credit: Ben Cooper/Spaceflight Now   Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now   Photo credit: Ben Cooper/Spaceflight Now   Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now   Photo credit: Ben Cooper/Spaceflight Now

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