Shuttle shuffle between Atlantis and Discovery

BY JUSTIN RAY
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: March 9, 2011

The shuttle Discovery, now ready for her ferryflight to the Smithsonian next month, vacated the Orbiter Processing Facility bay 1 this morning to make room for sistership Atlantis to resume decommissioning work. The two ships swapped spots, with Discovery then moving into a storage bay at the Vehicle Assembly Building to await the planned April 17 departure from the Kennedy Space Center atop the modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.

First motion of Discovery occurred at 8:42 a.m. EST and the vehicle was secure in the VAB's high bay 4 at 10:31 a.m. EST.

Atlantis began rolling out of the VAB at 8:45 a.m. EST and arrived in the OPF at 11:43 a.m. EST.

Photo credit: Spaceflight Now

Photo credit: Justin Ray/Spaceflight Now