spacetoday.net: Shuttle rolled out to pad

Posted: Wed, Aug 5, 2009, 8:20 AM ET (1220 GMT)
STS-128: rollout (NASA/KSC)

The space shuttle Discovery rolled out to its launch pad on Tuesday, a rollout that took longer than expected because of soggy conditions. Discovery, attached to its external tank and solid rocket boosters, left the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center at a little after 2 am EDT (0600 GMT) but did not set into place at pad 39A until 1:50 pm EDT (1750 GMT). The slower-than-normal rollout was caused by heavy rains that turned portions of the crawlerway between the VAB and pad into a muddy mess than was difficult for the crawler to drive across. Discovery is scheduled to launch in the early morning hours of August 25 on a mission to deliver supplies and new crew members to the International Space Station.