The final rollover for Discovery - SpacePod |
Description & Facts: CAPE CANAVERAL -- If one did not know better they would think that the day's events would be rather boring. After all, the name of this event hardly does it justice -rollover. However, when one has the opportunity to view a rollover -- it is unlikely they'll forget it. The space shuttle Discovery emerged from its technological cocoon located in Orbiter Processing Facility-3 (OPF-3) at 7 am EDT and was moved into the expansive Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) a few hours later. ;Discovery's trip to the VAB was delayed a day from Wednesday to Thursday Sept. 9, due to a broken water main. Workers found the break in an iron pipe near the VAB and repaired it enough to allow second-shift workers to go to work later in the day."It was a dramatic, albeit a short-lived event," said Allard Beutel, a NASA Public Affairs Officer. "The Kennedy team managed to have a work-around in place in under a day."Rollover is a very special milestone on the road to flight. One can actually watch one of these legendary craft slowly roll by in a stately procession. The orbiter is flanked by workers that have worked to see that the shuttle is prepared for flight. They act as guides ensuring that there is no debris along the short drive that the transport vehicle takes from OPF-3 to the VAB. There were several stops on the way to allow photographs to be taken; marking the last time that Discovery is scheduled to move to the VAB in preparation for flight.Once inside the VAB Discovery was connected to a