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Music

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The doors to the massive Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida,

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opened to reveal space shuttle Discovery secured on its mobile launcher platform.

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Around 8 p.m. Eastern time on January 31 the crawler-transporter moved Discovery out of the VAB for

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what truly was expected to be its final journey to Launch Pad 39A.

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For the second time in a little more than four months Discovery, bathed in Xenon lights,

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made the 3.4-mile trip to the pad.

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In December, Discovery, NASA's longest-serving shuttle in the fleet, was rolled back into the VAB

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for repairs after the detection of cracks on the external fuel tank.

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It took the powerful transporter about six hours, traveling at a slow but steady pace of about one mile an

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hour to move the orbiter, its external tank and twin solid rocket boosters to the pad.

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The shuttle was accompanied by Kennedy employees their families and friends, sharing a moment in

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history together as Discovery's last flight on the STS-133 mission draws near.

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By 3 a.m. Discovery was secured at Launch Pad 39A and is now poised for liftoff in February.

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A crew of six astronauts will deliver the Permanent Multi-purpose Module, Robonaut 2,

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and the Express Logistics Carrier-4 filled with supplies and equipment aboard Discovery as it makes its

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historic final flight to the International Space Station.

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From NASA's Kennedy Space Center, I'm George Diller

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