Intro music.
NASA officials and employees are savoring a welcome sight they haven't enjoyed in more than two years.
Space Shuttle Discovery is now on its launch pad, where it will lift off on NASA's Return to Flight mission
between May 15 and June 3.
"I was just thrilled. The night before was like Christmas Eve. I had butterflies that morning. I was just so excited.
We'd worked so hard, three and a half years, Discovery has been on the ground without a flight, so to get to this next milestone
was a great, great impressive thrill for the whole team. We're very proud to be a part of this, we've worked hard to get here,
we realize that we are one step closer to getting back to Return to Flight and that's what we've all been working for."
Space Shuttle Discovery started rolling out of the massive Vehicle Assembly Building just after 2 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday, April 6,
and began its four-mile crawl to Launch Pad 39B.
Hundreds of Kennedy employees lined roadways and gathered in parking lots near the 130-foot-wide crawlerway to watch as the assembly inched by.
Now it will undergo final preparations and prelaunch tests, including an External Tank fuel-loading test
and a countdown dress rehearsal with the flight crew.
"Now that Discovery is out at the launch pad, we have a series of tests that have to be performed to ensure that we are ready to fly and we can launch safely."