WEBVTT

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Intro music.

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NASA officials and employees are savoring a welcome sight they haven't enjoyed in more than two years.

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Space Shuttle Discovery is now on its launch pad, where it will lift off on NASA's Return to Flight mission

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between May 15 and June 3.

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"I was just thrilled. The night before was like Christmas Eve. I had butterflies that morning. I was just so excited.

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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

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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,

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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."

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Space Shuttle Discovery started rolling out of the massive Vehicle Assembly Building just after 2 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday, April 6,

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and began its four-mile crawl to Launch Pad 39B.

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Hundreds of Kennedy employees lined roadways and gathered in parking lots near the 130-foot-wide crawlerway to watch as the assembly inched by.

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Now it will undergo final preparations and prelaunch tests, including an External Tank fuel-loading test

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and a countdown dress rehearsal with the flight crew.

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"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."

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