CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Endeavour slowly rolls through the open doors of the Vehicle Assembly Building's High Bay 1 into the night air with temperatures just above 30 degrees Fahrenheit. First motion out of the bay was at 4:13 a.m. EST Jan. 6. The 3.4-mile trip to Launch Pad 39A, known as rollout, takes about six hours. Rollout is a significant milestone in launch processing activities. The primary payload for the STS-130 mission is the International Space Station's Node 3, Tranquility, a pressurized module that will provide room for many of the station's life support systems. Attached to one end of Tranquility is a cupola, a unique work area with six windows on its sides and one on top. The cupola resembles a circular bay window and will provide a vastly improved view of the station's exterior. The multi-directional view will allow the crew to monitor spacewalks and docking operations, as well as provide a spectacular view of Earth and other celestial objects. The module was built in Turin, Italy, by Thales Alenia Space for the European Space Agency. Space shuttle Endeavour's STS-130 mission is targeted for launch at 4:39 a.m. EST Feb. 7. For information on the STS-130 mission and crew, visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts130/index.html. Photo credit: NASA/Amanda Diller KSC-2010-1029

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STS-134 - EOM - Public domain NASA photogrpaph

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Endeavour awaits transfer from the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), where it is being stored, to Orbiter Processing Facility-2. Transition and retirement processing then will resume on Endeavour for its public display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. For additional information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann KSC-2012-1099

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- Space Shuttle Atlantis is ready for final launch preparations. The orbiter access arm is extended to the orbiter to allow entry into Atlantis. The White Room at the end is the point of entry, and is an environmentally controlled room where the Shuttle crew have final adjustments made to their launch and entry suits. At the lower end of Atlantis are the tail service masts, in front of either wing. The masts support the fluid, gas and electrical requirements of the orbiter’s liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen aft T-0 umbilicals. Viewed in the background is the Atlantic Ocean. Launch on mission STS-104 is scheduled for 5:04 a.m. July 12. The launch is the 10th assembly flight to the International Space Station. Along with a crew of five, Atlantis will carry the joint airlock module as primary payload KSC-01pp1273

A space shuttle is parked at the launch pad. Space shuttle discovery shuttle.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The orbiter Discovery, sitting on an orbiter transporter, slowly backs out of NASA's Orbiter Processing Facility to begin the rollover to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). The rollover marks the start of the journey to the launch pad and, ultimately, launch. Once inside the VAB, Discovery will be raised to vertical and lifted up and over into high bay 3 for stacking with its redesigned external tank and twin solid rocket boosters. The rollout of Space Shuttle Discovery to Launch Pad 39B is expected in approximately a week. Launch of Discovery on mission STS-121 is scheduled to take place in a window extending July 1 to July 19. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller KSC-06pd0822

Amanda Diller KSC-2010-1029

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Summary

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Endeavour slowly rolls through the open doors of the Vehicle Assembly Building's High Bay 1 into the night air with temperatures just above 30 degrees Fahrenheit. First motion out of the bay was at 4:13 a.m. EST Jan. 6. The 3.4-mile trip to Launch Pad 39A, known as rollout, takes about six hours. Rollout is a significant milestone in launch processing activities. The primary payload for the STS-130 mission is the International Space Station's Node 3, Tranquility, a pressurized module that will provide room for many of the station's life support systems. Attached to one end of Tranquility is a cupola, a unique work area with six windows on its sides and one on top. The cupola resembles a circular bay window and will provide a vastly improved view of the station's exterior. The multi-directional view will allow the crew to monitor spacewalks and docking operations, as well as provide a spectacular view of Earth and other celestial objects. The module was built in Turin, Italy, by Thales Alenia Space for the European Space Agency. Space shuttle Endeavour's STS-130 mission is targeted for launch at 4:39 a.m. EST Feb. 7. For information on the STS-130 mission and crew, visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts130/index.html. Photo credit: NASA/Amanda Diller

Space Shuttle Program

The Space Shuttle program was the United States government's manned launch vehicle program from 1981 to 2011, administered by NASA and officially beginning in 1972. The Space Shuttle system—composed of an orbiter launched with two reusable solid rocket boosters and a disposable external fuel tank— carried up to eight astronauts and up to 50,000 lb (23,000 kg) of payload into low Earth orbit (LEO). When its mission was complete, the orbiter would re-enter the Earth's atmosphere and lands as a glider. Although the concept had been explored since the late 1960s, the program formally commenced in 1972 and was the focus of NASA's manned operations after the final Apollo and Skylab flights in the mid-1970s. It started with the launch of the first shuttle Columbia on April 12, 1981, on STS-1. and finished with its last mission, STS-135 flown by Atlantis, in July 2011.