Space shuttle Atlantis, atop the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, or SCA, a modified Boeing 747, is ready for takeoff from Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi after a fuel stop on its journey back to Florida. Atlantis landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California on May 24, which concluded mission STS-125, after two landing opportunities at Kennedy were waved off due to weather concerns. Atlantis is being returned to Florida on a ferry flight on the SCA. Atlantis' next assignment is the STS-129 mission, targeted to launch in November 2009.
Information
Taken in
Kennedy Space Center
Author
NASA/Ben Smegelsky
Description
Space shuttle Atlantis, atop the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, or SCA, a modified Boeing 747, is ready for takeoff from Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi after a fuel stop on its journey back to Florida. Atlantis landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California on May 24, which concluded mission STS-125, after two landing opportunities at Kennedy were waved off due to weather concerns. Atlantis is being returned to Florida on a ferry flight on the SCA. Atlantis' next assignment is the STS-129 mission, targeted to launch in November 2009.