WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

In bay 2 of the Orbiter processing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the payload bay doors are about to be closed on the space shuttle Atlantis, locking in the primary payload for its upcoming flight -- the Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science-1. The payload features many elements of the spacelab modular laboratory system designed for the space shuttle program by the European Space Agency. The pallets are outfitted with an array of experiments spanning four disciplines: solar physics, atmospheric science, space plasma physics and astronomy. Atlantis is nearly ready for transfer to the Vehicle Assembly Building for mating with the external tank and solid rocket boosters. Liftoff on STS-45 is targeted for spring of 1992 from Launch Pad 39A.