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  Image: Geographic Location Direction Photo #: ISS010-E-23035 Date: Apr. 2005
Geographic Region: USA-FLORIDA
Feature: LAUNCH COMPLEXES, FALSE CAPE

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  Rollout of Shuttle Discovery, Kennedy Space Center

International Space Station Astronaut Leroy Chiao, like the rest of NASA, tracks key milestones for the Space Shuttle Return-to-Flight operations. A lucky overpass of the Space Station over Florida on April 6, 2005, allowed Leroy and his crew mate Salizhan Sharipov a unique view of the rollout of the Space Shuttle Discovery. At the time of his observations, Discovery was approximately midway between the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) and launch pad 39-B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The Shuttle, mated with its solid-fuel booster rockets and orange external fuel tank, is visible on the wide Crawler-Transporter track (marked with white box and shown in an inset image). Moving at a maximum speed of 1 mile per hour (1.6 km/hr), the massive Crawler-Transporter, laden with a launch-configured Shuttle and Mobile Launch Platform, takes approximately 13 hours to move between the VAB and pad 39-B.

Launch of the Discovery will mark NASA's "Return to Flight" following the loss of the Shuttle Columbia with its crew on February 1, 2003. The primary goal for the upcoming Discovery mission will be to test several vehicle modifications and damage-assessment data sources, tools, and procedures. These modifications include a modified design for the external fuel tank, more cameras focused on the launch and ascent of the Shuttle, and detailed imaging of the Shuttle's heat-resistant tiles and reinforced carbon-carbon surfaces on the wings and nosecap.

 
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Images: All Available Images Low-Resolution 80k
Mission: ISS010  
Roll - Frame: E - 23035
Geographical Name: USA-FLORIDA  
Features: LAUNCH COMPLEXES, FALSE CAPE  
Center Lat x Lon: 28.6N x 80.6W
Film Exposure:   N=Normal exposure, U=Under exposed, O=Over exposed, F=out of Focus
Percentage of Cloud Cover-CLDP: 10
 
Camera: E4
 
Camera Tilt: 46   LO=Low Oblique, HO=High Oblique, NV=Near Vertical
Camera Focal Length: 800  
 
Nadir to Photo Center Direction: N   The direction from the nadir to the center point, N=North, S=South, E=East, W=West
Stereo?:   Y=Yes there is an adjacent picture of the same area, N=No there isn't
Orbit Number: 446  
 
Date: 20050406   YYYYMMDD
Time: 203601   GMT HHMMSS
Nadir Lat: 25.3N  
Latitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Nadir Lon: 80.1W  
Longitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Sun Azimuth: 257   Clockwise angle in degrees from north to the sun measured at the nadir point
Space Craft Altitude: 193   nautical miles
Sun Elevation: 40   Angle in degrees between the horizon and the sun, measured at the nadir point
Land Views:  
Water Views:  
Atmosphere Views:  
Man Made Views:  
City Views: COLUMBIA, MOBILE  
Photo is not associated with any sequences


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