SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468

Last week inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians attached the external tank to the twin solid rocket boosters. In the nearby Orbiter Processing Facility, Discovery's payload bay doors were closed as preparations continue in advance of the shuttle's move to the giant assembly building. The main payload for the mission, the U.S. Harmony Node 2 module for the International Space Station, will be loaded inside Discovery at the launch pad.

External tank Image above: In the Vehicle Assembly Building, the external tank is lowered between the twin solid rocket boosters on the mobile launcher platform. Image credit: NASA/George Shelton + View larger image http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/170419main_mate-lg.jpg

*Mission Information* + STS-120 Mission Overview http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts120/index.html + Harmony Node 2 http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/harmony.html + Space Shuttle Discovery http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/shuttleoperations/orbiters/discovery-info.html