SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468

*Discovery Moves Toward October Liftoff*

Next week, the launch of space shuttle Discovery on mission STS-120 moves one step closer as technicians are scheduled to roll the shuttle the short distance from the Orbiter Processing Facility to the giant Vehicle Assembly Building. Once inside, Discovery will be lifted and then joined to the waiting boosters and tank on the mobile launch platform. The main payload for the mission, the Italian-built U.S. Harmony module for the International Space Station, will be loaded inside Discovery at the launch pad.

Work on Discovery in progress. Image above: In the Orbiter Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, workers secure the tool storage assembly unit into Discovery's payload bay. Photo credit: NASA/Amanda Diller + View larger image http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/170419main_opf-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