DISCOVERY SHUTTLE MOVING TO LAUNCH PAD ON WEDNESDAY

STS 119 Crew

Space shuttle Discovery is scheduled to roll out to Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday, Jan. 14, as preparations for the STS-119 mission move forward. Discovery is targeted to lift off Feb. 12 to the International Space Station.

The first motion of the shuttle out of Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building is scheduled for 4 a.m. EST. The fully assembled space shuttle, consisting of the orbiter, external fuel tank and twin solid rocket boosters, will be delivered to the pad atop a crawler transporter that will travel slower than 1 mph during the 3.4-mile journey. The process is expected to take approximately six hours.

NASA Television will provide live coverage of Discovery's rollout to the launch pad beginning at 6:30 a.m. Video highlights of the rollout will air on NASA TV's Video File.

News media are invited to photograph the shuttle's move to the pad and interview Discovery Flow Director Stephanie Stilson at 8:30 a.m., Wednesday. Dates and times of this event are subject to change. Updates are available by calling 321-867-2525.

News media must arrive at Kennedy's news center by 6 a.m., Wednesday, for transportation to the viewing area. Foreign news media accreditation for the event is closed. Foreign media with credentials must arrive at the Pass and I-D Building on State Road 3 by 6 a.m. for transportation to the news center.

During Discovery's 14-day mission, the crew will install the S6 truss segment and its solar arrays to the starboard side of the station, completing the station's backbone, or truss. Discovery's crew members are Commander Lee Archambault, Pilot Tony Antonelli and Mission Specialists Joseph Acaba, Steve Swanson, Richard Arnold, John Phillips and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata.

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