Shuttle Processing
Following landing at the Edwards Air Force Base, completing STS-51-J on October 7, Atlantis returned to the Kennedy Space Center on October 12. The shuttle was moved directly into an Orbiter Processing Facility (OFP) where post-flight de-servicing and pre-flight processing took place simultaneously.
After only 26 days in the OPF, a record fast processing in the history of the Space Shuttle Program, the shuttle was rolled to the Vehicle Assembly Building on 7 November. Atlantis was mated with the External Tank and Solid Rocket Booster stack and was rolled out to launch pad 39A on 12 November 1985.
Read more about this topic: STS-61-B
Famous quotes containing the word shuttle:
“And the shuttle never falters, but to draw an encouraging conclusion
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Breathe in with the courage of each day, recognizing yourself as one
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—John Ashbery (b. 1927)