At the mate demate device at Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility Atlantis is detached.

At the mate/demate device at Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility, Atlantis is detached from the lifting crane and workers prepare the orbiter for towing to the Orbiter Processing Facility where processing will begin for its next launch, mission STS-122 in December. Visible on Atlantis is the tail cone that covers and protects the main engines during the ferry flight. Atlantis arrived at Kennedy Space Center atop the shuttle carrier aircraft, or SCA, on July 3 after a three-day, cross-country flight due to fuel stops and weather delays. Touchdown was at 8:27 a.m. EDT. Atlantis landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California on June 22 to end mission STS-117. Photo credit: NASA/George Shelton.