Atlantis is lowered by crane toward an external fuel tank and pair of solid rocket boosters secured.

In the Vehicle Assembly Building's High Bay 1 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Atlantis is slowly lowered by crane toward an external fuel tank and pair of solid rocket boosters secured to a mobile launcher platform. Next, Atlantis will be attached, completing the stacking operation.

Rollout of the completed shuttle stack to Kennedy’s Launch Pad 39A, a significant milestone in launch processing activities, is planned for Oct. 13. Liftoff of Atlantis on its STS-129 mission to the International Space Station is targeted for 4:04 p.m. EST Nov. 12 during a 10-minute launch window. For information on the STS-129 mission and crew, visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts129/index.html. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller