On Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the payload canister is ready for another attempt to be lifted to the payload changeout room. The first attempt encountered problems when Teflon pads on “shoes” attached to the outside of the canister that go onto guide rails to help the canister into the room didn’t fit properly. The two shoes were removed, slightly shaved down so that they would fit into the rails and put back on the canister. The changeout room is the enclosed, environmentally controlled portion of the rotating service structure that supports cargo delivery to the pad and subsequent vertical installation into the shuttle’s payload bay. Launch of Atlantis is targeted for Oct. 10. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann
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