On the KSC Shuttle Landing Facility workers supervise the movement of the sling above the orbiter Atlantis.

On the KSC Shuttle Landing Facility, workers supervise the movement of the sling above the orbiter Atlantis. The sling will be attached and lift the orbiter away from the shuttle carrier aircraft (SCA) underneath. The SCA carried the orbiter piggyback from California. Atlantis landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California on June 22 to end mission STS-117. It returned to Kennedy atop the 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. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett