Preparations to tow Discovery to the Shuttle Landing Facility or SLF are under way at NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

Preparations to tow space shuttle Discovery from the Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB, to the Shuttle Landing Facility, or SLF, are under way at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Discovery was in storage in the VAB’s high bay 4 awaiting departure from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39 area for the final time. At the SLF, Discovery will be hoisted onto a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, or SCA, with the aid of a mate-demate device. The SCA, a modified Boeing 747 jet airliner, is scheduled to transport Discovery to the Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia on April 17, after which the shuttle will be placed on permanent public display in the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. For more information on shuttle transition and retirement activities, visit http://www.nasa.gov/transition. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett