Space shuttle Atlantis is fitted to lift for attachment to the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft or SCA a Boeing 747.

At Edwards Air Force Base in California, space shuttle Atlantis is fitted with a sling in the mate/demate device to lift it for attachment to the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, or SCA, a modified Boeing 747. Atlantis landed at Edwards on May 24, which concluded mission STS-125, after two landing opportunities at Kennedy were waved off due to weather concerns. Atlantis is being returned to Florida on a ferry flight on the SCA. Atlantis' next assignment is the STS-129 mission, targeted to launch in November 2009. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky