Space shuttle Atlantis remains suspended in the mate demate device after the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.

On the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Atlantis remains suspended in the mate/demate device after the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (below in the background) was moved away. Atlantis will be lowered to the ground via the hoist that is holding it. Atlantis returned from California atop the SCA, a modified Boeing 747, after its May 24 landing at Edwards Air Force Base, concluding mission STS-125. The ferry flight from Edwards Air Force Base began June 1. Atlantis' next assignment is the STS-129 mission, targeted to launch in November 2009. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller