Space shuttle Discovery's external fuel tank is being prepared for a tanking test at NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

Space shuttle Discovery's external fuel tank is being prepared for a tanking test no earlier than Dec. 15 on Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During the test, engineers will monitor what happens to the newly replaced ground umbilical carrier plate (GUCP) and the intertank's stringers, which are 21-foot long, U-shaped aluminum brackets, during loading of cryogenic propellants.

Discovery's first launch attempt for STS-133 was scrubbed in early November due to a hydrogen gas leak at GUCP. The next launch opportunity is no earlier than Feb. 3, 2011. For more information on STS-133, visit www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts133/. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky