The shuttle carrier aircraft with Endeavour on top backs away from the mate demate device.

At the Shuttle Landing Facility, or SLF, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the shuttle carrier aircraft with space shuttle Endeavour on top backs away from the mate/demate device for another try. A sling in the device will lift the shuttle away from the shuttle carrier aircraft, or SCA, underneath. The SCA carried the shuttle piggyback from California, where Endeavour landed Nov. 30 to end the STS-126 mission. When Endeavour is on the ground, it will be towed via the two-mile tow-way from the SLF by a diesel-powered tractor to the Orbiter Processing Facility where it will begin preparations for its next mission, STS-127, targeted for May 2009. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller