Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana shows a space shuttle reusable surface insulation LRSI tile to Florida's Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll.

Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana, right, shows a space shuttle
low-temperature reusable surface insulation LRSI tile to Florida’s Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll during a tour of Kennedy’s Orbiter Processing Facility-1. The tile is part of the shuttle’s thermal protection system which covers the shuttle’s exterior and protects it from the heat of re-entry.

The tour coincided with Carroll’s visit to Kennedy for a meeting with Cabana. Atlantis is being prepared for public display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in 2013. The groundbreaking for Atlantis’ exhibit hall took place in January Atlantis is scheduled to be moved to the visitor complex in November. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann