Discovery

Pre-Flight Activities, Rarely Seen by the General Public

These photos deserve a wide viewing audience: the amount of thought and engineering that goes into every launch is immense; each successful take-off represents the Mankind's finest effort, and is a wonder to behold.

 

External tank arrives by barge from Louisiana:






External tank approaches Vertical Assembly Building (VAB):



Removing external tank:












Preparing to lift the tank to vertical:



Lifting the tank:



Solid rockets are attached:



Orbiter: External tank with Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB):



Engines are attached to the shuttle in the Orbiter Processing Facility:












Shuttle in sling ready for lift in VAB:



Shuttle has been moved to VAB and will be attached to external tank:






Shuttle is attached:












Payload Preparation in Space Station Processing Facility:






Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM):



Payload carrier leaves Canister Rotation Facility:






Payload being moved to Launch Pad:






Lifting payload into position for insertion into "Discovery"
when it arrives at the pad:









Shuttle "Discovery" leaves VAB:






Trip to launch:
Length - 3 1/2 mi
Time - 6-8 hours
Arrow indicates the Launch Pad.






Crawler Control






"Discovery" arrives at Pad:



Payload is also inside the Launch Pad:












Ready for Launch:



We Have Lift Off !

 

 

Thunderstorms

          Electrifying pictures of lightning

                   and thunderstorms

This composite shot was taken as a summer electrical storm hit Athens, Greece. Photographer Chris Kotsiopoulos dashed from his home to the Olympic Stadium when he heard the thunder and lightning and came back with this awesome shot. 

Lightning strikes the top of a building in Foshan in south China's Guangdong province

Lightning strikes the Hillbrow Telkom Tower in Johannesburg, South Africa

Lightning bolts appear to strike both the Willis Tower and the Trump Tower in downtown Chicago

Wind turbines are silhouetted by lightning in Jacobsdorf, in Brandenburg, Germany

Lightning illuminates the night sky and strikes two buildings over South Beach, Miami 

Lightning striking near the Houses of Parliament, in London

Lightning strikes near the Empire State Building during a severe thunderstorm in a sweltering New York

Lightning illuminates the sky during a thunderstorm over the Swiss Federal Palace in Bern