Cape Canaveral (Florida): NASA moved space shuttle Atlantis from its hangar on Monday to the massive Kennedy Space Center assembly building in preparation for it’s launch next month.
At the Kennedy Space Center, the shuttle will be attached to a fuel tank and twin booster rockets.
Liftoff of Atlantis and six astronauts is targeted for August 27 or 28.
The flight marks NASA's return to assembly of the International Space Station following the 2003 Columbia accident.
Sister ship Discovery returned last week from a successful mission to demonstrate the fleet's remodeled fuel tank design and to repair a station transporter needed for future construction.
NASA's initial fuel tank repair failed its first test flight during Discovery's July 2005 mission.
Discovery's successful 13-day mission earlier this month, however, cleared NASA to begin a four-year, 16-flight sprint to finish building the space station before the shuttle fleet is retired in 2010.
"We need to shift from the return-to-flight mode back to a more operational assembly sequence, where we're flying, hopefully, four to five times a year and completing the assembly fairly quickly," Atlantis commander Brent Jett said.
Atlantis will be hauling a second set of massive solar arrays which are needed to boost the station's power output for partner laboratory modules.
Europe's Columbus module is scheduled to arrive next year, followed by Japan's Kibo complex.
Managers expect to set a firm launch date for Atlantis following a flight review that concludes August 16. The shuttle's rollout to the launch pad is expected July 31.
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