Discovery

Space Shuttle Discovery Slideshow

Space shuttle Discovery lift off

If you happen to have $30-odd million laying around, then you might be ready for the greatest travel adventure that there is - space travel. The Russian Space Agency will transport you to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard a Soyuz spacecraft, from where you can enjoy the greatest and most awesome thrill of looking down at Earth from space - over 100 kilometres (60+ miles) away - beyond the internationally recognized boundary of space.

To date 5 people have flown privately to ISS and at present all flights are apparently booked until 2009. Since you're reading this webpage, most likely you don't have those spare millions, or at least don't like the long waiting list.

Space Shuttle Discovery

So, until you can afford a private "view from the space", take a peek at all that goes into preparing Space Shuttle Discovery for its flights.

These are rarely seen before flight activities - a 47-picture slideshow.

The photos cover the range of activities involved in shuttle processing - transporting various shuttle parts to Vertical Assembly Building, attaching solid rockets and engines, attaching shuttle to external tank, preparing payload, moving everything to launch pad, and finally lift off!

Download the Discovery Slideshow here - simply right-click on the document link below and then choose 'Save Target As' menu option. This PPS document is 2.85MB in size. You need Microsoft Powerpoint to view the slides.