Atlantis Astronauts Enjoy Slow Ride to Pad with Shuttle

The astronauts who will fly space shuttle Atlantis into orbit next month got a rare chance Thursday morning as they rode along with their spacecraft on its slow trip from the Vehicle Assembly Building to the launch pad at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. “Riding the crawler last night was absolutely fantastic,” Ham said. He said the crawler, powered by destroyer engines, reminded him of a Navy ship even though it moves across gravel instead of rolling waves. “It is incredible to see that battleship on the ground.” More

(Source: Space Fellowship - Apr 27)