Space Shuttle Discovery before lift off, and after

In the Vehicle Assembly Building, workers prepare the orbiter Discovery for vertical lift before mating it with the external tank.



In the Vehicle Assembly Building, the orbiter Discovery (viewed from behind the Space Shuttle Main Engines) is raised to a vertical position in order to me mated with the external tank.



Reflected in the turn basin at Launch Complex 39 Area, the Space Shuttle Discovery stands atop the crawler-transporter which carries its cargo at 1 mph to Launch Pad 39B. The vehicle takes about five hours to cover the 4.2 miles from the Vehicle Assembly Building to the launch pad.


Clouds of exhaust fill Launch Pad 39B as Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off at 2:19 p.m. EST Oct. 29 on mission STS-95. Making his second voyage into space after 36 years is Payload Specialist John H. Glenn Jr., senator from Ohio
(the postcard doesn't give the year, but this happened in 1998)


Photos courtesy: NASA

From the Postcard book:
Kennedy Space Center: A Book of 33 Postcards from NASA
unused, bought in 2009