Orbiter Processing Spacecraft and other items of payload arrive at the Kennedy Space Center and are assembled and checked out in special buildings before being loaded into the orbiter. Each shuttle arrives as a set of component parts. The solid rocket booster propellant segments are received and checked out in a special facility, then taken to the Vehicle Assembly Building, where they are stacked on a mobile launcher platform to form two complete rockets. The external tank is received and prepared for flight in the Vehicle Assembly Building, then mated to the solid rocket boosters. An orbiter is checked out in the Orbiter Processing Facility, then moved to the Vehicle Assembly Building and attached to the external tank on the mobile launcher platform. A giant crawler-transporter picks up the mobile launcher platform and the assembled Shuttle including external tank and solid rocket boosters and takes them to the launch pad. After spending months in the Orbiter Processing Facility to bring the orbiter to flight ready status, the Space Shuttle Endeavour is rolled over to the Vehicle Assembly Building on March 7, 1992, in preparation for it's maiden flight on May 7. In this photo, the external tank and solid rocket boosters have not yet been attached to the orbiter.
