Heron & Fox

The Androgynous Peripheral Attach System (APAS) on display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex (KSCVC). APAS was co-developed by Soviet and American engineers as part of a plan to dock an American Apollo spacecraft with a Soviet spacecraft, at first a Salyut station, and ultimately a Soyuz spacecraft. APAS was different from previous docking systems, which had one "active" mechanism on one spacecraft, and one "passive" mechanism on the other spacecraft. Using APAS, either spacecraft can be the active or passive partner. The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP), in which an Apollo spacecraft used an APAS adapter to dock to an APAS-equipped Soyuz in orbit. The Soviets continued to work on the APAS system, planning to use it for their reusable Shuttle-like orbiter, Buran, and one module on the Mir station, Kristall, was equipped with two APAS adapters to accommodate Buran. Buran ended up making only one flight under automated control, but the docking system for Buran was moved to the American Space Shuttle so that the Shuttle could dock to Mir, and to prepare for the construction of the coming International Space Station (ISS). The current docking system standard, the International Docking System (IDS) or Low-Impact Docking System (LIDS), is based on APAS.

During the retirement of NASA's fleet of Space Shuttle Orbiters, it was necessary to ferry the 3 remaining orbiters though the 2 Orbiter Processing Facilities (OPF). The remaining Orbiter was stored in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). In this case, Space Shuttle Discovery has finished being prepared for display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Its 3 Space Shuttle Maine Engines/RS-25D (SSME) engines have been removed and replaced with replicas. The 2 Orbital Maneuvering System pods (OMS) containing the Shuttle's on-orbit maneuvering engine and thrusters and the forward Reaction Control System pod (RCS) have been cleaned of their toxic propellants, and the aerodynamic tail cover has been installed to prepare the Orbiter to be ferried to Virginia on the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, a modified Boeing 747. In the background, Space Shuttle Orbiter Atlantis is being towed into the Orbiter Processing Facility to begin being made ready for display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex Atlantis Museum. This photograph was taken from an upper floor in the VAB, making it possible to see over Discovery and towards Atlantis and the Orbiter Processing Facilities beyond.

After landing from STS-134 and delivering the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the International Space Station, the Space Shuttle Orbiter Endeavour had to be towed back to one the of the Orbiter Processing Facilities at Kennedy Space Center to have its system checked over one final time as it began preparation for life as a museum exhibit, eventually being donated to the California Science Center, near where Endeavour was constructed.