ABOVE: Primal Florida scrub meets industrial space age in the shimmering heat of a warm afternoon as the Space Shuttle Discovery rolls out to the launch pad for mission STS-114 on 6 April 2005 at Kennedy Space Center. This is a major milestone for the return-to-flight (RTF) of the Space Shuttle Program after a hiatus of over two years following the destruction of the Space Shuttle Columbia.

RIGHT: With the Space Shuttle Discovery hidden from view on the other side, the back of the external fuel tank and the solid rocket boosters are visible in this view of Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center on the morning of 10 April 2005. Discovery is undergoing final preparations for the first shuttle launch since the Columbia disaster.