X37B atop Atlas launcher
The second Orbital Test Vehicle, the U.S. military’s secretive mini space shuttle, arrived at the Atlas 5 rocket’s assembly hangar this morning for mounting atop the launcher.
Liftoff is scheduled for March 4 from Cape Canaveral’s Complex 41.
Already shrouded within in the aerodynamic nose cone for launch, the OTV 2 spaceplane was hauled across the Cape overnight from its processing area to the Atlas’ Vertical Integration Facility.
A heavy-duty crane hoisted the payload into the towering VIF around 8:30 a.m. and cautiously positioned above the two-stage launcher for mating later in the day.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av026/status.html
