Front heat shield

The shuttle will be moved to an under-construction facility at Kennedy scheduled to be opened to the public in 2013. Construction of the gigantic exhibit hall for Atlantis began in January in anticipation of needing to be able to keep the priceless artifact safe while the building is finished around the shuttle.

With a 78-foot-wide wingspan and a tail that reaches more than five stories, the spacecraft was too big to be rolled into a completed museum wing.