On a warm morning on one of the first days of summer here on the Space Coast, United Launch Alliance rolled Atlas V and Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner “Calypso” from ULA’s Vertical Integration Facility to the launch mount at Pad SLC-41.

The Mobile Launch Platform’s one-third of a mile rail journey north began shortly after 10 AM EDT. The entire unit — MLP, Atlas V and associated equipment — weighs about 1.6 Million Pounds and took around an hour to make the journey.

Shortly before it got underway, Astronaut Mike Finke quipped, “The “stack” is about to move as slow as it ever will until launch on Monday.” Finke is the main backup astronaut to the prime crew of Butch Willmore and Suni Williams and has been documenting the run-up to the flight and giving the general public great perspectives on the astronauts’ and launch crew’s preparations.

Now at the pad, the launch vehicle will undergo final preparations and testing for the planned launch NET Monday, May 6th at 10:34 PM EDT.