Admittedly, I'm one of those that hardly take notice of the shuttle flights anymore - so if I missed something, forgive me. In the AP photos of the pending launch you can no longer see the shuttle - just the nose of the central tank. Is this an existing tower or something new as a result of the debris that damaged Columbia? Seems odd if that is the case, considering some of Discovery's tiles were damaged yesterday.
Is it just the angle they allowed the photogs to congregate for their pics, or is the entire launch vehicle as enclosed as it appears from the pics?
TIA
WmB