From: utzoo!decvax!harpo!eagle!karn Newsgroups: net.columbia Title: Re: Shuttle"s Roll Article-I.D.: eagle.724 Posted: Wed Jan 12 14:46:14 1983 Received: Fri Jan 14 20:04:38 1983 References: houxq.250 That is to put the shuttle on the correct launch azimuth, depending on the desired orbital inclination. Since the stack must fly with the orbiter down, in order to facilitate SRB and ET separation, this involves rolling the shuttle from the position on the pad shortly after liftoff. This is easier than rotating the entire pad! Phil