Space History Photo: STS-27 Rollout

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A unique shot of Atlantis surrounded by a flock of birds as it waits for launch. (Image credit: NASA.)

In this historical photo from the U.S. space agency, a flock of birds takes flight shortly after the Space Shuttle Atlantis arrives at Pad 39B after being rolled out from the Vehicle Assembly Building approximately six hours before.

Atlantis is scheduled to be launched in late November 1988 on Space Shuttle mission STS-27, a Department of Defense dedicated mission. This will be Atlantis' third mission in space.

Each weekday, SPACE.com looks back at the history of spaceflight through photos (archive).

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U.S. Space Agency

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is the U.S. government agency in charge of the civilian space program as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. Founded in 1958, NASA is a civilian space agency aimed at exploring the universe with space telescopes,  satellites, robotic spacecraft, astronauts and more. The space agency has 10 major centers based across the U.S. and launches robotic and crewed missions from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral Florida. It's astronaut corps is based at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. To follow NASA's latest mission, follow the space agency on Twitter or any other social channel, of visit: nasa.gov.