CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. --- In the mobile service tower on Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, a United Launch Alliance technician watches over the placement of the last set of three solid rocket boosters being mated to the Delta II rocket for the launch of NASA's Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope, or GLAST. Because the Delta rocket is configured as a Delta II 7920 Heavy, the boosters are larger than those used on the standard configuration. The GLAST is a powerful space observatory that will explore the Universe's ultimate frontier, where nature harnesses forces and energies far beyond anything possible on Earth; probe some of science's deepest questions, such as what our Universe is made of, and search for new laws of physics; explain how black holes accelerate jets of material to nearly light speed; and help crack the mystery of stupendously powerful explosions known as gamma-ray bursts. Launch is currently planned in a window between 11:45 a.m. and 1:40 p.m

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. --- In the mobile service tower on Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, a United Launch Alliance technician watches over the placement of the last set of three solid rocket boosters being mated to the Delta II rocket for the launch of NASA's Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope, or GLAST. Because the Delta rocket is configured as a Delta II 7920 Heavy, the boosters are larger than those used on the standard configuration. The GLAST is a powerful space observatory that will explore the Universe's ultimate frontier, where nature harnesses forces and energies far beyond anything possible on Earth; probe some of science's deepest questions, such as what our Universe is made of, and search for new laws of physics; explain how black holes accelerate jets of material to nearly light speed; and help crack the mystery of stupendously powerful explosions known as gamma-ray bursts. Launch is currently planned in a window between 11:45 a.m. and 1:40 p.m
SuperStock offers millions of photos, videos, and stock assets to creatives around the world. This image of CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. --- In the mobile service tower on Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, a United Launch Alliance technician watches over the placement of the last set of three solid rocket boosters being mated to the Delta II rocket for the launch of NASA's Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope, or GLAST. Because the Delta rocket is configured as a Delta II 7920 Heavy, the boosters are larger than those used on the standard configuration. The GLAST is a powerful space observatory that will explore the Universe's ultimate frontier, where nature harnesses forces and energies far beyond anything possible on Earth; probe some of science's deepest questions, such as what our Universe is made of, and search for new laws of physics; explain how black holes accelerate jets of material to nearly light speed; and help crack the mystery of stupendously powerful explosions known as gamma-ray bursts. Launch is currently planned in a window between 11:45 a.m. and 1:40 p.m by Piemags/PL Photography Limited is available for licensing today.

Visually Similar More from Spacecraft and Launch Preparations story

RM
6145-44593131
In the launch tower on Launch Complex 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) is ready for encapsulation. A fairing will be installed around the spacecraft to protect it during launch. SIRTF will obtain images and spectra by detecting the infrared energy, or heat, radiated by objects in space. Most of this infrared radiation is blocked by the Earth's atmosphere and cannot be observed from the ground. Consisting of an 0.85-meter telescope and three cryogenically cooled science instruments, SIRTF is one of NASA's largest infrared telescopes to be launched. SIRTF is currently scheduled for launch April 18 aboard a Delta II rocket from Launch Complex 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
RM
6145-44572572
Workers inside the launch tower at Pad 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Station, guide the third stage of a Boeing Delta II rocket, and the Stardust spacecraft connected to it, through an opening to the second stage of the rocket below. The second and third stages of teh rocket will be mated next as preparations continue for liftoff on Feb. 6. Stardust is destined for a close encounter with the comet Wild 2 in January 2004. Using a silicon-based substance called aerogel, Stardust will capture comet particles flying off the nucleus of the comet. The spacecraft also will bring back samples of interstellar dust. These materials consist of ancient pre-solar interstellar grains and other remnants left over from the formation of the solar system. Scientists expect their analysis to provide important insights into the evolution of the sun and planets and possibly into the origin of life itself. The collected samples will return to Earth in a sample return capsule to be jettisoned as Stardust swings b
RM
6145-44570405
The Unity connecting module rests inside the open payload bay of the orbiter Endeavour at Launch Pad 39A. At the top of bay is the docking mechanism first used with launches to Mir, the Russian space station. Unity is the first U.S. element of the International Space Station (ISS) and is scheduled for launch Dec. 3, 1998, on Mission STS-88. The Unity is a connecting passageway to the living and working areas of ISS. While on orbit, the flight crew will deploy Unity from the payload bay and attach it to the Russian-built Zarya control module which will be in orbit at that time. The mission is expected to last nearly 12 days, landing back at the Kennedy Space Center on Dec. 14
RM
6145-44783180
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside the mobile service tower on Launch Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the first half of the two-part fairing is in place around the Space Tracking and Surveillance System - Demonstrator spacecraft. The fairing is a molded structure that fits flush with the outside surface of the rocket and forms an aerodynamically smooth nose cone, protecting the spacecraft during launch and ascent. STSS Demo is a space-based sensor component of a layered Ballistic Missile Defense System designed for the overall mission of detection, tracking and discriminating ballistic missiles. STSS is capable of tracking objects after boost phase and provides trajectory information to other sensors. It will be launched by NASA for the Missile Defense Agency between 8 and 8:58 a.m. EDT Sept. 18. Approved for Public Release 09-MDA-4934 (09-22-09)
RM
6145-44970951
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, engineers and technicians position the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, spacecraft on a work stand for electrical testing.MAVEN is being prepared for its scheduled launch in November from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. Positioned in an orbit above the Red Planet, MAVEN will study the upper atmosphere of Mars in unprecedented detail.
RM
6145-44867645
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Atlantis' STS-135 crew members take part in a payload bay walkdown to check out the cargo secured in Atlantis' bay. Seen here inspecting the airlock is Commander Chris Ferguson.The astronauts are at Kennedy to participate in a launch countdown dress rehearsal called the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT) and related training. Atlantis and its crew are targeted to lift off July 8, taking with them the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module packed with supplies and spare parts to the International Space Station. The STS-135 mission also will fly a system to investigate the potential for robotically refueling existing satellites and return a failed ammonia pump module to help NASA better understand the failure mechanism and improve pump designs for future systems. STS-135 will be the 33rd flight of Atlantis, the 37th shuttle mission to the space station, and the 135th and fin
RM
6145-44570423
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Workers peer inside after opening an end-cone of the U.S. laboratory module, an element of the International Space Station. The lab is undergoing pre-launch preparations before its launch aboard the Shuttle Endeavour on mission STS-98. The laboratory comprises three cylindrical sections with two end cones. Each end-cone contains a hatch opening for entering and exiting the lab. The lab will provide a shirtsleeve environment for research in the areas of life science, microgravity science, Earth science and space science. Designated Flight 5A, this mission is targeted for launch in early 2000
RM
6145-44561515
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The STS-90 Neurolab payload and four Getaway Specials (GAS) await payload bay door closure in the orbiter Columbia today in Orbiter Processing Facility bay 3. Investigations during the Neurolab mission will focus on the effects of microgravity on the nervous system. Specifically, experiments will study the adaptation of the vestibular system, the central nervous system, and the pathways that control the ability to sense location in the absence of gravity, as well as the effect of microgravity on a developing nervous system. The crew of STS-90, slated for launch in April, will include Commander Richard Searfoss, Pilot Scott Altman, Mission Specialists Richard Linnehan, Dafydd (Dave) Williams, M.D., and Kathryn (Kay) Hire, and Payload Specialists Jay Buckey, M.D., and James Pawelczyk, Ph.D
RM
6145-44495661
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- At Launch Pad 39-B, a worker monitors the closing of Space Shuttle Columbia's payload bay doors around the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Chandra is the primary payload on mission STS-93, scheduled to launch aboard Columbia July 20 at 12:36 a.m. EDT. The combined Chandra/Inertial Upper Stage, seen here, measures 57 feet long and weighs 50,162 pounds. Fully deployed with solar arrays extended, the observatory measures 45.3 feet long and 64 feet wide. The world's most powerful X-ray telescope, Chandra will allow scientists from around the world to see previously invisible black holes and high-temperature gas clouds, giving the observatory the potential to rewrite the books on the structure and evolution of our universe
RM
6145-44570152
Looking like a painting, this wide-angle view shows the Unity connecting module being moved toward the payload bay of the orbiter Endeavour at Launch Pad 39A. Part of the International Space Station (ISS), Unity is scheduled for launch Dec. 3, 1998, on Mission STS-88. The Unity is a connecting passageway to the living and working areas of ISS. While on orbit, the flight crew will deploy Unity from the payload bay and attach it to the Russian-built Zarya control module which will be in orbit at that time
RM
6145-44833240
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Inside the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the hatch of the Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM) is closed in preparation for space shuttle Discovery's STS-133 mission to the International Space Station. Robonaut 2 (R2) and critical spare parts are packed inside the PMM, which will be left aboard the station on Discovery's final mission. Targeted to launch Nov. 1 at 4:40 p.m. EDT, Discovery and its crew also will carry Express Logistics Carrier-4 (ELC-4), which is filled with external payloads and experiments.
RM
6145-58962921
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In NASA Kennedy Space Centers Orbiter Processing Facility, bay 3, Pat Cerny, with United Space Alliance, monitors readings from thermography testing on Discoverys nose cone.Thermography uses high-intensity light to heat specific areas, which are then immediately scanned with an infrared camera. As the area cools, internal flaws are revealed. Discovery has been identified as the orbiter to fly on mission STS-121.
RM
6145-44554979
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Space Shuttle orbiter Discovery's payload bay doors are closed in preparation for the flight of mission STS-85. The payload includes the Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the Atmosphere-Shuttle Pallet Satellite-2 (CRISTA-SPAS-2). The CRISTA is a system of three telescopes and four spectrometers to measure infrared radiation emitted by the Earths middle atmosphere. During the 11-day mission, the CRISTA-SPAS-2 free-flying satellite will be deployed from Discovery and retrieved later in the flight. Also onboard the satellite will be the Middle Atmosphere High Resolution Spectrograph Investigation (MAHRSI) to measure ultraviolet radiation emitted and scattered by the Earths atmosphere.
RM
6145-45287870
NEA Scout spacecraft after de-integration from hot box
RM
6145-58964639
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- At Launch Complex 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP) spacecraft is encapsulated with the fairing. With one half already in place (right), the second half (left) moves into position. MAP is scheduled for launch on June 30 aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket. The launch will place MAP into a lunar-assisted trajectory to the Sun-Earth for a 27-month mission. The probe will measure small fluctuations in the temperature of the cosmic microwave background radiation to an accuracy of one millionth of a degree. These measurements should reveal the size, matter content, age, geometry and fate of the universe. They will also reveal the primordial structure that grew to form galaxies and will test ideas about the origins of these primordial structures. The MAP instrument will be continuously shaded from the Sun, Earth, and Moon by the spacecraft
RM
6145-45250779
JSC2004-E-44649 (September 2004) --- Engineers and technicians (partially visible in right background) check the International Space Station's Cupola in the Alenia Spazio clean room in Turin, Italy. Personnel are preparing the hardware for shipment to NASA's launch facility at Cape Kennedy, Florida. From inside the Cupola, a dome-shaped module with seven windows, astronauts have a panoramic view for observing operations on the outside of the orbiting complex. The Cupola module provides external observation capabilities during spacewalks, docking operations, hardware surveys and for Earth and celestial studies. It also serves as the primary location for executing robot arm operations of Canadarm2. Until the Cupola is installed, crews have been using a robotic control computer station located in the Destiny Laboratory to operate the arm. The Cupola’s windows enhance the robotic arm operator's situational awareness, supplementing camera and graphic views provided by the computer wor
RM
6145-44513518
Members of the STS-97 crew look into Endeavours payload bay at some of the equipment that will be carried on the mission. At far left are (left to right) Commander Brent Jett and Mission Specialist Joseph Tanner, with a technician. At center are Mission Specialists Marc Garneau and Carlos Noriega, plus Pilot Michael Bloomfield. The equipment visible at right are the orbiter docking system (ODS) (center) and Canadian robotic arm (left and below the ODS). The arm will be used during spacewalks on the mission to install solar arrays. Each more than 100 feet long, the arrays will capture energy from the sun and convert it to power for the Station. STS-97 is scheduled to launch Nov. 30 at about 10:06 p.m. EST
RM
6145-44561517
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The STS-90 Neurolab payload and two of the four Getaway Specials (GAS) await payload bay door closure in the orbiter Columbia today in Orbiter Processing Facility bay 3. Investigations during the Neurolab mission will focus on the effects of microgravity on the nervous system. The GAS container on the left contains the COLLisions Into Dust Experiment, or COLLIDE, which will study low velocity collisions between space-borne particles in an attempt to better understand planetary ring dynamics. The STS-90 mission is a joint venture of six space agencies and seven U.S. research agencies. Agencies participating in this mission include six institutes of the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the Office of Naval Research, as well as the space agencies of Canada, France, Germany, and Japan, and the European Space Agency (ESA)
RM
6145-44522154
At Launch Complex 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the pristine white fairing comes together, enclosing the Mars Odyssey spacecraft inside. The Mars Odyssey is scheduled for launch aboard a Delta II rocket April 7, 2001, at 11:02 a.m. EST. NASAs latest explorer carries three scientific instruments to map the chemical and mineralogical makeup of Mars: a thermal-emission imaging system, a gamma ray spectrometer and a Martian radiation environment experiment. The imaging system will map the planet with high-resolution thermal images and give scientists an increased level of detail to help them understand how the mineralogy of the planet relates to the land forms. In addition, Odyssey will serve as a communications relay for U.S. and international landers arriving at Mars in 2003/2004
RM
6145-44568551
In the Space Station Processing Facility, workers look over the Unity connecting module, part of the International Space Station, after attaching the nameplate. Unity was expected to be transported to Launch Pad 39A on Oct. 26 for launch aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour on Mission STS-88 in December. The Unity is a connecting passageway to the living and working areas of ISS. While on orbit, the flight crew will deploy Unity from the payload bay and attach Unity to the Russian-built Zarya control module which will be in orbit at that time
RM
6145-48825224
NTS A871403 SANDIA NATIONAL LABS U12P MISSION CYBER SCATTER AREA BUTTON UP KEN GLIBERT / KECK (Project Engineer) NOV 30 87 EG&G/NTS PHOTO LAB Publication Date: 11/30/1987 BUTTON UP; EDGERTON, GERMESHAUSEN & GRIER; EG&G; EQUIPMENT; EQUIPMENT & INSTRUMENTS; INSTRUMENTATION; INSTRUMENTS & EQUIPMENT; INSTRUMENTS AND EQUIPMENT; MISSION CYBER; NEVADA; NEVADA TEST SITE; NTS; NUCLEAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGY; P-TUNNEL; SCATTER AREA; SCATTER AREA BUTTON UP; TEST SITES; TUNNELS; UGT; UNDERGROUND TESTING; WEAPONS EFFECTS; WIRE & CABLES historical images. 1972 - 2012. Department of Energy. National Nuclear Security Administration. Photographs Related to Nuclear Weapons Testing at the Nevada Test Site.
Image - Royalty Free Editorial
Royalty-Free Standard Editorial licenses are granted for worldwide, non-exclusive and perpetual NON-COMMERCIAL uses, unless specifically noted otherwise. All Royalty-Free transactions are final. The Royalty-Free Standard Editorial license has no limitations and covers up to 15 users.
  • $50.00 Low500 X 500
  • $150.00 Med750 X 750
  • $250.00 High2100 X 2100
  • $350.00 Super High7000 X 7000
Order a Framed Print
Looking for a license?
Click here, and we'll help you find it! Questions? Just ask!
DETAILS
Image Number: 6145-44702042Royalty FreeCredit Line:Piemags/PL Photography Limited/SuperStockCollection:PL Photography LimitedStory:Spacecraft and Launch PreparationsContributor:PiemagsModel Release:NoProperty Release:NoResolution:2008×3000