CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, and NASA's Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, known as LCROSS, stand ready for liftoff on an Atlas V/Centaur rocket from Launch Pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. LRO and LCROSS are the first missions in NASA's plan to return humans to the moon and begin establishing a lunar outpost by 2020. The LRO also includes seven instruments that will help NASA characterize the moon's surface: DIVINER, LAMP, LEND, LOLA , CRATER, Mini-RF and LROC. Launch is scheduled for 5:12 p.m. EDT June 18.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, and NASA's Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, known as LCROSS, stand ready for liftoff on an Atlas V/Centaur rocket from Launch Pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. LRO and LCROSS are the first missions in NASA's plan to return humans to the moon and begin establishing a lunar outpost by 2020. The LRO also includes seven instruments that will help NASA characterize the moon's surface: DIVINER, LAMP, LEND, LOLA , CRATER, Mini-RF and LROC. Launch is scheduled for 5:12 p.m. EDT June 18.
SuperStock offers millions of photos, videos, and stock assets to creatives around the world. This image of CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, and NASA's Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, known as LCROSS, stand ready for liftoff on an Atlas V/Centaur rocket from Launch Pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. LRO and LCROSS are the first missions in NASA's plan to return humans to the moon and begin establishing a lunar outpost by 2020. The LRO also includes seven instruments that will help NASA characterize the moon's surface: DIVINER, LAMP, LEND, LOLA , CRATER, Mini-RF and LROC. Launch is scheduled for 5:12 p.m. EDT June 18. by Piemags/PL Photography Limited is available for licensing today.

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- As night falls at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the lights on Space Launch Complex 41 reveal preparations to launch the United Launch Alliance Atlas V-551 launch vehicle carrying NASA's Juno spacecraft are proceeding on schedule.Liftoff is planned during a launch window which extends from 11:34 a.m. to 12:43 p.m. EDT on Aug. 5. The solar-powered spacecraft will orbit Jupiter's poles 33 times to find out more about the gas giant's origins, structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere and investigate the existence of a solid planetary core. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the Juno mission for the principal investigator, Scott Bolton, of Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. The Juno mission is part of the New Frontiers Program managed at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, built the spacecraft. Launch management for the mission is the responsibility of NASA's
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Psyche on the Launch Pad. A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with the Psyche spacecraft onboard is seen at Launch Complex 39A as preparations continue for the Psyche mission, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023, at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASAs Psyche spacecraft will travel to a metal-rich asteroid by the same name orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter to study its composition. The spacecraft also carries the agency's Deep Space Optical Communications technology demonstration, which will test laser communications beyond the Moon.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Overlooking the Central Florida coast, engine ignition begins liftoff of the United Launch Alliance Delta II Heavy rocket carrying NASAs twin Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission off Space Launch Complex 17B on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The spacecraft launched at 9:08:52 a.m. EDT Sept. 10. GRAIL-A will separate from the second stage of the rocket at about one hour, 21 minutes after liftoff, followed by GRAIL-B at 90 minutes after launch. The spacecraft are embarking on a three-month journey to reach the moon.GRAIL will fly twin spacecraft in tandem around the moon to precisely measure and map variations in the moon's gravitational field. The mission will provide the most accurate global gravity field to date for any planet, including Earth. This detailed information will reveal differences in the density of the moon's crust and mantle and will help answer fundamental questions about the moon's internal structure, thermal evolution, and
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VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - At Vandenberg Air Force Base's Space Launch Complex-2 in California, a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket with the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project (NPP) spacecraft aboard stands by itself on the launch pad following rollback of the mobile service tower. NPP represents a critical first step in building the next-generation of Earth-observing satellites. NPP will carry the first of the new sensors developed for this satellite fleet, now known as the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) to be launched in 2016. NPP is the bridge between NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) satellites and the forthcoming series of JPSS satellites. The mission will test key technologies and instruments for the JPSS missions.
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A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with NASAs Mars 2020 Perseverance rover onboard is seen on the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41, Wednesday, July 29, 2020, at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The Perseverance rover is part of NASAs Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. Launch is scheduled for Thursday, July 30.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- As night falls on Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the lights are turned on to reveal the United Launch Alliance Atlas V-551 launch vehicle being readied for launch. Atop the rocket is NASA's Juno planetary probe, enclosed in its payload fairing.Liftoff is planned during a launch window which extends from 11:34 a.m. to 12:43 p.m. EDT on Aug. 5. The solar-powered spacecraft will orbit Jupiter's poles 33 times to find out more about the gas giant's origins, structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere and investigate the existence of a solid planetary core. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the Juno mission for the principal investigator, Scott Bolton, of Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. The Juno mission is part of the New Frontiers Program managed at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, built the spacecraft. Launch management for th
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the United Launch Alliance, or ULA, Atlas V rocket carrying NASAs twin Radiation Belt Storm Probes, or RBSP, rolled out of the ULA Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 at 1:59 p.m. EDT and has arrived at the launch pad. The Atlas V rocket had been rolled back to the facility on August 26 to ensure the launch vehicle and RBSP spacecraft were secured and protected from inclement weather caused by Tropical Storm Isaac.RBSP will explore changes in Earth's space environment caused by the sun -- known as "space weather" -- that can disable satellites, create power-grid failures and disrupt GPS service. The mission also will provide data on the fundamental radiation and particle acceleration processes throughout the universe. The launch is rescheduled for 4:05 a.m. EDT on Aug. 30.
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - On Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the Atlas V expendable launch vehicle with the New Horizons spacecraft moves with the launcher umbilical tower between lightning masts on its way to the launch pad. The liftoff is scheduled for 1:24 p.m. EST Jan. 17. After its launch aboard the Atlas V, the compact, 1,050-pound piano-sized probe will get a boost from a kick-stage solid propellant motor for its journey to Pluto. New Horizons will be the fastest spacecraft ever launched, reaching lunar orbit distance in just nine hours and passing Jupiter 13 months later. The New Horizons science payload, developed under direction of Southwest Research Institute, includes imaging infrared and ultraviolet spectrometers, a multi-color camera, a long-range telescopic camera, two particle spectrometers, a space-dust detector and a radio science experiment. The dust counter was designed and built by students at the University of Colorado, Boulder. A launch befor
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VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - The Delta II rocket with the Ocean Surface Topography Mission, or OSTM/Jason 2, aboard is poised for launch on Space Launch Complex 2 after rollback of the mobile service tower (at left). The OSTM/Jason 2 satellite will embark on a globe-circling voyage to continue charting sea level, a vital indicator of global climate change. The mission will return a vast amount of new data that will improve weather, climate and ocean forecasts. OSTM/Jason 2's expected lifetime of at least three years will extend into the next decade the continuous record of these data started in 1992 by NASA and the French space agency Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales, or CNES, with the TOPEX/Poseidon mission. The data collection was continued by the two agencies on Jason-1 in 2001. The launch window extends from 12:46 a.m. to 12:55 a.m. PDT. The satellite will be placed in an 830-mile-high orbit at an inclination of 66 degrees after separating from the Delta II 55 minutes
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The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, topped with the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite secured inside its payload fairing, is lifted to vertical at Space Launch Complex 4 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Nov. 20, 2020.The Sentinel-6/Jason-CS (Continuity of Service) mission consists of the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite, which will be followed by its twin, the Sentinel-6B satellite, in 2025. The Sentinel-6/Jason-CS mission is part of Copernicus, the European Unions Earth observation program, managed by the European Commission. Continuing the legacy of the Jason series missions, Sentinel-6/Jason-CS will extend the records of sea level into their fourth decade, collecting accurate measurements of sea surface height for more than 90% of the worlds oceans, and providing crucial information for operational oceanography, marine meteorology, and climate studies. Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich is scheduled to launch on Nov. 21, 2020, at 9:17 PST (12:17 EST). NASAs Launch Service
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The Orbital Sciences Corporation Antares rocket, with the Cygnus spacecraft onboard, is seen on launch Pad-0A, Saturday, July 12, 2014, at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The launch is planned for Sunday, July 13 and will carry the Cygnus spacecraft filled with over 3,000 pounds of supplies for the International Space Station, including science experiments, experiment hardware, spare parts, and crew provisions. The Orbital-2 mission is Orbital Sciences' second contracted cargo delivery flight to the space station for NASA.
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The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, with the Orbital ATK Cygnus pressurized cargo module, stands ready for launch on the pad at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Orbital ATK's seventh commercial resupply services mission, CRS-7, is scheduled to launch to the International Space Station on April 18, 2017. Cygnus will deliver 7,600 pounds of supplies, equipment and scientific research materials to the space station. Liftoff is scheduled for 11:11 a.m. EDT.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- On Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the 197-foot-tall United Launch Alliance Atlas V-551 launch vehicle basks in the sunshine outside the Vertical Integration Facility during its move to Space Launch Complex 41. Atop the rocket is NASA's Juno spacecraft, enclosed in its payload fairing.Liftoff is planned during a launch window which extends from 11:34 a.m. to 12:43 p.m. EDT on Aug. 5. The solar-powered spacecraft will orbit Jupiter's poles 33 times to find out more about the gas giant's origins, structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere and investigate the existence of a solid planetary core. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the Juno mission for the principal investigator, Scott Bolton, of Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. The Juno mission is part of the New Frontiers Program managed at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, built the spacecraft. Launch manag
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At ignition, flames and smoke from the engines begin liftoff of the United Launch Alliance Delta II Heavy rocket carrying NASAs twin Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission off Space Launch Complex 17B on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The spacecraft launched at 9:08:52 a.m. EDT Sept. 10. GRAIL-A will separate from the second stage of the rocket at about one hour, 21 minutes after liftoff, followed by GRAIL-B at 90 minutes after launch. The spacecraft are embarking on a three-month journey to reach the moon.GRAIL will fly twin spacecraft in tandem around the moon to precisely measure and map variations in the moon's gravitational field. The mission will provide the most accurate global gravity field to date for any planet, including Earth. This detailed information will reveal differences in the density of the moon's crust and mantle and will help answer fundamental questions about the moon's internal structure, thermal evolution
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The United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket with the Parker Solar Probe onboard is seen shortly after the Mobile Service Tower was rolled back, Friday, Aug. 10, 2018, Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Parker Solar Probe is humanitys first-ever mission into a part of the Suns atmosphere called the corona. Here it will directly explore solar processes that are key to understanding and forecasting space weather events that can impact life on Earth.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with the Radiation Belt Storm Probes, or RBSP, spacecraft aboard is readied for rollout to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. NASAs RBSP mission will help researchers understand the suns influence on Earth and near-Earth space by studying the Earths radiation belts on various scales of space and time. RBSP will begin its mission of exploration of Earths Van Allen radiation belts and the extremes of space weather after its launch aboard an Atlas V rocket. Launch is targeted for Aug. 24.
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A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket is ready for launch on the pad at Launch Complex 39A at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 24, 2019. SpaceX and the U.S. Department of Defense will launch two dozen satellites to space, including four NASA payloads that are part of the Space Test Program-2, managed by the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center. The launch window opens at 11:30 p.m. EDT on June 24. The four NASA payloads include two technology demonstrations to improve how spacecraft propel and navigate, as well as two NASA science missions to help us better understand the nature of space and how it impacts technology on spacecraft and the ground.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- On Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the 197-foot-tall United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket is backdropped by a bright blue sky as the vehicle rolls from the Vertical Integration Facility (VIF) to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41. Atop the rocket is NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), enclosed in its payload fairing. The rocket began its move from the VIF at 8 a.m. EST and arrived at the pad at 8:40 a.m.Liftoff is planned during a launch window which extends from 10:02 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. EST on Nov. 26. MSL's components include a car-sized rover, Curiosity, which has 10 science instruments designed to search for signs of life, including methane, and help determine if the gas is from a biological or geological source.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA's Juno spacecraft, enclosed in its payload fairing atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V-551 launch vehicle, towers over Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.Launch is planned during a launch window which extends from 11:34 a.m. to 12:43 p.m. EDT on Aug. 5. The solar-powered spacecraft will orbit Jupiter's poles 33 times to find out more about the gas giant's origins, structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere and investigate the existence of a solid planetary core. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the Juno mission for the principal investigator, Scott Bolton, of Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. The Juno mission is part of the New Frontiers Program managed at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, built the spacecraft. Launch management for the mission is the responsibility of NASA's Launch Services Program at the Kennedy Space Cen
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VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - At Vandenberg Air Force Base's Space Launch Complex-2 in California, a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket with the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project (NPP) spacecraft aboard stands by itself on the launch pad following rollback of the mobile service tower. NPP represents a critical first step in building the next-generation of Earth-observing satellites. NPP will carry the first of the new sensors developed for this satellite fleet, now known as the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) to be launched in 2016. NPP is the bridge between NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) satellites and the forthcoming series of JPSS satellites. The mission will test key technologies and instruments for the JPSS missions.
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