CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians prepare to attach a bridge crane to the Orion ground test vehicle for heat shield removal inside the Vehicle Assembly Building. The ground test vehicle is being prepared for its move to Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., for a water test. The test vehicle is being used by the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program for path finding operations, including simulated manufacturing, assembly and stacking procedures. Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to destinations not yet explored by humans. It will have emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. The first unpiloted test flight of Orion is scheduled to launch in 2014 atop a Delta IV Heavy rocket and in 2017 on NASAs Space Launch System rocket.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians prepare to attach a bridge crane to the Orion ground test vehicle for heat shield removal inside the Vehicle Assembly Building. The ground test vehicle is being prepared for its move to Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., for a water test. The test vehicle is being used by the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program for path finding operations, including simulated manufacturing, assembly and stacking procedures. Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to destinations not yet explored by humans. It will have emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. The first unpiloted test flight of Orion is scheduled to launch in 2014 atop a Delta IV Heavy rocket and in 2017 on NASAs Space Launch System rocket.
SuperStock offers millions of photos, videos, and stock assets to creatives around the world. This image of CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians prepare to attach a bridge crane to the Orion ground test vehicle for heat shield removal inside the Vehicle Assembly Building. The ground test vehicle is being prepared for its move to Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., for a water test. The test vehicle is being used by the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program for path finding operations, including simulated manufacturing, assembly and stacking procedures. Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to destinations not yet explored by humans. It will have emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. The first unpiloted test flight of Orion is scheduled to launch in 2014 atop a Delta IV Heavy rocket and in 2017 on NASAs Space Launch System rocket. by Piemags/PL Photography Limited is available for licensing today.

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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In high bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, a solid rocket booster segment is lowered toward mobile launcher platform No. 2 for use on mission STS-115. The mission will deliver a truss and other key components to the International Space Station. Launch is currently scheduled for late August.
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Inside the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility (RPSF) at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians lift the right aft motor segment - one of five segments that make up one of two solid rocket boosters for the agencys Space Launch System (SLS) - onto an inspection stand on June 23, 2020. While in the RPSF, the boosters will be mated to the rockets two aft skirts before they are moved to the Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking on the mobile launcher. The boosters, manufactured by Northrop Grumman in Utah, recently arrived at Kennedy for processing ahead of the Artemis I launch. Together, the twin boosters provide more than 75 percent of the total SLS thrust at launch. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A crane is attached to the Ares I-X forward center assembly in NASA Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building. The assembly will be lifted into High Bay 3 for stacking with the aft assembly. Part of the Constellation Program, the Ares I-X is the test vehicle for the Ares I, which is the essential core of a space transportation system that eventually will carry crewed missions back to the moon, on to Mars and out into the solar system . The Ares I-X flight test is targeted for no earlier than Aug. 30.
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Inside the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility (RPSF) at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians lift the right aft motor segment - one of five segments that make up one of two solid rocket boosters for the agencys Space Launch System (SLS) - onto an inspection stand on June 23, 2020. While in the RPSF, the boosters will be mated to the rockets two aft skirts before they are moved to the Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking on the mobile launcher. The boosters, manufactured by Northrop Grumman in Utah, recently arrived at Kennedy for processing ahead of the Artemis I launch. Together, the twin boosters provide more than 75 percent of the total SLS thrust at launch. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon.
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the external tank is lowered between the solid rocket boosters on the mobile launcher platform below. After mating, the boosters-tank configuration will be used on space shuttle Atlantis for mission STS-122, which is targeted for launch on Dec. 6.
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Rotation Processing and Surge Facility, an SRB solid segment is lowered onto a rail car for shipment to Utah where it will be tested. The segment was part of the STS-114 stack. It is the first time actual flight segments that had been stacked for flight in the VAB are being returned to Utah for testing. It will undergo firing, which will enable inspectors to check the viability of the solid and verify the life expectancy for stacked segments.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In high bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a large overhead crane lowers the Ares I-X service module onto the service adapter. Workers check the precision of the connection. Ares I-X is the test flight for the Ares I. The I-X flight will provide NASA an early opportunity to test and prove hardware, facilities and ground operations associated with Ares I. The launch of the 327-foot-tall, full-scale Ares I-X, targeted for July 2009, will be the first in a series of unpiloted rocket launches from Kennedy.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Assembly and Refurbishment Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Ares I-X frustum is being mated to the forward skirt and forward skirt extension to complete the forward assembly. The assembly will be moved to the Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking operations. Resembling a giant funnel, the frustum's function is to transition the primary flight loads from the rocket's upper stage to the first stage. The frustum is located between the forward skirt extension and the upper stage of the Ares I-X. The launch of Ares I-X is targeted for August 2009.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians watch external fuel tank, ET-122, for space shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 mission as it is being lowered toward the twin solid rocket boosters. When in place the tank will be attached to the boosters on the mobile launcher platform. Endeavour and its crew will deliver the Express Logistics Carrier-3 and the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the International Space Station. Launch is targeted for April 19.
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Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers assist as the Space Launch System (SLS) Core Stage pathfinder is suspended by two cranes in the horizontal position above the transfer aisle on Oct. 15, 2019. The 212-foot-long core stage pathfinder arrived on NASA's Pegasus Barge at Kennedys Launch Complex 39 turn basin wharf on Sept. 27, 2019. The Pegasus Barge made its first delivery to Kennedy in support of the agency's Artemis missions. The pathfinder is being used by Exploration Ground Systems and its contractor, Jacobs, to practice offloading, moving and stacking maneuvers, using important ground support equipment to train employees and certify all the equipment works properly. The pathfinder will stay at Kennedy through at least the month of October before trekking back to NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana.
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In high bay 1 in the Vehicle Assembly Building, Space Shuttle Atlantis' orbiter cockpit, nose cone and part of the external tank peak through various levels of scaffolding as work continues to repair the external tank. In late February, Atlantis' external tank received hail damage during a severe thunderstorm that passed through the Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39 area. The hail caused visible divots in the giant tank's foam insulation and minor surface damage to about 26 heat shield tiles on the shuttle's left wing. A new target launch date has not been determined, but teams will focus on preparing Atlantis for liftoff in late April on mission STS-117.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In high bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers attach a large overhead crane to the Ares I-X service module, on the floor. The module will be lifted and mated to the service adapter. Ares I-X is the test flight for the Ares I. The I-X flight will provide NASA an early opportunity to test and prove hardware, facilities and ground operations associated with Ares I. The launch of the 327-foot-tall, full-scale Ares I-X, targeted for July 2009, will be the first in a series of unpiloted rocket launches from Kennedy.
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NASA engineers install test hardware for the agency's new heavy lift rocket, the Space Launch System, into a newly constructed 50-foot structural test stand at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. In the stand, hydraulic cylinders will be electronically controlled to push, pull, twist and bend the test article with millions of pounds of force. Engineers will record and analyze over 3,000 channels of data for each test case to verify the capabilities of the engine section and validate that the design and analysis models accurately predict the amount of loads the core stage can withstand during launch and ascent. The engine section, recently delivered via NASA's barge Pegasus from NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility, is the first of four core stage structural test articles scheduled to be delivered to Marshall for testing. The engine section, located at the bottom of SLS's massive core stage, will house the rocket's four RS-25 engines and be an attachment point for the two solid rocket boos
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This image shows technicians and engineers moving the liquid oxygen tank (LOX) into position as they continue the process of the forward join on the core stage of NASAs Space Launch System rocket for Artemis II, the first crewed mission of NASAs Artemis program at NASAs Michoud Assembly Facility. The forward join connects the forward skirt, the liquid oxygen tank (LOX) and the intertank structures to form the top part of the SLS rockets core stage. Now, NASA and Boeing, the SLS prime contractor, will continue to integrate various systems inside the forward part of the core stage and prepare for structural joining of the liquid hydrogen tank and engine section to form the bottom of the stage. Together with its four RS-25 engines, the rockets massive 212-foot-tall core stage — the largest stage NASA has ever built — and its twin solid rocket boosters will produce 8.8 million pounds of thrust to send NASAs Orion spacecraft, astronauts and supplies beyond Earths orbit to the Moon a
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Teams from NASAs Exploration Ground Systems and Space Launch System (SLS) practice SLS booster stacking with pathfinders inside Kennedy Space Centers Vehicle Assembly Building on Nov. 19, 2019. Using overhead cranes and booster handling activities, the teams focused on procedures for mating a center segment onto a cylinder that simulated another segment. The exercise was performed around the clock, operating three shifts per day. SLS will launch the first woman and next man to the Moon by 2024 through the Artemis program.
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Space Launch System Corestage-2 (Artemis-2) Liquid Oxygen tank is lifted out a of a work cell at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The Ares I-X motor segment is suspended vertically and ready to be moved to a work stand in the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Four segments were delivered to Kennedy for final processing and integration. The booster used for the Ares I-X launch is being modified by adding new forward structures and a fifth segment simulator. The motor is the final hardware needed for the rocket's upcoming test flight this summer. The stacking operations are scheduled to begin in the Vehicle Assembly Building in April.
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During a training exercise, technicians with NASAs Exploration Ground Systems lower a mock-up of the Space Launch System (SLS) aft booster segment, referred to as a pathfinder, onto the mobile launcher in Kennedy Space Centers Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) on Sept. 11, 2020. The rehearsal involved teams preparing the aft pathfinder segment in High Bay 4 of the VAB, lifting and moving it over to High Bay 3, and placing it on the mobile launcher in preparation for Artemis I. Stacking of the actual booster segments will occur later this year, before the SLS core stage arrives at the Florida spaceport. Artemis I is the first in a series of increasingly complex missions that will test SLS and the Orion spacecraft as an integrated system prior to crewed flights to the Moon.
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Interior view of Launch Pad 39A
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building, the external tank for Endeavour is lowered between the solid rocket boosters toward the mobile launcher platform below. Endeavour is currently targeted for rollover to the VAB July 5. Endeavour is the designated orbiter for mission STS-118, targeted for launch on Aug. 9 to the International Space Station. The mission will continue space station construction by delivering a third starboard truss segment, S5, as well as carrying the external stowage platform 3.
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Image Number: 6145-58972243Royalty FreeCredit Line:Piemags/PL Photography Limited/SuperStockCollection:PL Photography LimitedStory:NASA Rocket Assembly and ProcessingContributor:PiemagsModel Release:NoProperty Release:NoResolution:3000×2000
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