CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Space shuttle Discovery is towed into position beside the mate-demate device, or MDD, at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The MDD is a large gantry-like steel structure used to hoist a shuttle off the ground and position it onto the back of a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, or SCA. The SCA is a Boeing 747 jet, originally manufactured for commercial use, which was modified by NASA to transport the shuttles between destinations on Earth. The SCA designated NASA 905 is assigned to the remaining ferry missions, delivering the shuttles to their permanent public display sites. Discoverys new home will be the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Space shuttle Discovery is towed into position beside the mate-demate device, or MDD, at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The MDD is a large gantry-like steel structure used to hoist a shuttle off the ground and position it onto the back of a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, or SCA. The SCA is a Boeing 747 jet, originally manufactured for commercial use, which was modified by NASA to transport the shuttles between destinations on Earth. The SCA designated NASA 905 is assigned to the remaining ferry missions, delivering the shuttles to their permanent public display sites. Discoverys new home will be the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va.
SuperStock offers millions of photos, videos, and stock assets to creatives around the world. This image of CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Space shuttle Discovery is towed into position beside the mate-demate device, or MDD, at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The MDD is a large gantry-like steel structure used to hoist a shuttle off the ground and position it onto the back of a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, or SCA. The SCA is a Boeing 747 jet, originally manufactured for commercial use, which was modified by NASA to transport the shuttles between destinations on Earth. The SCA designated NASA 905 is assigned to the remaining ferry missions, delivering the shuttles to their permanent public display sites. Discoverys new home will be the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va. by Piemags/PL Photography Limited is available for licensing today.

Visually Similar More from NASA Transport Aircraft Operations story

RM
6145-44764439
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - On the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the offload equipment is moved close to the open nose of the Beluga Airbus. Inside the airbus is the Node 3 module that will be delivered to the International Space Station on the STS-130 mission. Tranquility will eventually house the life support equipment necessary for the space station's permanent crew of six. It will also accommodate the European Space Agency's Cupola observation module, a seven-window, dome-shaped structure. Tranquility is targeted for launch aboard space shuttle Endeavour in February 2010.
RM
7063-70138487
USA, Arizona, Tucson, PIMA Air and Space Museum. Aero Spacelines 377-SG Super Guppy nose
RM
6145-45113697
A truck with a specialized transporter drives out of the cargo hold of an Air Force C-5 Galaxy transport plane at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to deliver the GOES-R spacecraft for launch processing. The GOES series are weather satellites operated by NOAA to enhance forecasts. The spacecraft is to launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket in November.
RM
6145-44872771
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Discovery backs out of its processing bay, Orbiter Processing Facility-2, or OPF-2, to begin the move to the Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB.Discovery will be stored inside the VAB for approximately one month while shuttle Atlantis undergoes processing in OPF-2 following its final mission, STS-135. Discovery flew its 39th and final mission, STS-133, in February and March 2011, and currently is being prepared for public display at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia.
RM
6145-45137668
NASA's TDRS-M satellite arrives inside its shipping container at Space Coast Regional Airport in Titusville, Florida, aboard a U.S. Air Force transport aircraft. The spacecraft will be transported to the nearby Astrotech facility, also in Titusville, for preflight processing. The TDRS-M is the latest spacecraft destined for the agency's constellation of communications satellites that allows nearly continuous contact with orbiting spacecraft ranging from the International Space Station and Hubble Space Telescope to the array of scientific observatories. Liftoff atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket is scheduled to take place from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 9:02 a.m. EDT Aug. 3, 2017.
RM
1848-55285590
Antonov 124, plane, opened hatchway
RM
6145-44852940
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Space shuttle Discovery's "towback" vehicle slowly pulls the spacecraft into Orbiter Processing Facility-2 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Discovery touched down on the Shuttle Landing Facility's Runway 15 at 11:57 a.m., bringing an end to its 39th and final spaceflight mission, STS-133. Discovery and its six-member STS-133 crew delivered the Permanent Multipurpose Module, packed with supplies and critical spare parts, as well as Robonaut 2, the dexterous humanoid astronaut helper, to the International Space Station. Inside the processing facility, Discovery will be prepared for future public display.
RM
6145-44697507
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- On its transporter, space shuttle Endeavour begins the rollover to the Vehicle Assembly Building. In high bay 1 of the VAB, Endeavour will be attached to its external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters in preparation for its upcoming mission, STS-123, to the International Space Station targeted for March 11. The mission will deliver the first section of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory and the Canadian Space Agency's two-armed robotic system, Dextre.
RM
6145-45134210
On the tarmac at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the agency's Super Guppy aircraft closes after the Orion Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1) structural test article, in its transport container, is secured inside. The test article will be transported to Lockheed Martin's Denver facility for testing. The Orion spacecraft will launch atop NASAs Space Launch System rocket on EM-1, its first deep space mission.
RM
6145-44906529
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Space shuttle Endeavour is towed into the Mate-Demate Device, or MDD, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida after being backed out of the Vehicle Assembly Building. The MDD is located at the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy. The shuttle will be lifted and connected to the top of NASA's Shuttle Carrier Aircraft SCA, a modified 747 jetliner. The shuttle has been fitted with an aerodynamic tailcone for its flight aboard the SCA to Los Angeles where it will be placed on public display.
RM
6145-45159605
The Orion Stage Adapter (OSA) is moved out of NASA's Super Guppy aircraft onto a special payload handler at the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The OSA is the second flight-hardware section of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket to arrive at Kennedy. The OSA will connect the Orion spacecraft to the upper part of the SLS, the interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS). Both the OSA and ICPS are being stored for processing in the center's Space Station Processing Facility in preparation for Exploration Mission-1, the first uncrewed, integrated launch of the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft.
RM
6145-44965961
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the Pegasus XL rocket with the attached Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph IRIS solar observatory rolled out of the hangar on its transporter to the runway at Vandenberg. There, the rocket and spacecraft were mated with the Orbital Sciences L-1011 carrier aircraft.Scheduled for launch from Vandenberg on June 26, 2013, IRIS will open a new window of discovery by tracing the flow of energy and plasma through the chromospheres and transition region into the suns corona using spectrometry and imaging. The IRIS mission will observe how solar material moves, gathers energy and heats up as it travels through a largely unexplored region of the solar atmosphere. The interface region, located between the sun's visible surface and upper atmosphere, is where most of the sun's ultraviolet emission is generated. These emissions impact the near-Earth space environment and Earth's climate.
RM
6145-44914874
Space shuttle Atlantis, (OV-104), is seen as it begins its trip to its new home at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, early Friday, Nov. 2, 2012, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. The spacecraft traveled 125,935,769 miles during 33 spaceflights, including 12 missions to the International Space Station. Its final flight, STS-135, closed out the Space Shuttle Program era with a landing on July 21, 2011.
RM
6145-44905263
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A pilot looks over the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, or SCA, after it parked on the ramp area at NASA Kennedy Space Centers Shuttle Landing Facility in Florida. The SCA touched down at 5:05 p.m. EDT to prepare for shuttle Endeavours ferry flight to the Los Angeles International Airport on Sept. 17.
RM
6145-45296924
The United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V booster for NASAs Landsat 9 mission is offloaded from the Antonov 124 cargo aircraft at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, on June 29, 2021. The Landsat 9 mission will launch atop a ULA Atlas V rocket from Vandenberg in September 2021. The launch is being managed by NASAs Launch Services Program based at Kennedy Space Center. The Landsat 9 satellite will continue the nearly 50-year legacy of previous Landsat missions. It will monitor key natural and economic resources from orbit. Landsat 9 is managed by the agencys Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The satellite will carry two instruments: the Operational Land Imager 2, which collects images of Earths landscapes in visible, near infrared and shortwave infrared light, and the Thermal Infrared Sensor 2, which measures the temperature of land surfaces. Like its predecessors, Landsat 9 is a joint mission between NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey.
RM
6145-44751500
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The nose of the Russian AH-124-100 aircraft rises up to enable offloading of the Centaur stage of the Atlas V rocket at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's skid strip in Florida . The Atlas V will launch NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, and NASA's Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite, known as LCROSS. The two spacecraft will be integrated with the Atlas V and tested for final flight worthiness. Launch is scheduled for the spring. LCROSS and LRO are the first missions in NASA's plan to return humans to the moon and begin establishing a lunar outpost by 2020.
RM
6145-44884241
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft carrying space shuttle Discovery backs out of the Shuttle Landing Facility's mate-demate device at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The device, known as the MDD, is a large gantry-like steel structure used to hoist a shuttle off the ground and position it onto the back of the aircraft, or SCA. The SCA is a Boeing 747 jet that was originally manufactured for commercial use and modified by NASA to transport the shuttles between destinations on Earth. This SCA, designated NASA 905, is assigned to the remaining ferry missions, delivering the shuttles to their permanent public display sites. NASA 905 is scheduled to ferry Discovery to the Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia on April 17, after which the shuttle will be placed on display in the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.
RM
6145-58959872
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Endeavour is towed through the door of Orbiter Processing Facility-2. Endeavour's touchdown at Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility following the STS-130 mission to the International Space Station was at 10 20 p.m. EST Feb. 21. Processing now will begin for Endeavour's next flight, STS-134. The six-member STS-134 crew will deliver Express Logistics Carrier 3 and the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the International Space Station, as well as a variety of spare parts including two S-band communications antennas, a high-pressure gas tank, additional spare parts for Dextre and micrometeoroid debris shields. STS-134 will be the 35th shuttle mission to the station and the 133rd flight in the shuttle program. Launch is targeted for July 29.
RM
6145-44525513
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- Stages of the first Atlas V rocket are offloaded from a Russian Antonov AN-124 aircraft after their arrival at the Skid Strip at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The Atlas V will be joined to its Centaur upper stage for testing and checkout in preparation for a May 2002 launch
RM
6145-55862838
A U.S. Air Force F-100 Super Sabre on the ramp at the Iowa Air National Guards 185th Air Refueling Wing has been repaired and repainted in preparation to be placed back on static display. The Iowa Air National Guard unit flew the F-100 for 16 years between 1961 and 1977.U.S. Air National Guard photo Senior Master Sgt. Vincent De Groot
RM
6145-44519790
The wheels on Atlantis are lowered while the orbiter is suspended by an overhead crane in the mate/demate device at KSCs Shuttle Landing Facility. It was removed from the back of the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft in the background. Atlantis just returned from California atop the SCA after its Feb. 19 landing at Edwards Air Force Base concluding mission STS-98. The ferry flight began March 1; unfavorable weather conditions kept it on the ground at Altus AFB, Okla., until it could return to Florida. Atlantis will be transported to the Orbiter Processing Facility to prepare it for mission STS-104, the 10th construction flight to the International Space Station, scheduled to launch June 8
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: 6145-44883682Royalty FreeCredit Line:Piemags/PL Photography Limited/SuperStockCollection:PL Photography LimitedStory:NASA Transport Aircraft OperationsContributor:PiemagsModel Release:NoProperty Release:NoResolution:3000×2000
OV-103
t&r|