The Cassini spacecraft awaits placement of its payload fairing at Launch Pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Station (CCAS) to protect Cassini during launch. Scheduled for launch in mid-October, the Cassini mission is a joint US-European four-year orbital surveillance of Saturn's atmosphere and magnetosphere, its rings, and its moons, seeks insight into the origins and evolution of the early solar system. NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory is managing the Cassini project

The Cassini spacecraft awaits placement of its payload fairing at Launch Pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Station (CCAS) to protect Cassini during launch. Scheduled for launch in mid-October, the Cassini mission is a joint US-European four-year orbital surveillance of Saturn's atmosphere and magnetosphere, its rings, and its moons, seeks insight into the origins and evolution of the early solar system. NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory is managing the Cassini project
SuperStock offers millions of photos, videos, and stock assets to creatives around the world. This image of The Cassini spacecraft awaits placement of its payload fairing at Launch Pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Station (CCAS) to protect Cassini during launch. Scheduled for launch in mid-October, the Cassini mission is a joint US-European four-year orbital surveillance of Saturn's atmosphere and magnetosphere, its rings, and its moons, seeks insight into the origins and evolution of the early solar system. NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory is managing the Cassini project by Piemags/PL Photography Limited is available for licensing today.

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville, Fla., an overhead crane with a scale is being attached to the SV1-SV2 spacecraft, which will be weighed. The two spacecraft are known as the Space Tracking and Surveillance System - Demonstrators, or STSS Demo, which is a space-based sensor component of a layered Ballistic Missile Defense System designed for the overall mission of detecting, 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-04886 (10 SEPT 09)
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Cape Canaveral, Fla. -- Technicians, at the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, use an overhead crane to move NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover, known as Curiosity, to the high bay floor where the instrument mast and science boom will undergo deployment testing. A United Launch Alliance Atlas V-541 configuration will be used to loft MSL into space. Curiositys 10 science instruments are designed to search for evidence on whether Mars has had environments favorable to microbial life, including chemical ingredients for life. The unique rover will use a laser to look inside rocks and release its gasses so that the rovers spectrometer can analyze and send the data back to Earth. MSL is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida Nov. 25 with a window extending to Dec. 18 and arrival at Mars Aug. 2012.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside the Astrotech payload processing facility near NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians deploy one of four solar panels on the Radiation Belt Storm Probes, or RBSP, spacecraft A. Deploying these arrays is standard procedure to ensure they work properly on Earth before they head into space. NASAs RBSP mission will help us understand the suns influence on Earth and near-Earth space by studying the Earths radiation belts on various scales of space and time. As the spacecraft orbits Earth, the panels will continuously face the sun to provide constant power to its instruments.RBSP will begin its mission of exploration of Earths Van Allen radiation belts and the extremes of space weather after its launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. Launch is targeted for Aug. 23.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Lockheed Martin technicians prepare to move the second of NASA's twin Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory lunar spacecraft to a workstand in the Hazardous Processing Facility (HPF) at Astrotech Space Operation's payload processing facility in Titusville, Fla. In the HPF, the spacecraft will undergo two days of fueling activities.GRAIL will fly in tandem orbits around the moon for several months to measure its gravity field. GRAIL's primary science objectives are to determine the structure of the lunar interior, from crust to core, and to advance understanding of the thermal evolution of the moon. Launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket from Space Launch Complex 17B on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is scheduled for Sept. 8.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Fla., technicians conduct deployment tests on solar array panel #1 with its magnetometer boom for NASA's Juno spacecraft prior to illumination testing.Juno is scheduled to launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V from Cape Canaveral, Fla. 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.
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- At Astrotech Space Operations facilities near KSC, workers at left move a turnover fixture toward the Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft. The turnover fixture will rotate the spacecraft for prelaunch testing. MESSENGER is undergoing prelaunch testing at the site. Launch is scheduled for May 11 from Pad 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The spacecraft will fly past Venus three times and Mercury twice before starting a year-long orbital study of Mercury in July 2009.
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At Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Florida, technicians and engineers keep a watchful eye on NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-S (GOES-S) as it is moved to a work stand. The facility is located near NASA's Kennedy Space Center. GOES-S is the second in a series of four advanced geostationary weather satellites. The GOES-R series - consisting of the GOES-R, GOES-S, GOES-T and GOES-U spacecraft - will significantly improve the detection and observation of environmental phenomena that directly affect public safety, protection of property and the nation's economic health and prosperity. GOES-S is slated to launch March 1, 2018 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
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The solar arrays on NOAAs Deep Space Climate Observatory spacecraft, or DSCOVR, are unfurled in the Building 1 high bay at the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville, Florida, near Kennedy Space Center. DSCOVR is a partnership between NOAA, NASA and the U.S. Air Force. DSCOVR will maintain the nation's real-time solar wind monitoring capabilities which are critical to the accuracy and lead time of NOAA's space weather alerts and forecasts. Launch is targeted for early 2015 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 v 1.1 launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- After illumination testing of the solar array panels, technicians begin stowing the panels on the Phoenix Mars Lander spacecraft. The Phoenix will be launched toward Mars to land in icy soils near the planet's north polar permanent ice cap. It will explore the history of the water in these soils and any associated rocks, while monitoring polar climate. Landing on Mars is planned in May 2008 on arctic ground where a mission currently in orbit, Mars Odyssey, has detected high concentrations of ice just beneath the top layer of soil. Phoenix is scheduled to launch Aug. 3 from Pad 17-A at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station .
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, engineers and technicians move the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, spacecraft into position on a tilt and rotation stand for further pre-flight processing.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.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, engineers and technicians prepare to reattach twin solar arrays to the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, spacecraft following inspection and 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.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At Astrotech Space Operation's payload processing facility in Titusville, Fla., preparations are under way to stack NASA's twin Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory lunar spacecraft in their launch configuration on the spacecraft adapter ring for transport to the launch pad.GRAIL will fly in tandem orbits around the moon for several months to measure its gravity field. GRAIL's primary science objectives are to determine the structure of the lunar interior, from crust to core, and to advance understanding of the thermal evolution of the moon. Launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket from Space Launch Complex 17B on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is scheduled for Sept. 8.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Lockheed Martin technicians lower the second of NASA's twin Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory lunar spacecraft onto a workstand in the Hazardous Processing Facility (HPF) at Astrotech Space Operation's payload processing facility in Titusville, Fla. In the HPF, the spacecraft will undergo two days of fueling activities.GRAIL will fly in tandem orbits around the moon for several months to measure its gravity field. GRAIL's primary science objectives are to determine the structure of the lunar interior, from crust to core, and to advance understanding of the thermal evolution of the moon. Launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket from Space Launch Complex 17B on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is scheduled for Sept. 8.
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- After illumination testing of the solar array panels, technicians begin stowing the panels on the Phoenix Mars Lander spacecraft. The Phoenix will be launched toward Mars to land in icy soils near the planet's north polar permanent ice cap. It will explore the history of the water in these soils and any associated rocks, while monitoring polar climate. Landing on Mars is planned in May 2008 on arctic ground where a mission currently in orbit, Mars Odyssey, has detected high concentrations of ice just beneath the top layer of soil. Phoenix is scheduled to launch Aug. 3 from Pad 17-A at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station .
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, engineers and technicians test close the twin solar arrays on the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, spacecraft.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.
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Inside the Astrotech Payload Processing Facility on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the cover of the shipping container is lifted away from the newly arrived Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO). CALIPSO will fly in combination with the CloudSat satellite to provide never-before-seen 3-D perspectives of how clouds and aerosols form, evolve, and affect weather and climate. CALIPSO and CloudSat will join three other satellites in orbit to enhance understanding of climate systems. The launch date for CALIPSO_CloudSat is no earlier than Aug. 22.
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Inside the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, engineers and technicians use a crane to place the Orbital ATK OA-7 Cygnus spacecraft's service module on a test stand. Scheduled to launch on March 19, 2017, the Orbital ATK OA-7 mission will lift off atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station will deliver thousands of pounds of supplies, equipment and scientific research materials that improve life on Earth and drive progress toward future space exploration.
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VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, CALIF. - At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the CALIPSO spacecraft is being prepared for a move to a specially modified container where LIDAR (LIght Detection And Ranging) laser testing will take place. CALIPSO stands for Cloud-Aerosol LIDAR and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation. LIDAR measures distance, speed, rotation, chemical composition and concentration. CALIPSO and CloudSat will fly in formation with three other satellites in the A-train constellation to enhance understanding of our climate system. They are highly complementary satellites and together they will provide never-before-seen 3-D perspectives of how clouds and aerosols form, evolve, and affect weather and climate. Launch of CALIPSO_CloudSat aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket is scheduled for 3 01 a.m. PDT Sept. 29.
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Astrotech payload processing facility, General Dynamics technicians check NASA's Gamma-Ray Large Area Space Telescope, or GLAST, as an overhead crane is lowered over it. After the crane is securely attached, the GLAST will be lifted and moved to a work stand in the facility for a complete checkout of the scientific instruments aboard. The telescope will launch aboard a Delta II rocket May 16 from Launch Pad 17-B on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. A powerful space observatory, the GLAST will explore the most extreme environments in the universe, and answer questions about supermassive black hole systems, pulsars and the origin of cosmic rays. It also will study the mystery of powerful explosions known as gamma-ray bursts.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Technicians in the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, monitor the guide wires of the overhead crane as it lifts the Payload Attach System, or PAS, up to the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, or AMS, for installation. The PAS provides a method of securely connecting the payload to the International Space Station.AMS, a state-of-the-art particle physics detector, is designed to operate as an external module on the International Space Station. It will use the unique environment of space to study the universe and its origin by searching for dark matter. AMS will fly to the station aboard space shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 mission targeted to launch Feb. 26, 2011.
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VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Inside the Astrotech payload processing facility, building 1032, at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, workers remove the wrapping from around the Orbiting Carbon Observatory, or OCO. After the protective coverings over the spacecraft are removed, blanket preparations and edge taping will be done, followed by mechanical preparations and work on the electronic ground support equipment. The OCO is a new Earth-orbiting mission sponsored by NASA's Earth System Science Pathfinder Program. The observatory is targeted to launch Jan. 15 from Space Launch Complex 576-E at Vandenberg.
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Image Number: 6145-44556792Royalty FreeCredit Line:Piemags/PL Photography Limited/SuperStockCollection:PL Photography LimitedStory:Spacecraft PreparationContributor:PiemagsModel Release:NoProperty Release:NoResolution:540×684