KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The payload canister containing the first section of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory and the Canadian Space Agency's two-armed robotic system, Dextre, nears the rotating service structure on Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The payload will be transferred to the payload changeout room on the service structure. The changeout room is the enclosed, environmentally controlled portion of the rotating service structure that supports cargo delivery to the pad and subsequent vertical installation into an orbiter's payload bay. The payload will be installed into Endeavour for launch on the STS-123 mission targeted for March 11.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The payload canister containing the first section of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory and the Canadian Space Agency's two-armed robotic system, Dextre, nears the rotating service structure on Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The payload will be transferred to the payload changeout room on the service structure. The changeout room is the enclosed, environmentally controlled portion of the rotating service structure that supports cargo delivery to the pad and subsequent vertical installation into an orbiter's payload bay. The payload will be installed into Endeavour for launch on the STS-123 mission targeted for March 11.
SuperStock offers millions of photos, videos, and stock assets to creatives around the world. This image of KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The payload canister containing the first section of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory and the Canadian Space Agency's two-armed robotic system, Dextre, nears the rotating service structure on Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The payload will be transferred to the payload changeout room on the service structure. The changeout room is the enclosed, environmentally controlled portion of the rotating service structure that supports cargo delivery to the pad and subsequent vertical installation into an orbiter's payload bay. The payload will be installed into Endeavour for launch on the STS-123 mission targeted for March 11. by Piemags/PL Photography Limited is available for licensing today.

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the final solid rocket motor (SRM) is ready for mating to the first stage of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. The Atlas V will carry NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission into space.MSL's components include a compact car-sized rover, Curiosity, which has 10 science instruments 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 Nov. 25 with a window extending to Dec. 18 and arrival at Mars Aug. 2012.
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - On Launch Complex 17-A at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., the first stage of a Boeing Delta II rocket is moved into place in the mobile service tower. To follow in the next week are attachment of the three strap-on solid rocket boosters, lifting of the payload fairing, and lifting of the second stage for mating with the first stage. The rocket is the launch vehicle for the Swift spacecraft and its Gamma-Ray Burst Mission, now scheduled for liftoff no earlier than Nov. 2. Swift is a medium-class Explorer mission managed by NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The observatory was built for NASA by Spectrum Astro, a division of General Dynamics. KSC is responsible for Swifts integration with the Boeing Delta II rocket and the countdown management on launch day.
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Encapsulated in its payload fairing, Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS-M) has been mated to the United Launch Alliance Atlas V Centaur upper stage in the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. TDRS-M will be 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 the ULA Atlas V rocket is scheduled for Aug. 18, 2017.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- When the Atlas V first stage is raised to vertical, it will be lifted into the Vertical Integration Facility on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Launch Complex 41. The Atlas V/Centaur is the launch vehicle for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO. The orbiter will carry seven instruments to provide scientists with detailed maps of the lunar surface and enhance our understanding of the moon's topography, lighting conditions, mineralogical composition and natural resources. Information gleaned from LRO will be used to select safe landing sites, determine locations for future lunar outposts and help mitigate radiation dangers to astronauts. Launch of LRO is targeted no earlier than June 2.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, workers using an overhead crane lift a solid rocket motor into the Vertical Integration Facility at Launch Complex 41. It then will be attached to the United Launch Alliance Atlas V booster stage, already at the pad.NASA's Juno spacecraft is scheduled to launch aboard an 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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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Workers hoist the Atlas V rocket scheduled to launch NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, into the Vertical Integration Facility at Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.SDO is the first space weather research network mission in NASA's Living With a Star Program. The spacecraft's long-term measurements will give solar scientists in-depth information about changes in the sun's magnetic field and insight into how they affect Earth. Liftoff on the United Launch Alliance Atlas V is scheduled for Feb. 3, 2010.
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Solid rocket boosters are clustered around the base of the United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket in the mobile service tower. A total of nine will assist in the launch of the THEMIS integrated spacecraft. THEMIS consists of five identical probes, the largest number of scientific satellites ever launched into orbit aboard a single rocket. This unique constellation of satellites will resolve the tantalizing mystery of what causes the spectacular sudden brightening of the aurora borealis and aurora australis - the fiery skies over the Earth's northern and southern polar regions. THEMIS is scheduled to launch Feb. 15 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The Atlas V rocket scheduled to launch NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, begins its lift into the Vertical Integration Facility at Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.SDO is the first space weather research network mission in NASA's Living With a Star Program. The spacecraft's long-term measurements will give solar scientists in-depth information about changes in the sun's magnetic field and insight into how they affect Earth. Liftoff on the United Launch Alliance Atlas V is scheduled for Feb. 3, 2010.
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VANDENBERG AFB, CALIF. -- On the launch pad, a solid rocket booster is lifted up the gantry for mating with the Delta II rocket that will launch the Aqua-EOS satellite. Aqua is one of a series of spacebased platforms that are central to NASA's Earth Science Enterprise (ESE), a long-term study of the scope, dynamics and implications of global change. The Aqua program is composed of Aqua and other spacecraft (including Terra and Aura) and a data distribution system (ESDIS, and Mission Operations Center Implementation Team). Flying in an orbit that covers the globe every 16 days, Aqua will provide a six-year chronology of the planet and its processes. Comprehensive measurements taken by its onboard instruments will allow multidisciplinary teams of scientists and researchers from North and South America, Asia, Australia and Europe to assess long-term change, identify its human and natural causes and advance the development of models for long-term forecasting. Launch is scheduled for April
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - On Launch Complex 37-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the Boeing Delta IV rocket is raised toward the gantry.The Delta IV is the launch vehicle for the GOES-N satellite, the first of three for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that will provide continuous monitoring necessary for intensive data analysis. GOES-N will provide a constant vigil for the atmospheric triggers of severe weather conditions such as tornadoes, flash floods, hail storms and hurricanes. When these conditions develop, GOES-N will be able to monitor storm development and track their movements. NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center is responsible for development of the satellite and testing of the spacecraft and its instruments. GOES-N is scheduled for launch on May 4.
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At Space Launch Complex 3 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California a crane lifts a United Launch Alliance Centaur upper stage for mating atop an Atlas V booster. The rocket will launch NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, or InSight, mission to land on Mars. InSight is the first mission to explore the Red Planet's deep interior. It will investigate processes that shaped the rocky planets of the inner solar system including Earth. Liftoff is scheduled for May 5, 2018.
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Near the top, left, of the tower on Launch Complex 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, is seen the second half of the fairing that will encapsulate the Comet Nucleus Tour (CONTOUR) spacecraft on a Delta II rocket. On the lower right is the rocket. CONTOUR will provide the first detailed look into the heart of a comet -- the nucleus. Flying as close as 60 miles (100 kilometers) to at least two comets, the spacecraft will take the sharpest pictures yet of a nucleus while analyzing the gas and dust that surround them. Launch of CONTOUR is scheduled for July 1, 2002
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The second stage of the Delta II launch vehicle for the Dawn spacecraft is lifted alongside the mobile service tower on Launch Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. It will be mated with the first stage already in the tower. The Delta II-Heavy, manufactured by the United Launch Alliance, is scheduled to launch the Dawn spacecraft on its 4-year flight to the asteroid belt. The Delta II-Heavy is the strongest rocket in the Delta II class. It will use three stages and nine solid-fueled booster rockets to propel Dawn on its way. A 9.5-foot payload fairing will protect the spacecraft from the heat and stresses of launch. Dawn's goal is to characterize the conditions and processes of the solar system's earliest epoch by investigating in detail the largest protoplanets that have remained intact since their formations: asteroid Vesta and the dwarf planet Ceres. They reside in the extensive zone between Mars and Jupiter together with many other smaller b
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The encapsulated Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) nears the top of the Vertical Integration Facility on Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The spacecraft will be mated with the Atlas V rocket already in the tower. The MRO is the next major step in Mars exploration and scheduled for launch aboard an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in a window opening Aug. 10.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At Space Launch Complex 41, technicians monitor a crane as it is lowered toward the Juno spacecraft, enclosed in an Atlas payload fairing, for its lift to the top of the Atlas rocket stacked in the Vertical Integration Facility. The spacecraft was prepared for launch in the Astrotech Space Operations' payload processing facility in Titusville, Fla.The fairing will protect the spacecraft from the impact of aerodynamic pressure and heating during ascent and will be jettisoned once the spacecraft is outside the Earth's atmosphere. Juno is scheduled to launch Aug. 5 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. 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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At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, a solid rocket motor is lifted at Space Launch Complex 2 to be attached to a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket. Preparations are continuing for launch of the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS-1) spacecraft on March 27, 2017. JPSS-1 is part of the next-generation environmental satellite system, a collaborative program between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA.
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The booster of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket that will launch the Solar Orbiter spacecraft arrives at the Vertical Integration Facility near Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Jan. 6, 2020. Solar Orbiter is an international cooperative mission between ESA (European Space Agency) and NASA. The mission aims to study the Sun, its outer atmosphere and solar wind. The spacecraft will provide the first images of the Suns poles. NASAs Launch Services Program based at Kennedy Space Center in Florida is managing the launch.
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A Centaur upper stage is lifted at the Space Launch Complex 41 Vertical Integration Facility at Floridas Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Nov. 8, 2019, for mating to the United Launch Alliance Atlas V first stage in preparation for Boeings Orbital Flight Test (OFT). The uncrewed OFT mission will rendezvous and dock Boeings CST-100 Starliner spacecraft with the International Space Station as part of NASAs Commercial Crew Program. Starliner will launch atop the Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41.
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At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the final four vehicle support posts are being installed on the deck of the mobile launcher. A total of eight support posts are being installed to support the load of the Space Launch System's (SLS) solid rocket boosters, with four posts for each of the boosters. The support posts are about five feet tall and each weigh about 10,000 pounds. The posts will structurally support the SLS rocket through T-0 and liftoff, and will drop down before vehicle liftoff to avoid contact with the flight hardware. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing installation of the support posts to prepare for the launch of the Orion spacecraft atop the SLS rocket.
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A crane is used to lift the United Launch Alliances (ULA) first stage of the Atlas V 541 rocket vertical for its move into the Space Launch Complex-41 Vertical Integration Facility at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Jan. 31, 2022. The Atlas V will launch the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations (NOAA) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite T (GOES-T). GOES-T is the third satellite in the GOES-R series that will continue to help meteorologists observe and predict local weather events that affect public safety. GOES-T is scheduled to launch from Space Launch Complex-41 on March 1, 2022. The launch is being managed by NASAs Launch Services Program based at Kennedy Space Center, Americas multi-user spaceport.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Three solid-fueled rocket boosters are positioned for attachment to the first stage of a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket. The boosters are being attached to the rocket at Launch Complex 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The Delta II will carry NASA's Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory, or GRAIL, spacecraft into lunar orbit. The GRAIL mission is a part of NASA's Discovery Program. GRAIL will fly twin spacecraft in tandem orbits around the moon for several months to measure its gravity field. The mission also will answer longstanding questions about Earth's moon and provide scientists a better understanding of how Earth and other rocky planets in the solar system formed. GRAIL is scheduled to launch September 8, 2011.
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Image Number: 6145-44698016Royalty FreeCredit Line:Piemags/PL Photography Limited/SuperStockCollection:PL Photography LimitedStory:Rocket Launch PreparationContributor:PiemagsModel Release:NoProperty Release:NoResolution:3000×2014