NASA Payload Operations

Images from NASA's facilities showcasing satellite assembly, payload preparations, and scientific missions related to space technology.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility, workers check the placement of the external stowage platform 3 to the payload canister. The platform is part of the payload on mission STS-118 and will be loaded into Space Shuttle Endeavour's payload bay at the pad. Endeavour is 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.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, an overhead crane lowers the Multi-Use Lightweight Equipment, or MULE, carrier toward a stand in the high bay. The MULE is part of the payload for the fifth and final shuttle servicing mission to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, STS-125. The MULE carrier will join the Flight Support System, the Super Lightweight Interchangeable Carrier and the Orbital Replacement Unit Carrier in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility where the Hubble payload is being prepared for launch. The Relative Navigation Sensors and the New Outer Blanket Layers will be on the MULE. The payload is scheduled to go to Launch Pad 39A in mid-September to be installed into Atlantis' payload bay. Atlantis is targeted to launch Oct. 8 at 1:34 a.m. EDT.

Cape Canaveral, Fla. -- At the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers removed the container cover from NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover, known as Curiosity.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.

At Astrotech, Titusville, Fla., the GOES-M (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite) satellite is tilted on a workstand so that workers can remove part of the protective cover. The GOES-M provides weather imagery and quantitative sounding data used to support weather forecasting, severe storm tracking and meteorological research. The satellite will undergo testing at Astrotech before its scheduled launch July 12 on an Atlas-IIA booster, Centaur upper stage from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, or PHSF, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Super Lightweight Interchangeable Carrier, or SLIC, is lifted from the payload canister which transported the Hubble Space Telescope equipment back to the clean room from Launch Pad 39A. The payload for Hubble servicing mission 4 comprises four carriers holding various equipment for the mission. In the PHSF, the carriers will be stored until a new target launch date in 2009 can be set for Atlantis STS-125 mission. Atlantis October target launch date was delayed after a device on board Hubble, used in the storage and transmission of science data to Earth, shut down on Sept. 27. Replacing the broken device will be added to Atlantis servicing mission to the telescope.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the cover of the shipping container is lifted to reveal the Multi-Use Lightweight Equipment (MULE) carrier inside. The MULE is part of the payload for the fifth and final shuttle servicing mission to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, STS-125. The MULE carrier will join the Flight Support System, the Super Lightweight Interchangeable Carrier and the Orbital Replacement Unit Carrier in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility where the Hubble payload is being prepared for launch. The Relative Navigation Sensors and the New Outer Blanket Layers will be on the MULE. The payload is scheduled to go to Launch Pad 39A in mid-September to be installed into Atlantis' payload bay. Atlantis is targeted to launch Oct. 8 at 1:34 a.m. EDT. .

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At the Astrotech Space Operations facility in Titusville, Fla., the solar panels on the Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, have been lowered against the side of the spacecraft following testing to verify the spacecraft's readiness for launch.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 an Atlas V rocket is scheduled for Feb. 3, 2010.

VANDENBERG AFB - Orbital Sciences team members prepare to move the second half of the payload fairing before it is placed over NASA's IRIS spacecraft. The fairing connects to the nose of the Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL rocket that will lift the solar observatory into orbit in June. The work is taking place in a hangar at Vandenberg Air Force Base where IRIS, short for Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, is being prepared for launch on a Pegasus XL rocket. Scheduled for launch from Vandenberg June 26, 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. IRIS fills a crucial gap in our ability to advance studies of the sun-to-Earth connection by tracing the flow of energy and plasma through the foundation of the corona and the region around the sun known as the heliosphere.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility, workers check the placement of the external stowage platform 3 to the payload canister. The platform is part of the payload on mission STS-118 and will be loaded into Space Shuttle Endeavour's payload bay at the pad. Endeavour is 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.

Members of the media were given the opportunity to view and photograph the Solar Orbiter spacecraft up close inside the Astrotech Space Operations payload processing facility in Titusville, Florida, on Dec. 16, 2019. Representatives from NASAs Launch Services Program (LSP), the European Space Agency (ESA), United Launch Alliance (ULA), Airbus Defence and Space, and NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center provided an overview of the mission, spacecraft and launch vehicle. Solar Orbiter is a space mission of international collaboration between ESA and NASA, and the spacecraft has been developed by Airbus. The mission will study the Sun and how it can affect the space environment throughout the solar system, and it also will provide the first images of the Suns poles. Solar Orbiter is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Stations Space Launch Complex 41 aboard a ULA Atlas V rocket at 11:27 p.m. EST on Feb. 5, 2020. LSP will manage the launch.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, or PHSF, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane lifts the Multi-Use Lightweight Equipment, or MULE, carrier from the payload canister. It will be moved to a stand in the PHSF. The carrier contains hardware for the STS-125 Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission that has been returned to the PHSF to await a new launch date for the mission. Atlantis' targeted launch on Oct. 14 was delayed when a system that transfers science data from the orbiting observatory to Earth malfunctioned on Sept. 27. The new target launch date is under review.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville, Fla. , the STSS Demonstrator SV-1 spacecraft is lowered toward the orbital insertion system. The spacecraft is a midcourse tracking technology demonstrator, part of an evolving ballistic missile defense system. 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 in late summer.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Inside the Space Station Processing Facility, an overhead crane moves towards the SPACEHAB Module to transport in to the Payload Canister. The SPACEHAB Module will carry racks of experiments, flight hardware, spacewalk equipment and supplies to support mission STS-116 to the International Space Station. STS-116 will be mission number 20 to the station and construction flight 12A.1. Along with SPACEHAB, the mission payload on Space Shuttle Discovery includes the P5 integrated truss structure and other key components. The launch window opens Dec. 7.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility, the P5 truss for mission STS-116 moves closer to the payload canister (left). The canister will transport the truss to Launch Pad 39B where it will wait for installation in Space Shuttle Discoverys payload bay. The third port truss segment, the P5 will be attached to the P3/P4 truss on the International Space Station during the 11-day mission. The window for launch of mission STS-116 opens Dec. 7.

In the Spacecraft Assembly and Encapsulation Facility 2, workers attach the upper canister to lower panels that surround the Mars Odyssey orbiter. The canister will protect the spacecraft during transfer to Launch Pad 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The Mars Odyssey is scheduled for launch at 11:02 a.m. EDT April 7, 2001, aboard a Delta II rocket from Pad 17-A. The spacecraft will map the Martian surface in search of geological features that could indicate the presence of water, now or in the past, and may contribute significantly toward understanding what will be necessary for a more sophisticated exploration of Mars

The launch abort system ogive panels are prepared for installation onto the Orion Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) launch abort system in the Launch Abort System Facility (LASF) at Kennedy Space Center on April 16, 2014. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - At the Astrotech payload processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, spacecraft technicians supervise the lift of a transportation canister containing NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, from a work stand for its move to Space Launch Complex 2.WISE will survey the entire sky at infrared wavelengths, creating a cosmic clearinghouse of hundreds of millions of objects which will be catalogued and provide a vast storehouse of knowledge about the solar system, the Milky Way, and the universe. Launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket is scheduled for Dec. 9. For additional information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/wise.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - In Orbital Sciences hangar on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians prepare to roll the second half of the Pegasus fairing into in an environmental enclosure for reinstallation around NASAs Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR. Access to the spacecraft was needed for compatibility testing to verify communication with a tracking station in Hawaii. With the change in the launch timeframe to June, this station will be needed to support launch. After processing of Orbitals Pegasus XL rocket and the spacecraft is complete, they will be flown on Orbital's L-1011 carrier aircraft from Vandenberg, to the U.S. Army's Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll, part of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean. The Pegasus, mated to its NuSTAR payload, will be launched from the carrier aircraft 117 nautical miles south of Kwajalein at latitude 6.75 degrees north of the equator. The high-energy X-ra

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Lockheed Martin crews begin unpacking the Orion ground test vehicle in the Operations and Checkout O&C Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The vehicle traveled more than 1,800 miles from the company's Waterton Facility near Denver where it successfully completed a series of rigorous tests that simulated launch and spaceflight environments. The ground test vehicle will be used for pathfinding operations in the O&C, including simulated manufacturing and assembly procedures. After those operations are completed, new backshell panels will be installed on the ground test vehicle at the O&C prior to the vehicles trek to NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia for splashdown testing at the agency's Hydro Impact Basin.Launching atop NASA's heavy-lift Space Launch System SLS, which also is under development, the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle MPCV will serve as the exploration vehicle that will carry astronaut crews beyond low Earth orbit. It also

VANDENBERG AFB, Calif. - Technicians get ready to lift NASA's IRIS spacecraft at Vandenberg where the spacecraft will be readied for launch aboard an Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL rocket. IRIS is short for Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph and the spacecraft's mission will improve our understanding of how heat and energy move through the deepest levels of the suns atmosphere, thereby increasing our ability to forecast space weather.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. At the Astrotech payload processing facility, workers guide the movement of the upper canister being lifted from the Dawn spacecraft, seen encased in a protective cover. Dawn was returned from Launch Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station to Astrotech to await a new launch date. The launch opportunity extends from Sept. 7 to Oct. 15. Dawn is the ninth mission in NASA's Discovery Program. The spacecraft will be the first to orbit two planetary bodies, asteroid Vesta and dwarf planet Ceres, during a single mission. Vesta and Ceres lie in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. It is also NASA’s first purely scientific mission powered by three solar electric ion propulsion engines. NASA/Charisse Nahser

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the starboard arm of the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator, known as Dextre, is moved across the facility. The arm will be installed on the base. Dextre is a sophisticated dual-armed robot, which is part of Canada's contribution to the International Space Station (ISS). Along with Canadarm2, whose technical name is the Space Station Remote Manipulator System, and a moveable work platform called the Mobile Base System, these three elements form a robotic system called the Mobile Servicing System, or MSS. The three components have been designed to work together or independently. Dextre is part of the payload scheduled on mission STS-123, targeted to launch Feb. 14.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Technicians prepare to fit a special fixture around an Orion capsule inside the high bay of the Operations & Checkout Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The fixture is designed to enable precise pre-launch processing of the Orion spacecraft. An Orion capsule is being prepared to make a flight test in 2014 on a mission that will not carry any astronauts. Photo by Tim Jacobs

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the high bay of the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the Flight Support System for the Hubble Space Telescope is lifted from its transportation canister by workers from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. The Flight Support System, or FSS, is one of four carriers supporting hardware for space shuttle Atlantis' STS-125 mission to service the telescope. The Super Lightweight Interchangeable Carrier, or SLIC, and the Orbital Replacement Unit Carrier, or ORUC, have also arrived at Kennedy. The Multi-Use Lightweight Equipment carrier will be delivered in late July. The carriers will be prepared for the integration of telescope science instruments, both internal and external replacement components, as well as the flight support equipment to be used by the astronauts during the Hubble servicing mission, targeted for launch Oct. 8.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a worker checks the alignment of the Cupola module, at left, with the Tranquility module, at right. Cupola and Tranquility are the payload for space shuttle Endeavour's STS-130 mission to the International Space Station. The module was built for the European Space Agency by Alenia Spazio in Turin, Italy. When attached to the Tranquility Node 3 module, Cupola will resemble a circular bay window that will provide a vastly improved view of the station's exterior. Just under 10 feet in diameter, the module will accommodate two crew members and portable workstations that can control station and robotic activities. The multi-directional view will allow the crew to monitor spacewalks and docking operations, as well as provide a spectacular view of Earth and other celestial objects. Endeavour is targeted to launch Feb. 4, 2010.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, an overhead crane lifts the Orbital Replacement Unit Carrier, or ORUC, to install it in the payload canister at right. The carrier is one of four associated with the STS-125 mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. It will be installed in the payload canister for transfer to Launch Pad 39A. At the pad, all the carriers will be loaded into space shuttle Atlantis payload bay. Launch of Atlantis is targeted for Oct. 10.

MPLM Hoist. The Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM), used during the Space Shuttle Program to transfer cargo to and from the International Space Station, is secured in its transport container inside the Space Station Processing Facility high bay at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 20, 2023. The MPLM is being prepared for transport to Ellington Field in Houston, where it will then be transported by road to Axioms facility near Ellington to be utilized to further commercialization of space. Three MPLMs were built by Thales Alenia Space Italia (TASI) for the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and named after Italian masters (Leonardo, Raffaello, and Donatello). Only two ever flew to the space station, Leonardo and Raffaello, with Axiom intending to use Raffaello as a future element that will attach to a segment being built by the company for addition to the space station.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo is lifted out of the payload canister. The module will be moved to a work stand. Leonardo carried 32,000 pounds of supplies to the International Space Station on the STS-126 mission in November. Endeavour returned to Kennedy on a piggyback flight from California Dec. 12.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In Orbiter Processing Facility-2 (OPF-2) at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians assist as a special crane lowers space shuttle Atlantis forward reaction control system onto a transporter. The system, which provided maneuvering capabilities to the spacecraft during its missions, will be transported to White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico to undergo a complete deservicing and cleaning. Atlantis glided to a landing, July 21, 2011, at Kennedy Space Centers Shuttle Landing Facility, completing NASAs final space shuttle mission, STS-135. The shuttle is in OPF-2 being decommissioned and prepared for eventual display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, CALIF. - At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, an overhead crane lowers the suspended CALIPSO spacecraft into a specially modified container (lower right) 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.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - Inside the Astrotech payload processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, engineers and technicians place a protective cover over NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive mission, or SMAP, satellite prior the spacecraft being transported to the launch pad. SMAP will provide global measurements of soil moisture and its freeze/thaw state. These measurements will be used to enhance understanding of processes that link the water, energy and carbon cycles, and to extend the capabilities of weather and climate prediction models. SMAP data also will be used to quantify net carbon flux in boreal landscapes and to develop improved flood prediction and drought monitoring capabilities. Launch is scheduled for Jan. 29, 2015.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- The second half of the fairing is prepared for installation around NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory, or OCO, at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The fairing is a molded structure that fits flush with the outside surface of the rocket and forms an aerodynamically smooth nose cone, protecting the spacecraft during launch and ascent. The spacecraft is scheduled for launch aboard Orbital Sciences' Taurus XL rocket on Feb. 23 from Vandenberg. The spacecraft will collect precise global measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth's atmosphere. Scientists will analyze OCO data to improve our understanding of the natural processes and human activities that regulate the abundance and distribution of this important greenhouse gas. This improved understanding will enable more reliable forecasts of future changes in the abundance and distribution of CO2 in the atmosphere and the effect that these changes may have on the Earth's climate.

VANDENBERG AFB, Calif. - Technicians remove a lifting apparatus from NASA's IRIS spacecraft at Vandenberg where the spacecraft will be readied for launch aboard an Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL rocket. IRIS is short for Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph and the spacecraft's mission will improve our understanding of how heat and energy move through the deepest levels of the suns atmosphere, thereby increasing our ability to forecast space weather.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - In Orbital Sciences hangar on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, half of the Pegasus fairing has been reinstalled around NASAs Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, as technicians align the other half. Access to the spacecraft was needed for compatibility testing to verify communication with a tracking station in Hawaii. With the change in the launch timeframe to June, this station will be needed to support launch. After processing of Orbitals Pegasus XL rocket and the spacecraft is complete, they will be flown on Orbital's L-1011 carrier aircraft from Vandenberg, to the U.S. Army's Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll, part of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean. The Pegasus, mated to its NuSTAR payload, will be launched from the carrier aircraft 117 nautical miles south of Kwajalein at latitude 6.75 degrees north of the equator. The high-energy X-ray telescope will conduct a census

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the overhead crane lifts the ground support equipment for the STS-125 Hubble Servicing Mission away from the thermal vacuum fixture. The GSE are carriers, or pallets, that will hold equipment in space shuttle Atlantis payload bay. Under the protective covering of the carrier can be seen the soft capture mechanism. The carrier will be moved to a work stand. The carriers will be prepared for the integration of telescope science instruments, both internal and external replacement components, as well as the flight support equipment to be used by the astronauts during the servicing mission. The three payload carriers or pallets are the Flight Support System, the Super Lightweight Interchangeable Carrier and the Orbital Replacement Unit Carrier. At the end of July, a fourth and final carrier, the Multi-Use Lightweight Equipment carrier will join the others in the Payload Hazardous Servic

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Inside Hangar AE at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS), workers attach straps from an overhead crane onto the platform under the Swift spacecraft, which is enclosed in a protective cover. Swift will be raised to vertical and placed on a work stand. Swift is a first-of-its-kind, multi-wavelength observatory dedicated to the study of gamma-ray burst (GRB) science. Its three instruments will work together to observe GRBs and afterglows in the gamma-ray, X-ray and optical wavebands. Swift is part of NASAs medium explorer (MIDEX) program being developed by an international collaboration. It will be launched no earlier than Oct. 7 into a low-Earth orbit on a Boeing Delta 7320 rocket from pad 17-A at CCAFS. During its nominal 2-year mission, Swift is expected to observe more than 200 bursts, which will represent the most comprehensive study of GRB afterglow to date.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians, using an overhead crane, lift NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission aeroshell, (containing the compact car-sized rover Curiosity), for mating to the cruise stage. The cruise stage provides solar power, thrusters for navigation, and heat exchangers to the rover during its flight from Earth to Mars. The rover Curiosity 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. Launch of MSL aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket is scheduled for Nov. 25 from Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- From a work stand in the Space Station Processing Facility, STS-102 crew members James S. Voss (left) and Yuriy Vladimirovich Usachev (right), of Russia, look over the Pressurized Mating Adapter (PMA-3). The PMA-3 is a component of the International Space Station (ISS). Voss and Usachev are two crew members who will be staying on the ISS as the Expedition II crew. The third is Susan J. Helms. Along with the crew, Mission STS-102 also will be carrying the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) to the ISS. The Leonardo will be filled with equipment and supplies to outfit the U.S. laboratory module, which will have been carried to the ISS on a preceding Shuttle flight. In order to function as an attached station module as well as a cargo transport, logistics modules (there are three) also include components that provide some life support, fire detection and suppression, electrical distribution and computer functions. Eventually, the modules also will

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The Space Infrared Telescope Facility is shrouded while workers install the base plate segments for the canister. SIRTF will obtain images and spectra by detecting the infrared energy, or heat, radiated by objects in space. Most of this infrared radiation is blocked by the Earth's atmosphere and cannot be observed from the ground. Consisting of an 0.85-meter telescope and three cryogenically cooled science instruments, SIRTF is one of NASA's largest infrared telescopes to be launched. SIRTF is currently scheduled for launch aboard a Delta II rocket from Launch Complex 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo is lifted from its stand in the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The module is being transferred to the payload canister for its transport to Launch Pad 39A. It will be installed in space shuttle Discovery for the STS-128 mission. The module will carry science and storage racks to the International Space Station. Launch is targeted for Aug. 18.

Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. - In the Astrotech Payload Processing Facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, preparations are under way to fuel NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory, or OCO, with hydrazine thruster control propellant. The OCO is a new Earth-orbiting mission sponsored by NASA's Earth System Science Pathfinder Program. The OCO mission will collect precise global measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth's atmosphere. Scientists will analyze OCO data to improve our understanding of the natural processes and human activities that regulate the abundance and distribution of this important greenhouse gas. This improved understanding will enable more reliable forecasts of future changes in the abundance and distribution of CO2 in the atmosphere and the effect that these changes may have on the Earth's climate. The launch of OCO is scheduled for Feb. 23 from Vandenberg.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside the Astrotech payload processing facility near NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians offload, inspect and prepare to uncover the nose cone fairing for the Radiation Belt Storm Probes, or RBSP, spacecraft. The nose faring will house and protect the RBSP during liftoff aboard an Atlas V rocket.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. RBSP will begin its mission of exploration of Earths Van Allen radiation belts and the extremes of space weather after its liftoff aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. Liftoff is targeted for Aug. 23, 2012.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Space Station Processing Facility, the S3/S4 integrated truss structure (background, right) rests on a work stand. It was moved from a rotation stand at left. Along with a third set of solar arrays and batteries, the truss is scheduled to fly on mission STS-117 aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis to the International Space Station. The crew of six astronauts will install the truss to continue assembly of the station.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The Multi-Use Lightweight Equipment, or MULE, carrier is moved into the high bay in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The MULE is part of the payload for the fifth and final shuttle servicing mission to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, STS-125. The MULE carrier will join the Flight Support System, the Super Lightweight Interchangeable Carrier and the Orbital Replacement Unit Carrier in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility where the Hubble payload is being prepared for launch. The Relative Navigation Sensors and the New Outer Blanket Layers will be on the MULE. The payload is scheduled to go to Launch Pad 39A in mid-September to be installed into Atlantis' payload bay. Atlantis is targeted to launch Oct. 8 at 1:34 a.m. EDT. .

In the Space Station Processing Facility, the Integrated Truss Structure Z1, suspended from an overhead crane, is rotated before being placed inside the payload canister below it. The truss will then be transported to Launch Pad 39A. It is part of the payload on mission STS-92 scheduled to lift off Oct. 5, 2000

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, resupply stowage platforms with cargo bags attached are prepared for installation into Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo with the aid of a rack insertion device during processing for space shuttle Discovery's STS-131 mission to the International Space Station.The cargo secured to the racks and platforms Leonardo delivers will be transferred to locations throughout the station. Three spacewalks during STS-131 will include work to attach a spare ammonia tank assembly to the station's exterior and to return a European experiment from outside the station's Columbus module. STS-131 will be the 33rd shuttle mission to the station. Launch is targeted for March 18, 2010.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, workers from Lockheed Martin prepare to conduct a gimbal full range of motion test on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) high-gain antenna. The MRO was built by Lockheed Martin for JPL. It is the next major step in Mars exploration and scheduled for launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in a window opening Aug. 10. The MRO is an important next step in fulfilling NASAs vision of space exploration and ultimately sending human explorers to Mars and beyond.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, CALIF. - Inside the Astrotech Payload Processing Facility on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the CALIPSO spacecraft is moved toward the Lower Delta Payload Attach Fitting (LDPAF). CALIPSO will be mated with the LDPAF, which contains the CloudSat satellite. The PAF is the interface between the spacecraft and the second stage of the rocket. CALIPSO stands for Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation. CALIPSO and CloudSat are highly complementary satellites that will provide never-before-seen 3-D perspectives of how clouds and aerosols form, evolve, and affect weather and climate. CALIPSO and CloudSat will fly in formation with three other satellites in the A-train constellation to enhance understanding of our climate system. Launch of CALIPSO_CloudSat aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket is scheduled for 3 01 a.m. PDT Sept. 29.

The first of two Pressurized Mating Adapters, or PMAs, for the International Space Station arrive in KSCs Space Station Processing Facility in July. A PMA is a cone-shaped connector that will be attached to Node 1, the space stations structural building block, during ground processing. The adapter will house space station computers and various electrical support equipment and eventually will serve as the passageway for astronauts between the node and the U.S-financed, Russian-built Functional Cargo Block. Node 1 with two adapters attached will be the first element of the station to be launched aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour on STS-88 in July 1998

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Multi-Use Lightweight Equipment, or MULE, carrier is moved toward the payload canister where it will be installed. The MULE contains hardware for the STS-125 mission to service NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. The carrier will deliver the MULE and other carriers to Launch Pad 39A for installation into Atlantis' payload bay. Atlantis' 11-day flight is targeted for launch May 12. The mission will include five spacewalks in which astronauts will refurbish and upgrade the telescope with state-of-the-art science instruments. As a result, Hubble's capabilities will be expanded and its operational lifespan extended through at least 2014.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside the Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane is used to lift the service module for the Orion spacecraft from the tooling stand. The service module will be transferred to a lift station where it will be mated to the spacecraft adapter cone. Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to destinations not yet explored by humans, including an asteroid and Mars. 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 the Orion is scheduled to launch in 2014 atop a Delta IV rocket and in 2017 on NASAs Space Launch System rocket.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At the Astrotech Space Operations facility in Titusville, Fla., spacecraft technicians close the second half of the Delta IV payload fairing around NASA's GOES-P meteorological satellite. The fairing is a molded clamshell covering that fits flush with the outside surface of the rocket and forms an aerodynamic nose cone, protecting the spacecraft during launch and ascent. GOES-P, the latest Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, was developed by NASA for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA. GOES-P is designed to watch for storm development and observed current weather conditions on Earth. Launch of GOES-P is targeted for March 1 from Launch Complex 37 aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the high bay of the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, workers from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center begin to remove the protective wrapping from the Orbital Replacement Unit Carrier for the Hubble Space Telescope. The Orbital Replacement Unit Carrier, or ORUC, is one of four carriers supporting hardware for space shuttle Atlantis' STS-125 mission to service the telescope. The Super Lightweight Interchangeable Carrier, or SLIC, and the Flight Support System, or FSS, have also arrived at Kennedy. The Multi-Use Lightweight Equipment carrier will be delivered in late July. The carriers will be prepared for the integration of telescope science instruments, both internal and external replacement components, as well as the flight support equipment to be used by the astronauts during the Hubble servicing mission, targeted for launch Oct. 8.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Inside the Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians prepare the service module bulkhead for the Orion spacecraft for the move to a lifting station. The service module will be mated to the spacecraft adapter cone for testing.Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to destinations not yet explored by humans, including an asteroid and Mars. 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 the Orion is scheduled to launch in 2014 atop a Delta IV rocket and in 2017 on NASAs Space Launch System rocket.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside the Astrotech payload processing facility near NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians offload, inspect and prepare to uncover the nose cone fairing for the Radiation Belt Storm Probes, or RBSP, spacecraft. The nose faring will house and protect the RBSP during liftoff aboard an Atlas V rocket.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. RBSP will begin its mission of exploration of Earths Van Allen radiation belts and the extremes of space weather after its liftoff aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. Liftoff is targeted for Aug. 23, 2012.

NASA's Orion spacecraft arrives inside the Launch Abort System Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The spacecraft was transported 2,700 miles overland from Naval Base San Diego in California, on a flatbed truck secured in its crew module transportation fixture for the trip. During its first flight test, Orion completed a two-orbit, four-and-a-half hour mission Dec. 5 to test systems critical to crew safety, including the launch abort system, the heat shield and the parachute system. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program led the recovery, offload and transportation efforts.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, an overhead crane lowers the Orbital Replacement Unit Carrier, or ORUC, into the payload canister. It will be placed next to the Flight Support System carrier already in the canister. The carrier is one of four associated with the STS-125 mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. It will be installed in the payload canister for transfer to Launch Pad 39A. At the pad, all the carriers will be loaded into space shuttle Atlantis payload bay. Launch of Atlantis is targeted for Oct. 10.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - At Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Fla., workers help place the first half of the fairing around the GOES-N spacecraft. The fairing protects the spacecraft during launch. Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) are sponsored by NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. GOES-N is targeted to launch June 23 from Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- On Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians close the clamshell doors of space shuttle Discovery's payload bay in preparation for the STS-133 launch to the International Space Station.Targeted to launch Nov. 1, STS-133 will carry the Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM) packed with supplies and critical spare parts, as well as Robonaut 2 (R2) to the station.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In NASA Kennedy Space Centers Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, In NASA Kennedy Space Centers Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, the radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) has been installed onto the New Horizons spacecraft for a fit check. The RTG is the baseline power supply for New Horizons, scheduled to launch in January 2006 on a journey to Pluto and its moon, Charon. It is expected to reach Pluto in July 2015.

Inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Orion Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1) structural test article, secured inside its transport container, is lowered onto a transport vehicle for the move to the Shuttle Landing Facility. The test article will be loaded in NASA's Super Guppy airplane and 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.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside the Astrotech payload processing facility near NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians uncrate, inspect and prepare to uncover the nose cone fairing for the Radiation Belt Storm Probes, or RBSP, spacecraft. The nose faring will house and protect the RBSP during liftoff aboard an Atlas V rocket.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. RBSP will begin its mission of exploration of Earths Van Allen radiation belts and the extremes of space weather after its liftoff aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. Liftoff is targeted for Aug. 23, 2012.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside the Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers meet to go over the details for lifting and moving the Orion Exploration Flight Test 1 crew module on to the base of a birdcage tool. The birdcage will be used to continue installation of external components in preparation for Orions first uncrewed test flight in 2014 atop a Delta IV rocket.Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry crews to space beyond low Earth orbit. It will provide emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during the space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. A second uncrewed flight test is scheduled for 2017 on NASAs Space Launch System rocket.

Technicians with Orbital ATK have installed the first half of the Pegasus XL fairing around NASAs Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) in Building 1555 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Work is underway to install the second half of the fairing. CYGNSS is being prepared at Vandenberg, and then will be transported to NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard the Orbital ATK Pegasus XL rocket which will be attached to the Orbital ATK L-1011 carrier aircraft. CYGNSS will launch on the Pegasus XL rocket from the Skid Strip at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. CYGNSS will make frequent and accurate measurements of ocean surface winds throughout the life cycle of tropical storms and hurricanes. The data that CYGNSS provides will enable scientists to probe key air-sea interaction processes that take place near the core of storms, which are rapidly changing and play a critical role in the beginning and intensification of hurricanes.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside the Astrotech payload processing facility near NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians offload and prepare to uncover the nose cone fairing for the Radiation Belt Storm Probes, or RBSP, spacecraft. The nose faring will house and protect the RBSP during liftoff aboard an Atlas V rocket.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. RBSP will begin its mission of exploration of Earths Van Allen radiation belts and the extremes of space weather after its liftoff aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. Liftoff is targeted for Aug. 23, 2012.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center, the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Raffaello is lifted out of the Payload Transportation Canister where it was waiting transfer to the pad. The module is being moved back to its work stand to allow the processing team access in order to address concerns with mechanical fasteners inside the module that do not incorporate an adequate secondary locking feature. The assessment and additional work is being conducted to ensure that the fasteners do not disengage during ascent. Raffaello is scheduled to launch on Discovery's Return to Flight mission STS-114.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Technicians transport a system that will investigate the potential for robotically refueling existing spacecraft in orbit to a low bay test cell in the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Called the Robotic Refueling Mission RRM, the system will be processed to fly aboard space shuttle Atlantis on the STS-135 mission to the International Space Station.Atlantis and its STS-135 crew are scheduled to carry the Raffaello multipurpose logistics module packed with supplies, logistics and spare parts to the space station. The mission also will return a failed ammonia pump module to help NASA better understand the failure mechanism and improve pump designs for future systems. STS-135, targeted to launch June 28, will be the 33rd flight of Atlantis, the 37th shuttle mission to the space station, and the 135th and final mission of NASA's Space Shuttle Program.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In NASA Kennedy Space Centers Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, the metal canister is lifted away from the radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG). Inside the facility, the RTG will be installed in the New Horizons spacecraft for a fit check. The RTG is the baseline power supply for New Horizons, scheduled to launch in January 2006 on a journey to Pluto and its moon, Charon. It is expected to reach Pluto in July 2015.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Workers in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility prepare to lift and move the backshell, a protective cover for the Mars Exploration Rover 1 (MER-1) and its lander. NASA's twin Mars Exploration Rovers are designed to study the history of water on Mars. These robotic geologists are equipped with a robotic arm, a drilling tool, three spectrometers, and four pairs of cameras that allow them to have a human-like, 3D view of the terrain. Each rover could travel as far as 100 meters in one day to act as Mars scientists' eyes and hands, exploring an environment where humans can't yet go. MER-1 is scheduled to launch June 25 as MER-B aboard a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers maneuver a crane that will be attached to the Kibo Experiment Logistics Module Exposed Section, or ELM-ES, at left. The ELM-ES will be moved to a workstand. The ELM-ES is one of the final components of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory for the International Space Station. It can provide payload storage space and can carry up to three payloads at launch. The ELM-ES will be carried aboard space shuttle Endeavour on the STS-127 mission targeted for launch Aug. 6.

MATING OF THE MULTI-PURPOSE CREW VEHICLE STAGE ADAPTER (MSA) WITH ITS DIAPHRAGM IN BLDG. 4708. DECEMBER 20, 2014.F

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In NASA Kennedy Space Centers Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, the metal canister is secured at left. In the center is the radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) that will be installed in the New Horizons spacecraft for a fit check. The RTG is the baseline power supply for New Horizons, scheduled to launch in January 2006 on a journey to Pluto and its moon, Charon. It is expected to reach Pluto in July 2015.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, workers stand ready as the starboard integrated truss, known as S6, is rotated in order to remove and replace lower deck batteries. The final starboard truss in the assembly of the International Space Station, the S6 is scheduled to fly on the STS-119 space shuttle mission, whose launch date is not yet determined.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville, Fla., workers remove covers around the mated SV1 and SV2 spacecraft before center of gravity testing, weighing and balancing. 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)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2 (AMS) is moved from the weight and center of gravity stand, where final measurements were taken before launch, to a payload canister. The canister will protect the space-bound payload on its journey to Launch Pad 39A, where it will later be installed into space shuttle Endeavours payload bay. AMS is a particle physics detector, designed to operate as an external experiment 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-2 will fly to the station aboard Endeavour's STS-134 mission targeted to launch April 19 at 7:48 p.m. EDT.

The Orion crew module for Artemis I is lifted into a test stand for pressure testing in the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 21, 2016.

Mission engineers load the final cargo into the Cygnus resupply spacecraft onboard the Northrop Grumman Antares rocket, Tuesday, April 16, 2019 at launch Pad-0A of NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Northrop Grummans 11th contracted cargo resupply mission with NASA to the International Space Station will deliver about 7,600 pounds of science and research, crew supplies and vehicle hardware to the orbital laboratory and its crew.

Inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the cover has been removed from the container holding the Orion crew module structural test article (STA). The STA arrived aboard NASA's Super Guppy aircraft at the Shuttle Landing Facility operated by Space Florida. The test article was moved inside the facility's high bay for further testing. The Orion spacecraft will launch atop NASAs Space Launch System rocket on EM-1, its first deep space mission, in late 2018.

Workers atop Vandenberg Air Force Base's Space Launch Complex-2 prepare to secure the payload transportation canister containing NASAs National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project (NPP) spacecraft. 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. NPP is targeted to launch Oct. 28 from Space Launch Complex-2 aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center, the P3_P4 Truss is rotated to the upper deck position in preparation for installation of the upper deck solar array wing. The truss is scheduled to launch on mission 12A, STS-115, to the International Space Station. The wing was removed to replace aging flight batteries. New batteries are being installed to ensure that the batteries do not exceed their lifetime expectancy prior to their planned logistics resupply on-orbit. The new batteries have a lifetime expectancy of approximately 7 years.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians garbed in protective wear, commonly known as 'bunny suits,' install the cargo inside the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module for shuttle Atlantis' flight to the International Space Station.Atlantis and its payload is being prepared for the STS-135 mission, which will deliver the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module packed with supplies and spare parts to the station. Atlantis is targeted to launch June 28, and will be the last shuttle flight for the Space Shuttle Program.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the high bay at Astrotech Space Operations, workers secure the upper cylindrical canister to the lower panels already in place around the THEMIS spacecraft and upper stage booster. When completely enclosed, THEMIS will be transported to Launch Complex 17-B for mating with its launch vehicle. 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 Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket managed by the United Launch Alliance.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, workers from Lockheed Martin prepare to conduct a gimbal full range of motion test on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) high-gain antenna. The MRO was built by Lockheed Martin for JPL. It is the next major step in Mars exploration and scheduled for launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in a window opening Aug. 10. The MRO is an important next step in fulfilling NASAs vision of space exploration and ultimately sending human explorers to Mars and beyond.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - At the Astrotech payload processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, spacecraft technicians inspect the direct mate adapter, a transport fixture on which NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, enclosed in an environmental covering, will be moved to Space Launch Complex 2.WISE will survey the entire sky at infrared wavelengths, creating a cosmic clearinghouse of hundreds of millions of objects which will be catalogued and provide a vast storehouse of knowledge about the solar system, the Milky Way, and the universe. Launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket is scheduled for Dec. 9. For additional information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/wise.

The Orion Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) crew module is moved and mated with the service module at the Operations and Checkout (O&C) Building at Kennedy Space Center on June 9, 2014. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.

Inside a clean room in Building 1555 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians install the first half of the Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL payload fairing around NASA's Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) on Oct. 4, 2018. ICON is being prepared for its launch on the Pegasus XL, which is attached to the company's L-1011 Stargazer aircraft, from the Skid Strip at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Launch is scheduled for Oct. 26. ICON will study the frontier of space - the dynamic zone high in Earth's atmosphere where terrestrial weather from below meets space weather above. The explorer will help determine the physics of Earth's space environment and pave the way for mitigating its effects on our technology, communications systems and society.

The first half of the payload fairing for the Orbital ATK Pegasus XL rocket is inside Building 1555 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Aug. 4, 2018. The Pegasus rocket is being prepared for NASA's Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON, mission. The explorer will launch on June 15, 2018, from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands (June 14 in the continental United States) on Orbital ATK's Pegasus XL rocket, which is attached to the company's L-1011 Stargazer aircraft. ICON will study the frontier of space - the dynamic zone high in Earth's atmosphere where terrestrial weather from below meets space weather above. The explorer will help determine the physics of Earth's space environment and pave the way for mitigating its effects on our technology, communications systems and society.

Technicians put a control section and a frustum of an advanced maneuvering re-entry vehicle (AMARV) together for a pre-assembly test in the AMARV control section. Base: Vandenberg Air Force Base State: California (CA) Country: United States Of America (USA)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The Ares I-X forward skirt is lifted from the transporter that delivered it to Astrotech in Titusville, Fla. The forward skirt will be moved to a stand. Major Tool is subcontractor to Ares I prime contractor Alliant Techsystems Inc., or ATK, in Utah. The forward skirt is the initial piece of first-stage hardware in preparation for the July 2009 test flight of the agency's next-generation spacecraft and launch vehicle system. Built entirely of armored steel, the 14,000-pound segment is seven feet tall and 12-1/4 feet wide. United Space Alliance, under a subcontract to ATK, will integrate and assemble the forward skirt components in the Assembly and Refurbishment Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.. It will then be moved to the Vehicle Assembly Building high bay 3 for stacking operations.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Canister Rotation Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers are preparing the payload canister for its rotation into a vertical position.The canister will then be delivered to Launch Pad 39A, lifted into the rotating service structure where the module will be moved into the clean room before it is installed into space shuttle Discovery's payload bay. Discovery and its STS-133 crew will deliver the PMM, packed with supplies and critical spare parts, as well as Robonaut 2, the dexterous humanoid astronaut helper, to the International Space Station. Launch is targeted for 4:40 p.m. EDT, Nov. 1.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility, the overhead crane lowers the SHI Research Double Module (SHI/RDM) into the payload canister. The canister will transport it to the Orbiter Processing Facility where it will be installed in Columbia's payload bay for mission STS-107. SHI/RDM is the primary payload of the research mission, with experiments ranging from material sciences to life sciences (many rats). Also part of the payload is the Fast Reaction Experiments Enabling Science, Technology, Applications and Research (FREESTAR) that incorporates eight high priority secondary attached shuttle experiments. STS-107 is scheduled to launch July 19, 2002

The Bartolomeo platform that will be delivered to the International Space Station is unpacked from its shipping container inside the Space Station Processing Facility high bay at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Jan. 30, 2020. Bartolomeo was manufactured by Airbus Defence and Space. The platform will be delivered to the International Space Station aboard SpaceXs 20th Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-20) mission for the agency. The platform will attach to the exterior of the space stations European Columbus Module. Named for the younger brother of Christopher Columbus, the platform has the capability to host external payloads in low-Earth orbit on the station. CRS-20 is scheduled to launch aboard SpaceXs Dragon cargo spacecraft atop the companys Falcon 9 rocket in March 2020.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - At Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Fla., the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite GOES-N is moved toward the Payload Attach Fitting at left for mating. The fitting will enable the spacecraft to be mated to its launch vehicle, a Boeing Delta IV, with a 3-burn second-stage operation. Since its arrival on March 11, the satellite has been undergoing final testing by Boeing Satellite Systems of the imaging system, instrumentation, communications and power systems. The GOES spacecraft are sponsored by NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. GOES-N is targeted to launch June 23 from Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, workers help stabilize the ascent of the GLAST spacecraft into the mobile service tower. In the tower, GLAST will be mated with the Delta II second stage. GLAST is a powerful space observatory that will explore the Universe's ultimate frontier, where nature harnesses forces and energies far beyond anything possible on Earth; probe some of science's deepest questions, such as what our Universe is made of, and search for new laws of physics; explain how black holes accelerate jets of material to nearly light speed; and help crack the mystery of stupendously powerful explosions known as gamma-ray bursts. The launch date is targeted no earlier than June 3.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - An Orbital Sciences technician ensures that NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, is ready for its Pegasus payload fairing to be secured around it inside the Orbital Sciences processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. NuSTAR already is mated to its Pegasus XL rocket, which is positioned behind the spacecraft outside the environmental enclosure. Encapsulation of NuSTAR in its fairing is a significant prelaunch milestone.The fairing will protect the spacecraft from the heat and aerodynamic pressure generated during ascent to orbit. After processing of the rocket and spacecraft are complete, they will be flown on Orbital's L-1011 carrier aircraft from Vandenberg to the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site on the Pacific Oceans Kwajalein Atoll for launch in March. The high-energy x-ray telescope will conduct a census of black holes, map radioactive material in young supernovae remnants, and study

Technicians work on the Fleet Satellite Communication satellite in the Air Force Systems Command. Country: Unknown

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- In Bldg. 1610 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the covered NOAA-N Prime spacecraft is lowered onto a transporter. NOAA-N Prime is the latest polar-orbiting operational environmental weather satellite developed by NASA for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The satellite is scheduled to launch Feb. 4 aboard a Delta II rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base.

Inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Orion Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1) structural test article inside its transport container, is secured onto a transport vehicle for the move to the Shuttle Landing Facility. The test article will be loaded in NASA's Super Guppy airplane and 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.

A crane attached to the Orion heat shield for Artemis I moves it toward the thermal chamber in the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 23, 2017. Protective pads were attached to the heat shield surface. The heat shield will undergo a thermal cycle test to verify acceptable workmanship and material quality. The test also serves to verify the heat shield's thermal protection systems have been manufactured and assembled correctly. The Orion spacecraft will launch atop NASA's Space Launch System rocket on it first uncrewed integrated flight.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2 (AMS) is moved from the weight and center of gravity stand, where final measurements were taken before launch, to a payload canister. The canister will protect the space-bound payload on its journey to Launch Pad 39A, where it will later be installed into space shuttle Endeavours payload bay. AMS is a particle physics detector, designed to operate as an external experiment 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-2 will fly to the station aboard Endeavour's STS-134 mission targeted to launch April 19 at 7:48 p.m. EDT.

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