Rocket Assembly and Launch

Images of rocket assembly processes featuring various stages and components, showcasing engineers at work in industrial settings with vibrant lighting.

An engineer monitors the maneuvering the Soyuz TMA-14 spacecraft and third stage during final assembly to the first and second stages Monday, March 23, 2009 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Soyuz is scheduled to launch the crew of Expedition 19 and a spaceflight participant on March 26, 2009.

An engineer monitors the maneuvering the Soyuz TMA-14 spacecraft and third stage during final assembly to the first and second stages Monday, March 23, 2009 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Soyuz is scheduled to launch the crew of Expedition 19 and a spaceflight participant on March 26, 2009.

The Soyuz rocket and Soyuz TMA-13M spacecraft is assembled at Building 112 on the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Sunday, May 25, 2014 in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Launch of the Soyuz is scheduled for May 29 and will send Expedition 40 Soyuz Commander Maxim Suraev of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, Flight Engineer Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency, ESA, and Flight Engineer Reid Wiseman of NASA to the International Space Station for a five and a half month stay.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the first stage of the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket is lifted for stacking in the Vertical Integration Facility at Launch Complex 41. The vehicle will be used to boost the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, or TDRS-L, spacecraft to orbit.TDRS-L is the second of three next-generation satellites designed to ensure vital operational continuity for the NASA Space Network. It is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral's Space Launch Complex 41 atop an Atlas V rocket in January 2014. The current Tracking and Data Relay Satellite system consists of eight in-orbit satellites distributed to provide near continuous information relay service to missions such as the Hubble Space Telescope and International Space Station.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The first stage of the Delta II rocket is moved into place in the tower on NASA's Space Launch Complex 2 (SLC-2), Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The rocket will carry the ICESat and CHIPSat satellites into Earth orbits. ICESat is a 661-pound satellite known as Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) that will revolutionize our understanding of ice and its role in global climate change and how we protect and understand our home planet. It will help scientists determine if the global sea level is rising or falling. It will look at the ice sheets that blanket the Earth's poles to see if they are growing or shrinking. It will assist in developing an understanding of how changes in the Earth's atmosphere and climate effect polar ice masses and global sea level. CHIPSat, a suitcase-size 131-pound satellite, will provide invaluable information into the origin, physical processes and properties of the hot gas contained in the interstellar medium. This can

Technicians offload the second stage of a Delta II rocket from a transport trailer inside NASA Hangar 836 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in preparation to launch the Joint Polar Satellite System spacecraft in 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.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside the Horizontal Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, a United Launch Alliance technician on a scissor lift watches as mating of the second stage of a Delta IV Heavy rocket to the core booster of the three booster stages is nearly complete. The rocket will launch the unpiloted Exploration Flight Test-1, or EFT-1.During the mission, Orion will travel farther into space than any human spacecraft has gone in more than 40 years. The data gathered during the flight will influence design decisions, validate existing computer models and innovative new approaches to space systems development, as well as reduce overall mission risks and costs for later Orion flights. Liftoff of Orion on the first flight test is planned for December 2014.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The GOES-O/Delta IV second stage is being mated to the first stage in the Horizontal Integration Facility on Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. GOES-O is one of a series of Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites. The multi-mission GOES series N-P will be a vital contributor to weather, solar and space operations and science. NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, are actively engaged in a cooperative program to expand the existing GOES system with the launch of the GOES N-P satellites. Launch of the GOES-O is targeted for no earlier than April 2009.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, workers use an overhead crane to lift the first stage of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket into the Vertical Integration Facility at Launch Complex 41. 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.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Space Shuttle Program's final solid rocket booster assembly is stationed in the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building. The right and left forward assemblies, which were refurbished and processed at Kennedy, are comprised of three components -- nose cap, frustum and forward skirt. Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building, the boosters will be stacked and then joined to an external fuel tank and space shuttle Atlantis for the STS-135 mission to the International Space Station. STS-135 is targeted to launch June 28, and will be the last spaceflight for the Space Shuttle Program.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Launch Complex 37, United Launch Alliance engineers and technicians mate the agency's Orion spacecraft to its Delta IV Heavy rocket.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 flight test of Orion is scheduled to launch Dec. 4, 2014 atop a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket, and in 2018 on NASAs Space Launch System rocket.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the first and second stages of the Taurus XL rocket are being prepared for mating in Orbital Sciences Corp.'s Building 1555. The Orbital Sciences Taurus XL rocket, targeted to lift off Feb. 23, 2011, from Vandenberg's Space Launch Complex 576-E, will take NASA's Glory satellite into low Earth. Glory is scheduled to collect data on the properties of aerosols and black carbon. It also will help scientists understand how the sun's irradiance affects Earth's climate.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The first stage and interstage components of a Falcon 9 rocket sit on adjacent processing stands in the Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) hangar at Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Technicians are preparing the rocket for the second launch in the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services, or COTS, program to demonstrate private companies' ability to launch uncrewed spacecraft into orbit. A follow-on contract, Commercial Resupply Services, calls for SpaceX to launch 12 resupply missions to the International Space Station between 2011 and 2015.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- The three stages of an Orbital Sciences Corp. Pegasus rocket have been mated in processing facility 1555 at Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) in California.The rocket is being prepared to launch NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) into space. After the rocket and spacecraft are processed at Vandenberg, they will be flown on the Orbital Sciences' L-1011 carrier aircraft to the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site at the Pacific Ocean's Kwajalein Atoll for launch, targeted for no earlier than March 14. The high-energy x-ray telescope will conduct a census for black holes, map radioactive material in young supernovae remnants, and study the origins of cosmic rays and the extreme physics around collapsed stars.

The Centaur upper stage that will help launch NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-S, or GOES-S, arrives inside the Delta Operations Center at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station for further processing. 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.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In Orbiter Processing Facility bay 2 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo is removed from space shuttle Endeavour's payload bay. 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 at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a large crane moves the right orbital maneuvering system OMS pod closer to space shuttle Endeavour for installation. The OMS pod underwent complete deservicing and cleaning at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico, part of the transition and retirement processing of each shuttle. Endeavour is being prepared for public display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Over the course of its 19-year career, Endeavour spent 299 days in space during 25 missions.

The Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft, encapsulated in its fairing, is seen undergoing final checks during final assembly of the Soyuz rocket on Friday, Oct. 14, 2016 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Expedition 49 flight engineer Shane Kimbrough of NASA, Soyuz commander Sergey Ryzhikov of Roscosmos, and flight engineer Andrey Borisenko of Roscosmos are scheduled to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Oct. 19.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The tail cone that will cover space shuttle Endeavours replica shuttle main engines arrives at Orbiter Processing Facility-2, or OPF-2, from the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Inside OPF-2, the tail cone will be installed on Endeavour.The work is part of Transition and Retirement of the remaining space shuttles, Endeavour and Atlantis. Endeavour is being prepared for public display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Its ferry flight to California is targeted for mid-September. Endeavour was the last space shuttle added to NASAs orbiter fleet. Over the course of its 19-year career, Endeavour spent 299 days in space during 25 missions.

Orion - EM-1 - Artemis Spacecraft Arrival at Mansfield Lahm Airport, Transportation to Plum Brook Station and Installation in the Space Environment Complex, SEC Thermal Vacuum Chamber

The Soyuz TMA-4 capsule is prepared for mating with its booster rocket at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in preparation for a launch on April 19 of the Expedition 9 crew and a European astronaut to the International Space Station, Friday, April 16, 2004 in Baikonur, Kazakhstan.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The Atlas V first stage to support the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission rolls into position in the Atlas Spaceflight Operations Center on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.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. 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.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, external fuel tank, ET-122, for space shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 mission, is being lifted from its test cell. When lowered in place, the tank will be attached to the solid rocket boosters on the mobile launcher platform. Endeavour and its crew will deliver the Express Logistics Carrier-3 and the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the International Space Station. Launch is targeted for April 19.

This image highlights the liquid hydrogen tank that will be used on the core stage of NASAs Space Launch System rocket for Artemis II, the first crewed mission of NASAs Artemis program. The tank is being built at NASAs Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The SLS core stage is made up of five unique elements: the forward skirt, liquid oxygen tank, intertank, liquid hydrogen tank, and the engine section. The liquid hydrogen tank holds 537,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen cooled to minus 423 degrees Fahrenheit and sits between the core stages intertank and engine section. The liquid hydrogen hardware, along with the liquid oxygen tank, will provide propellant to the four RS-25 engines at the bottom of the cores stage to produce more than two million pounds of thrust to launch NASAs Artemis missions to the Moon.Together with its four RS-25 engines, the rockets massive 212-foot-tall core stage — the largest stage NASA has ever built — and its twin solid rocket boosters will produ

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - At Pad 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the first Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) for the MESSENGER spacecraft launch is raised from the transporter. The SRB will be mated to the Boeing Delta II Heavy rocket, seen at left, for the Aug. 2 launch of MESSENGER to the planet Mercury. The spacecraft is expected to reach orbit around Mercury in March 2011. MESSENGER was built for NASA by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md.

TITUSVILLE, Fla. - Technicians unpack the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, TDRS-K, after arrival at the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville, Fla. near NASAs Kennedy Space Center.Launch of the TDRS-K on the Atlas V rocket is planned for January 29, 2013. The TDRS-K spacecraft is part of the next-generation series in the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System, a constellation of space-based communication satellites providing tracking, telemetry, command and high-bandwidth data return services.

. Technicians at NASAs Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans moved the engine section of NASAs Space Launch System (SLS) rocket for Artemis II, the first crewed mission to the Moon, into position for the final join of the core stage Feb. 22. The engine section is the bottom-most portion of the 212-foot-tall core stage. It is the last of five major elements that is needed to connect the stage into one major structure. In addition to its miles of cabling and hundreds of sensors, the engine section is a crucial attachment point for the four RS-25 engines and two solid rocket boosters that produce a combined 8.8 million pounds of thrust at liftoff and flight. During launch and flight, liquid propellants from the liquid hydrogen tank and liquid oxygen tanks are delivered through the engine section to the four RS-25 engines. The engine section also includes the avionics that help steer the engines after liftoff. Next, teams will join the engine section to the core stage for the second SLS

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Horizontal Integration Facility, the GOES-N_Boeing Delta IV second stage (right) is being mated to the first stage. The Boeing Delta IV rocket will be used for the 2005 launching of the GOES-N weather satellite for NASA and NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). The first in a series of three advanced weather satellites that include GOES-O and GOES-P, the GOES-N will provide continuous monitoring necessary for intensive data analysis. It 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. Launch of GOES-N is scheduled for May 4 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, members of the media viewed the Alliant Techsystems, or ATK, launch abort motor inside the Launch Abort System Facility. ATKs abort motor is one of the components of Orions Launch Abort System, which will be used for Exploration Flight Test 1, or EFT-1. The system is designed to safely pull the Orion crew module away from the launch vehicle in the event of an emergency on the launch pad or during the initial ascent of NASAs Space Launch System, or SLS, rocket. The test flight abort motor is configured with inert propellant. 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. Orions first unpiloted test flight is scheduled to launch in 2014 atop a Delta IV rocket. A second uncrewed flight test is scheduled for 2017 on the SLS rocket.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - An Orion mockup spacecraft atop its service module simulator is lowered onto a transporter in the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Orion mockup is exact in details on the outside, but mostly empty on the inside. The work in the VAB is crucial to making sure the designs are accurate. Visible in the background on the left is the space shuttle Atlantis being readied for its move to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.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. The first unpiloted test flight of the Orion is scheduled to launch in 2014 atop a Delta IV rocket and in 2017 on a Space Launch System rocket.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 1 at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, three replica shuttle main engines RSMEs have been installed on the space shuttle Atlantis.Three RSMEs were installed on Atlantis. The replicas were built in the Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne engine shop at KSC to replace the space shuttle main engines SSMEs which will be placed in storage to support NASA's Space Launch System currently under development. The RSME installation is part of the Space Shuttle Programs transition and retirement processing of the space shuttle fleet. A groundbreaking was held Jan. 18, 2012 for Atlantis future home, a 65,000-square-foot exhibit hall in Shuttle Plaza at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Atlantis is scheduled to roll over to the visitor complex during November in preparation for the exhibits grand opening in July 2013.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Orbiter Processing Facility bay 2, an overhead crane positions the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo and the integrated cargo carrier behind it above a payload canister. The MPLM has just returned from its first round trip to the International Space Station on mission STS-102. Leonardo will be transferred to the SSPF to prepare it for future missions. The MPLM serves as a cargo van, carrying equipment and supplies to the Space Station

HAMPTON, Va. - At the Naval Station Norfolk near NASAs Langley Research Center in Virginia, the Orion boilerplate test article and support equipment for a stationary recovery test have been secured on a U.S. Navy ship after arriving by floating dock system. NASA and the U.S. Navy are conducting tests to prepare for recovery of the Orion crew module and forward bay cover on its return from a deep space mission. The stationary recovery test will allow the teams to demonstrate and evaluate the recovery processes, procedures, hardware and personnel in a controlled environment before conducting a second recovery test next year in open waters.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 2

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - On Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, workers secure the framework around the GOES-O and Delta IV second stage before they leave the Horizontal Integration Facility for the launch pad. GOES-O is one of a series of Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites. The multi-mission GOES series N-P will be a vital contributor to weather, solar and space operations and science. NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, are actively engaged in a cooperative program to expand the existing GOES system with the launch of the GOES N-P satellites. Launch of the GOES-O is targeted for no earlier than April 2009.

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The USS Anchorage has returned to Naval Base San Diego after completion of the Orion Underway Recovery Test 2 in the Pacific Ocean. U.S. Navy personnel help guide support equipment out of the ship's well deck. NASA, Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Navy conducted the test on the Orion boilerplate test vehicle to prepare for recovery of the Orion crew module on its return from a deep space mission. The underway recovery test allowed the team to demonstrate and evaluate the recovery processes, procedures, new hardware and personnel in open waters.The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program conducted the underway recovery test. 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 t

This is a picture of the assembled liquid oxygen (LOX) tank for the Saturn V S-IC (first) stage, with A-frame, that arrived to be mated to the fuel tank at a later date at the Marshall Space Flight Center, building 4705.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The first stage of the Delta II rocket to launch the MER-A (Mars Exploration Rover) vehicle arrives at Pad 17-A on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The MER Mission consists of two identical rovers designed to cover roughly 110 yards each Martian day over various terrain. Each rover will carry five scientific instruments that will allow it to search for evidence of liquid water that may have been present in the planet's past. Identical to each other, the rovers will land at different regions of Mars. Launch date for this first of NASA's two Mars Exploration Rover missions is scheduled no earlier than June 6.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Inside the mobile service tower on Launch Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, workers maneuver the second half of the fairing into place around the STEREO spacecraft. The fairing is a molded structure that fits flush with the outside surface of the Delta II upper stage booster and forms an aerodynamically smooth nose cone, protecting the spacecraft during launch and ascent. The STEREO (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory) mission is the first to take measurements of the sun and solar wind in 3-dimension. This new view will improve our understanding of space weather and its impact on the Earth. Designed and built by the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) , the STEREO mission is being managed by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. APL will maintain command and control of the observatories throughout the mission, while NASA tracks and receives the data, determines the orbit of the satellites, and coordinates the science results. STEREO is expected

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft onboard is seen as it is rolled out of the horizontal integration facility at Launch Complex 39A as preparations continue for the Demo-1 mission, Feb. 28, 2019 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Demo-1 mission will be the first launch of a commercially built and operated American spacecraft and space system designed for humans as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The mission, currently targeted for a 2:49am launch on March 2, will serve as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Preparations are underway to begin mating the United Launch Alliance Delta IV port booster to the core booster inside the Horizontal Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 37 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The Delta IV Heavy rocket will launch an uncrewed Orion spacecraft on Exploration Flight Test-1.During the mission, Orion will travel farther into space than any human spacecraft has gone in more than 40 years. The data gathered during the flight will influence design decisions, validate existing computer models and innovative new approaches to space systems development, as well as reduce overall mission risks and costs for later Orion flights. Liftoff of Orion on the first flight test is planned for December 2014.

The Delta IV Heavy launch vehicle used to launch Orion on Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) is assembled at the United Launch Alliance facility in Decatur, AL on Dec. 11, 2013. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.

A United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy common booster core is offloaded from the company's Mariner ship at Port Canaveral in Florida. The Delta IV Heavy will launch NASA's upcoming Parker Solar Probe mission. The mission will perform the closest-ever observations of a star when it travels through the Sun's atmosphere, called the corona. The probe will rely on measurements and imaging to revolutionize our understanding of the corona and the Sun-Earth connection. Liftoff atop the Delta IV Heavy rocket is scheduled to take place from Cape Canaveral's Space Launch Complex 37 in summer 2018.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - In Hangar 1555 on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, work is under way preparing NASAs Interstellar Boundary Explorer, or IBEX, spacecraft and attached Pegasus XL rocket on its transporter for a trip to the runway. There, the rocket-spacecraft will be attached to the L-1011 aircraft. The IBEX satellite will make the first map of the boundary between the Solar System and interstellar space. IBEX is targeted for launch from the Kwajalein Atoll, a part of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean, on Oct. 19 aboard the Pegasus rocket dropped from under the wing of an L-1011 aircraft flying over the Pacific Ocean. The Pegasus will carry the spacecraft approximately 130 miles above Earth and place it in orbit.

This image shows technicians and engineers move and connect the liquid oxygen tank (LOX) to the intertank as they continue the process of the forward join on the core stage of NASAs Space Launch System rocket for Artemis II, the first crewed mission of NASAs Artemis program at NASAs Michoud Assembly Facility. The forward join connects the forward skirt, the liquid oxygen tank (LOX) and the intertank structures to form the top part of the SLS rockets core stage. Now, NASA and Boeing, the SLS prime contractor, will continue to integrate various systems inside the forward part of the core stage and prepare for structural joining of the liquid hydrogen tank and engine section to form the bottom of the stage. Together with its four RS-25 engines, the rockets massive 212-foot-tall core stage — the largest stage NASA has ever built — and its twin solid rocket boosters will produce 8.8 million pounds of thrust to send NASAs Orion spacecraft, astronauts and supplies beyond Earths orbit

A United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy common booster core is transported by truck inside Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Launch Complex 37 Horizontal Processing Facility. The Delta IV Heavy will launch NASA's upcoming Parker Solar Probe mission. The mission will perform the closest-ever observations of a star when it travels through the Sun's atmosphere, called the corona. The probe will rely on measurements and imaging to revolutionize our understanding of the corona and the Sun-Earth connection. Liftoff atop the Delta IV Heavy rocket is scheduled to take place from Cape Canaveral's Space Launch Complex 37 in summer 2018.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- The first stage of a Boeing Delta II rocket arrives on Launch Complex 17A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The rocket will propel the Genesis spacecraft on a journey to capture samples of the ions and elements in the solar wind and return them to Earth for scientists to use to determine the exact composition of the Sun and the solar systems origin. NASA's Genesis project in managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. Lockheed Martin Astronautics built the Genesis spacecraft for NASA in Denver, Colo. The launch is scheduled for July 30 at 12 36 p.m. EDT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In high bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians place sensors on the top part of the Ares I-X for modal survey testing. The top consists of the launch abort tower, crew module, service module and spacecraft adaptor. Shakers will impose random loads/vibrations to determine the flight test vehicles first several bending modes and the strategically located sensors throughout the stacks will measure the amount, acceleration and direction of movement. The purpose of the testing is to confirm that Ares I-X will behave as predicted as it lifts off the pad and powers through the initial stage of flight in a demonstration flight later this year.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, external fuel tank ET-131 is lifted from its transporter. It will be raised to vertical and then lifted into the upper levels and lowered into a checkout bay. ET-131 will be used on space shuttle Endeavour's STS-127 mission. Payload for the mission is the Japanese Experiment Module's Experiment Logistics Module-Exposed Section, or ELM-ES. Launch is targeted for June.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The Orion crew module, stacked atop its service module, is transported into the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where it will be fueled ahead of its December flight. The spacecraft for Exploration Flight Test-1 was moved out of the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay.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 atop a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida to an altitude of 3,600 miles above the Earth's surface. The two-orbit, four-hour flight test will help engineers evaluate the systems critical to crew safety including the heat shield, par

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The Orion boilerplate test vehicle arrived at the U.S. Naval Base San Diego in California, and was loaded aboard the USS San Diego. Orion was transported in the ships well deck about 100 miles offshore for an underway recovery test. NASA and the U.S. Navy are conducting tests to prepare for recovery of the Orion crew module, forward bay cover and parachutes on its return from a deep space mission. The underway recovery test will allow the teams to demonstrate and evaluate the recovery processes, procedures, hardware and personnel in open waters. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program 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 r

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The first and second stages of the Boeing Delta IV rocket negotiates a turn from the Horizontal Integration Facility, where the two stages were mated, at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The rocket is being transferred to the launch pad for further build-up and mating with the GOES-N satellite. Launch of the GOES-N is scheduled for May 4. The satellite is 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.

The United Launch Alliance Atlas V first stage is lifted to the vertical position on Nov. 4, 2019, in the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, 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.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Seen from overhead, mockup components of an Orion spacecraft are laid out in the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. In the foreground is the Launch Abort System and the aerodynamic shell that will cover the capsule during launch. To the right is the Orion capsule model on top of a service module simulator.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. The first uncrewed test flight of the Orion is scheduled to launch in 2014 atop a Delta IV rocket and in 2017 on a Space Launch System rocket. The Orion mockup is exact in details on the outside, but mostly empty on the inside except for four mockup astronaut seats and hatch. The work in the VAB is crucial to making sure the designs are accurate.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. --- Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the external tank for space shuttle Discovery is lifted up into a checkout cell for processing. The tank will be stacked with solid rocket boosters for Discovery's launch on the STS-124 mission. On the mission, the shuttle will transport the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module - Pressurized Module and the Japanese Remote Manipulator System. Launch is targeted for May 25.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The United Launch Alliance Delta IV port booster is being mated to the core booster inside the Horizontal Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 37 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The Delta IV Heavy rocket will launch an uncrewed Orion spacecraft on Exploration Flight Test-1.During the mission, Orion will travel farther into space than any human spacecraft has gone in more than 40 years. The data gathered during the flight will influence design decisions, validate existing computer models and innovative new approaches to space systems development, as well as reduce overall mission risks and costs for later Orion flights. Liftoff of Orion on the first flight test is planned for December 2014.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In NASA Kennedy Space Centers Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 3, a remote manipulator system, or space shuttle arm, previously installed on the orbiter Atlantis, is being installed in Discoverys payload bay. The arms were switched because the arm that was installed on Atlantis has special instrumentation to gather loads data from the second return-to-flight mission, STS-121. Discovery is the designated orbiter to fly on STS-121. scheduled to launch no earlier than May 2006.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The TDRS-J satellite arrives at the gantry on Launch Complex 36-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The satellite is scheduled to be launched Dec. 4 aboard an Atlas IIA vehicle. The launch window is 9:42 to 10:22 p.m. EST. TDRS-J, the third in a series of telemetry satellites, will help replenish the current constellation of geosynchronous TDRS satellites that are the primary source of space-to-ground voice, data and telemetry for the Space Shuttle. The satellites also provide communications with the International Space Station and scientific spacecraft in low-Earth orbit such as the Hubble Space Telescope. This new advanced series of satellites will extend the availability of TDRS communications services until about 2017.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - United Launch Alliance, or ULA, technicians monitor the progress as the Delta IV port booster is mated to the core booster inside the Horizontal Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 37 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The ULA Delta IV Heavy rocket will launch an uncrewed Orion spacecraft on Exploration Flight Test-1.During the mission, Orion will travel farther into space than any human spacecraft has gone in more than 40 years. The data gathered during the flight will influence design decisions, validate existing computer models and innovative new approaches to space systems development, as well as reduce overall mission risks and costs for later Orion flights. Liftoff of Orion on the first flight test is planned for December 2014.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In bay 3 of NASA Kennedy Space Centers Orbiter Processing Facility, technicians oversee the removal of Return to Flight mission STS-114 cargo from Space Shuttle Discovery's payload bay. The Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Raffaello, in the payload bay, holds material returned to KSC from the International Space Station. The module will be lifted out of the payload bay and transferred to the Space Station Processing Facility to be emptied. Discovery will fly next on the second Return to Flight mission, STS-121.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In Orbiter Processing Facility-2 at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, United Space Alliance technicians monitor the progress as a large crane is lowered toward the right orbital maneuvering system OMS pod that will be installed on space shuttle Endeavour. The OMS pod underwent complete deservicing and cleaning at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico, part of the transition and retirement processing of each shuttle. Endeavour is being prepared for public display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Over the course of its 19-year career, Endeavour spent 299 days in space during 25 missions.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - On Launch Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, a worker monitors the placement of a solid rocket booster on a Delta II rocket for launch of the STSS Demonstrator spacecraft. 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 on July 29.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Space Shuttle Main Engine Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, three of six space shuttle main engines are prepared for the STS-134 and STS-335 missions. Postflight inspections and maintenance of each engine are conducted in the facility between shuttle missions by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne aerospace technicians. Three main engines are clustered at the aft end of the shuttle and have a combined thrust of more than 1.2 million pounds. Each engine utilizes liquid hydrogen for fuel and liquid oxygen as oxidizer and operates during the entire eight-and-a-half minute ride to orbit.Space shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 mission is the final planned mission of the Space Shuttle Program and will deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, as well as critical spare components, to the International Space Station next year. Shuttle Atlantis will be prepared for STS-335, which is the planned "launch on need," or potential rescue mission, for Ende

A United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy common booster core is transported by truck inside Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Launch Complex 37 Horizontal Processing Facility. The Delta IV Heavy will launch NASA's upcoming Parker Solar Probe mission. The mission will perform the closest-ever observations of a star when it travels through the Sun's atmosphere, called the corona. The probe will rely on measurements and imaging to revolutionize our understanding of the corona and the Sun-Earth connection. Liftoff atop the Delta IV Heavy rocket is scheduled to take place from Cape Canaveral's Space Launch Complex 37 in summer 2018.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- On Launch Pad 17-A at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, a crane lifts the second stage of the Delta II launch vehicle for NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander to go into the mobile service tower. The second stage will be lifted into the mobile service tower and mated with the Delta's first stage. Phoenix is scheduled to launch Aug. 3. Phoenix will land in icy soils near the north polar permanent ice cap of Mars and 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.

The Soyuz rocket and Soyuz TMA-13M spacecraft is assembled at Building 112 on the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Sunday, May 25, 2014 in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Launch of the Soyuz is scheduled for May 29 and will send Expedition 40 Soyuz Commander Maxim Suraev of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, Flight Engineer Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency, ESA, and Flight Engineer Reid Wiseman of NASA to the International Space Station for a five and a half month stay.

Technicians ready two NASA Space Launch System (SLS) solid rocket boosters for mating to the rockets two aft skirts on June 19, 2020, inside Kennedy Space Centers Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility. Together, the twin boosters provide more than 75 percent of the total SLS thrust at launch. Manufactured by Northrop Grumman in Promontory, Utah, the boosters arrived at Kennedy via train. The cross-country journey was an important milestone for the agencys Artemis I launch. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system prior to crewed missions to the Moon. Once the boosters are mated with the aft skirts, they will be moved to the Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking on the mobile launcher.

jsc2020e016991 - At the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft and its booster are raised to a vertical position at the Site 31 launch pad April 6 for final preparations for launch. Expedition 63 crewmembers Chris Cassidy of NASA and Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner of Roscosmos are set to launch aboard the Soyuz MS-16 April 9 for a six-and-a-half month mission on the International Space Station...NASA/Victor Zelentsov.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Vehicle Assembly Building's High Bay 3 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the stacking of the Ares I-X segments is under way. Here, the forward center segment (top) is lowered onto the aft center and the aft skirt segments. Part of the Constellation Program, the Ares I-X is the test vehicle for the Ares I, which is the essential core of a space transportation system that eventually will carry crewed missions back to the moon, on to Mars and out into the solar system . The Ares I-X flight test is targeted for no earlier than Aug. 30.

NASA is preparing major pieces of the Space Launch System rockets core stage to be joined as part of assembling the core stage for the Artemis II mission that will send crews to lunar orbit. Crews will soon connect the forward assembly with the 130-foot liquid hydrogen tank in the final assembly area at NASAs Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. When this process is completed, four of the five large structures that make up the core stage will be joined. The 66-foot forward assembly consists of the forward skirt, liquid oxygen tank and the intertank, which were mated earlier. This forward assembly will be joined with the 130-foot liquid hydrogen tank, the largest part of the stage that holds more than 500,000 gallons of cryogenic propellant. To compete the Artemis II core stage, engineers will add the engine section, which is currently being outfitted and includes the main propulsion systems that connect to the four RS-25 engines, Together, with the SLS twin solid rocket boosters

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers attach an overhead crane to shuttle Atlantis. The crane will lift the spacecraft into a high bay where it will be attached to the waiting external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters already on the mobile launcher platform.Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley and Mission Specialists Sandra Magnus and Rex Walheim are expected to launch mid July, taking with them the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module packed with supplies, logistics and spare parts. The STS-135 mission also will fly a system to investigate the potential for robotically refueling existing spacecraft and return a failed ammonia pump module to help NASA better understand the failure mechanism and improve pump designs for future systems. STS-135 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.

A solid rocket motor for the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket slated to boost NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale mission, or MMS, is lowered into position inside the mobile service tower at Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Four identical MMS spacecraft will study the mystery of how magnetic fields around Earth connect and disconnect, explosively releasing energy via a process known a magnetic reconnection. Launch is set for March 12.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In NASA Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building, the newly delivered external tank is lifted high into the upper regions. It will be moved over a crossbeam into a checkout cell for further work. Designated ET-119, the 154-foot tank will be lifted into a checkout cell for further work. The tank, which will launch space shuttle Discovery on mission STS-121, will fly with many major safety changes, including the removal of the protuberance air load ramps. A large piece of foam from a ramp came off during the last shuttle launch in July 2005. The ramps were removed to eliminate a potential source of damaging debris to the space shuttle. The next launch of Discovery is scheduled for May 2006.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, external fuel tank ET-131 moves into the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building. The tank, which will be used on the STS-127 mission, will be lifted into a high bay for checkout. The Japanese Experiment Module's Experiment Logistics Module-Exposed Section, or ELM-ES, is part of the payload on the STS-127 mission, targeted for launch in June.

In this view looking up inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane lowers the Space Launch System (SLS) Core Stage pathfinder into High Bay 3 on Oct. 16, 2019. The 212-foot-long core stage pathfinder arrived on NASA's Pegasus Barge at Kennedys Launch Complex 39 turn basin wharf on Sept. 27, 2019. The Pegasus Barge made its first delivery to Kennedy in support of the agency's Artemis missions. The pathfinder is being used by Exploration Ground Systems and its contractor, Jacobs, to practice offloading, moving and stacking maneuvers, using important ground support equipment to train employees and certify all the equipment works properly. The pathfinder will stay at Kennedy through at least the month of October before trekking back to NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Workers monitor the progress of a canister, carrying the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module, or MPLM, for the STS-135 mission, as it is rotated from a horizontal to vertical position in the Canister Rotation Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley and Mission Specialists Sandra Magnus and Rex Walheim are targeted to lift off on space shuttle Atlantis July 8, taking with them the MPLM packed with supplies, logistics and spare parts to the International Space Station. The STS-135 mission also will fly a system to investigate the potential for robotically refueling existing spacecraft and return a failed ammonia pump module to help NASA better understand the failure mechanism and improve pump designs for future systems. STS-135 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. - On Launch Pad 17-B on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., the first stage of the Boeing Delta II launch vehicle for the Deep Impact spacecraft is raised from its transporter to a vertical position. It will be lifted up the mobile service tower for stacking with the other stages. A NASA Discovery mission, Deep Impact will probe beneath the surface of Comet Tempel 1 on July 4, 2005, when the comet is 83 million miles from Earth, and reveal the secrets of its interior. After releasing a 3- by 3-foot projectile to crash onto the surface, Deep Impacts flyby spacecraft will collect pictures and data of how the crater forms, measuring the craters depth and diameter, as well as the composition of the interior of the crater and any material thrown out, and determining the changes in natural outgassing produced by the impact. It will send the data back to Earth through the antennas of the Deep Space Network. Deep Impact project management is handled by the Jet Pr

SpaceXs Crew Dragon “Endeavour,” atop the companys Falcon 9 rocket, is shown inside the SpaceX integration hangar adjacent to NASA Kennedy Space Centers Launch Complex 39A on April 16, 2021, just before rollout to the launch pad. NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and  Megan McArthur, JAXA astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, and ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet, who arrived at Kennedy on April 16, will fly to the International Space Station on NASAs SpaceX Crew-2 mission. Liftoff is targeted for Thursday, April 22, at 6:11 a.m. EDT.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, technicians begin to lift a frustum from a stand in the transfer aisle. The solid rocket booster segment is being moved into a high bay where it will be added to the stack being prepared for space shuttle mission STS-122, targeted for launch in December. On this mission, Atlantis will carry the Columbus Laboratory, the European Space Agency's largest contribution to the International Space Station. Columbus is a multifunctional, pressurized laboratory that will be permanently attached to U.S. Node 2, also called Harmony, to carry out experiments in materials science, fluid physics and biosciences, as well as to support a number of technological applications.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The Lockheed Martin Atlas V_Centaur second stage arrives at the Vertical Integration Facility on Launch Pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. It will be mated with the Atlas V already placed in the tower. The Atlas V_Centaur is the launch vehicle for the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The MRO is designed for a series of global mapping, regional survey and targeted observations from a near-polar, low-altitude Mars orbit. These observations will be unprecedented in terms of the spatial resolution and coverage achieved by the orbiters instruments as they observe the atmosphere and surface of Mars while probing its shallow subsurface as part of a follow the water strategy. The launch window for the MRO begins Aug. 10.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The redesigned External Tank is ready to be raised to a vertical position and lifted into the 'checkout cell' of the Vehicle Assembly Building where the tanks mechanical, electrical and thermal protection systems are inspected. The tank will also undergo new processes resulting from its redesign, including inspection of the bipod heater and External Tank separation camera. The tank will be prepared for 'mating' to the Shuttles Solid Rocket Boosters. When preparations are complete, the tank will be lifted from the checkout cell, moved across the transfer aisle and into High Bay 1. It will be lowered and attached to the boosters, which are sitting on the Mobile Launch Platform. The SRBs and ET will be flying with Shuttle Discovery for the Return to Flight mission STS-114. The launch planning window is May 12 to June 3, 2005.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Vehicle Assembly Building, external tank No. 118 is lifted off its transporter before being raised to vertical and into high bay 3 for mating with solid rocket boosters stacked there. The tank is designated to fly on mission STS-115 with Atlantis. It will fly with many major safety changes, including the removal of the protuberance air load ramps. The mission will deliver the second port truss segment, the P3/P4 Truss, to attach to the first port truss segment, the P1 Truss, as well as deploy solar array set 2A and 4A. Launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis is scheduled for late August.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, shuttle Discovery is ushered into the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) from Orbiter Processing Facility-3 during a move known as "rollover." The large, yellow and metal sling to the left of Discovery will hoist the spacecraft out of the VAB transfer aisle and then lower it to its external fuel tank and twin solid rocket boosters. Later this month, Discovery is scheduled to "rollout" to Launch Pad 39A for its launch to the International Space Station on the STS-133 mission. Targeted to liftoff Nov. 1, Discovery will take the Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM) packed with supplies and critical spare parts, as well as Robonaut 2 (R2) to the station.

The Orion ground test vehicle is prepared for the Launch Abort Vehicle Configuration Test at Lockheed Martin's facilities in Denver on Sept. 14, 2011. For this test, the vehicle was covered with fillets and ogive panels that resemble the vehicle's launch configuration. The spacecraft underwent testing at sound pressure levels that emulate those experienced at launch and in the event an abort is needed to carry the crew to safety away from a potential problem on the launch pad or during ascent. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- The payload fairing that will protect NASA's National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project (NPP) satellite as it launches aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II begins its lift to Level 5 of Space Launch Complex-2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.NPP will be positioned 512 miles above the Earth's surface and will orbit about 16 times each day to observe nearly the entire globe. The NPP mission for NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is to measure Earth's atmospheric and sea surface temperatures, humidity sounding, land and ocean biological activity, and cloud and aerosol properties.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Slowly and carefully, a "towback" vehicle positions space shuttle Discovery between the extensible work platforms of Orbiter Processing Facility-2 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Discovery touched down on the Shuttle Landing Facility's Runway 15 at 11:57 a.m., bringing an end to its 39th and final spaceflight mission, STS-133. Discovery and its six-member STS-133 crew delivered the Permanent Multipurpose Module, packed with supplies and critical spare parts, as well as Robonaut 2, the dexterous humanoid astronaut helper, to the International Space Station.Inside the processing facility, Discovery will be prepared for future public display.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- The first, second and third stages of the Orbital Sciences Corp. Pegasus XL rocket that will launch the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array NuSTAR to orbit are moved from the west high bay to the east high bay of Building 1555 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The move will allow technicians to process the spacecraft and fairing in the clean rooms of the east high bay before attaching it to the rocket.After the rocket and spacecraft are processed at Vandenberg, they will be flown on the Orbital Sciences' L-1011 carrier aircraft to the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site located at the Pacific Oceans Kwajalein Atoll for launch. The high-energy X-ray telescope will conduct a census for black holes, map radioactive material in young supernovae remnants, and study the origins of cosmic rays and the extreme physics around collapsed stars.

A United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy common booster core is offloaded from the company's Mariner ship at Port Canaveral in Florida. The Delta IV Heavy will launch NASA's upcoming Parker Solar Probe mission. The mission will perform the closest-ever observations of a star when it travels through the Sun's atmosphere, called the corona. The probe will rely on measurements and imaging to revolutionize our understanding of the corona and the Sun-Earth connection. Liftoff atop the Delta IV Heavy rocket is scheduled to take place from Cape Canaveral's Space Launch Complex 37 in summer 2018.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In Hangar M on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, workers secure straps to an overhead crane around the Delta II rocket's first stage. It will be lifted and placed onto a transporter for its move to the launch pad. Dawn's mission is to explore two of the asteroid belt's most intriguing and dissimilar occupants: asteroid Vesta and the dwarf planet Ceres. Dawn is scheduled to launch June 30 from Launch Complex 17-B.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - At NASA Kennedy Space Center, a wingtip observer watches as the orbiter Atlantis is lowered through the extendible platforms in VAB high bay 3 for mating with the Solid Rocket Boosters and External Tank (ET) already stacked there on the Mobile Launcher Platform. The observer is tasked with identifying a potential interference with the platforms, in which case he can communicate with the crane operators and move the orbiter accordingly. Once the orbiter is in position, the platforms are extended, and tooling is connected between the orbiter and ET. Atlantis is the designated orbiter for Return to Flight mission STS-121. The lighted planning window for launch extends from Sept. 9 to Sept. 25.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In Hangar A&O on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, workers conduct a steering test on the first stage of a Delta II rocket, at right. The rocket is designated for the launch of the Phoenix Mars Lander spacecraft. Phoenix will land in icy soils near the north polar permanent ice cap of Mars and explore the history of the water in these soils and any associated rocks, while monitoring polar climate. Landing 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. Launch of Phoenix is targeted for Aug. 3.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the GOES-O and Delta IV second stage are transported to Launch Pad 37. GOES-O is one of a series of Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites. The multi-mission GOES series N-P will be a vital contributor to weather, solar and space operations and science. NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, are actively engaged in a cooperative program to expand the existing GOES system with the launch of the GOES N-P satellites. Launch of the GOES-O is targeted for no earlier than April 2009.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Vehicle Assembly Building, external tank No. 118 is suspended vertically above the transfer aisle. The tank will be lifted into high bay 3 for mating with solid rocket boosters stacked there. The tank is designated to fly on mission STS-115 with Atlantis. It will fly with many major safety changes, including the removal of the protuberance air load ramps. The mission will deliver the second port truss segment, the P3/P4 Truss, to attach to the first port truss segment, the P1 Truss, as well as deploy solar array set 2A and 4A. Launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis is scheduled for late August.

The first stage of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-M (GOES-M) Atlas II rocket arrives at Complex 36-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. It will be raised and lifted up the gantry for mating with other stages. The last in the current series of advanced geostationary weather satellites in service, GOES-M has a new instrument not on earlier spacecraft, a Solar X-ray Imager that can be used in forecasting space weather, the effects of solar storms that create electromagnetic disturbances on earth that affect other satellites, communications and power grids. GOES-M is scheduled to launch from Launch Complex 36-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station July 15

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Discovery is lifted above the transfer aisle. The shuttle will be raised to a vertical position and lifted into high bay 3 where it will be mated with its external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters on the mobile launcher platform. After additional preparations are made, the shuttle will be rolled out to Launch Pad 39A for a targeted launch on Feb. 12. Discovery will carry the final starboard truss (S6) in the assembly of the International Space Station.

INTERIOR DEL MUSEO-SALAS CON COHETES. Location: JOHNSON SPACE CENTER / MUSEO. HOUSTON-TEXAS.

The main propeller of the AVALON (DSRV-2) Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle as viewed from the starboard quarter. The AVALON is stored on a transportation sled inside the Deep Submergence Unit building. Base: Naval Air Station, North Island State: California (CA) Country: United States Of America (USA)

Technicians ready two NASA Space Launch System (SLS) solid rocket boosters for mating to the rockets two aft skirts on June 19, 2020, inside Kennedy Space Centers Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility. Together, the twin boosters provide more than 75 percent of the total SLS thrust at launch. Manufactured by Northrop Grumman in Promontory, Utah, the boosters arrived at Kennedy via train. The cross-country journey was an important milestone for the agencys Artemis I launch. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system prior to crewed missions to the Moon. Once the boosters are mated with the aft skirts, they will be moved to the Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking on the mobile launcher.

The Soyuz TMA-16M spacecraft is seen after being lowered into position for encapsulation with its fairing, Friday, March 20, 2015 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Expedition 43 NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly, and Russian Cosmonauts Gennady Padalka, and Mikhail Kornienko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) are scheduled to launch to the International Space Station in the Soyuz TMA-16M spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan March 28, Kazakh time. As the one-year crew, Kelly and Kornienko will return to Earth on Soyuz TMA-18M in March 2016.

STS-135 OTS Move Underneath Orbiter Atlantis

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the hangar of the Delta Operations Center at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the second stage of a Delta IV rocket has been rotated to a horizontal position with the aid of a turnover stand following the completion of nozzle extension deployment system testing in the hangar's test cell.The United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket is slated to launch GOES-P, the latest Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite developed by NASA for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA. Next, the second stage will be transported to the Horizontal Integration Facility where it will be inspected and prepared for mating with the Delta IV rocket's first stage. GOES-P, a meteorological satellite, is designed to watch for storm development and observed current weather conditions on Earth. Launch of GOES-P is scheduled for no earlier than Feb. 25, 2010, from Launch Complex 37.

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