Rocket Launch Preparations

Images showcasing the handling and transport of rocket components for upcoming space missions. Featuring spacecraft boosters and payloads in various stages of preparation.

A transport truck is about to take a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V booster from the Mariner cargo ship at the Army Outpost wharf at Port Canaveral, Florida, to the hangar at the Atlas Spaceflight Operations Center (ASOC), located south of Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The Atlas V is scheduled to launch a Cygnus spacecraft on the Orbital ATK CRS-7 commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station. Scheduled to liftoff March 19, 2017, the Orbital ATK CRS-7 mission will deliver thousands of pounds of supplies, equipment and scientific research materials that improve life on Earth and drive progress toward future space exploration.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- On Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Launch Complex 41, the Centaur upper stage is raised from its transporter. When it is vertical, it will be lifted into the Vertical Integration Facility for installation onto the Atlas V first stage, already in the tower. The Atlas V/Centaur is the launch vehicle for NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, and NASA's Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite, known as LCROSS. LCROSS and LRO are the first missions in NASA's plan to return humans to the moon and begin establishing a lunar outpost by 2020.

VANDENBERG AFB, Calif. - Cranes raise the first stage booster of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V onto the launch pad at Space Launch Complex-3E at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. in preparation for the launch of the Landsat Data Continuity Mission. The Landsat Data Continuity Mission LDCM is the future of Landsat satellites. It will continue to obtain valuable data and imagery to be used in agriculture, education, business, science, and government. The Landsat Program provides repetitive acquisition of high resolution multispectral data of the Earth's surface on a global basis. The data from the Landsat spacecraft constitute the longest record of the Earth's continental surfaces as seen from space. It is a record unmatched in quality, detail, coverage, and value. Launch is planned for Feb. 2013.

A transport truck is about to take a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V booster from the Mariner cargo ship at the Army Outpost wharf at Port Canaveral, Florida, to the hangar at the Atlas Spaceflight Operations Center (ASOC), located south of Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The Atlas V is scheduled to launch a Cygnus spacecraft on the Orbital ATK CRS-7 commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station. Scheduled to liftoff March 19, 2017, the Orbital ATK CRS-7 mission will deliver thousands of pounds of supplies, equipment and scientific research materials that improve life on Earth and drive progress toward future space exploration.

TITUSVILLE, Fla. - Inside the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville, Fla. near NASAs Kennedy Space Center, technicians use a crane to lift the payload faring containing the two Radiation Belt Storm Probes, or RBSP, spacecraft as a transporter moves into position.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 rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. Liftoff is targeted for Aug. 23, 2012.

The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft arrives at Launch Complex 39A at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, transported from the companys processing facility at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Friday, May 15, 2020, in preparation for the Demo-2 flight test with NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley to the International Space Station for NASAs Commercial Crew Program. Crew Dragon will carry Behnken and Hurley atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, returning crew launches to the space station from U.S. soil for the first time since the Space Shuttle Program ended in 2011.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The Centaur upper stage leaves the Atlas Space Operations Facility in Titusville, Fla. It is being transferred to the Vertical Integration Facility near Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Launch Complex 41, where it will be lifted onto the Atlas V first stage. The Atlas V/Centaur is the launch vehicle for NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, and NASA's Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite, known as LCROSS. LCROSS and LRO are the first missions in NASA's plan to return humans to the moon and begin establishing a lunar outpost by 2020.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, preparations are underway to lift the first stage of the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket into the vertical position. The Atlas V is being prepared for the Radiation Belt Storm Probes, or RBSP, mission.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 launch aboard an Atlas V rocket. Launch is targeted for Aug. 23.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The Atlas V first stage is moved from the hangar at the Atlas Space Operations Facility. It is going to the Vertical Integration Facility near Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Launch Complex 41. The Atlas V/Centaur is the launch vehicle for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO. The orbiter will carry seven instruments to provide scientists with detailed maps of the lunar surface and enhance our understanding of the moon's topography, lighting conditions, mineralogical composition and natural resources. Information gleaned from LRO will be used to select safe landing sites, determine locations for future lunar outposts and help mitigate radiation dangers to astronauts. Launch of LRO is targeted no earlier than June 2.

At Space Launch Complex 3 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California technicians and engineers prepare a United Launch Alliance Centaur upper stage for lifting and mating atop an Atlas V booster. The rocket will launch NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, or InSight, mission to land on Mars. InSight is the first mission to explore the Red Planet's deep interior. It will investigate processes that shaped the rocky planets of the inner solar system including Earth. Liftoff is scheduled for May 5, 2018.

The first stage motor for the Orbital ATK Pegasus XL rocket arrives by truck at Building 1555 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The Pegasus rocket is being prepared for NASA's Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON, mission. ICON will launch from the Kwajalein Atoll aboard the Pegasus XL on Dec. 8, 2017. 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.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - On Launch Complex 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the first stage of a Delta II rocket waits to be lifted up and moved into the mobile service tower. The rocket is being erected to launch the Space InfraRed Telescope Facility (SIRTF). 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 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.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - One of two solid rocket boosters is transported to Hangar AF at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Liberty Star, one of NASAs two booster retrieval ships, towed the spent booster from space shuttle Atlantis final launch to a mooring at Port Canaveral. The shuttles two solid rocket booster casings and associated flight hardware are recovered in the Atlantic Ocean after every launch by Freedom Star and Liberty Star. The boosters impact the Atlantic about seven minutes after liftoff, and the retrieval ships are stationed about 10 miles from the impact area at the time of splashdown. After the spent segments are processed, they will be transported to Utah, where they will be deserviced and stored, if needed. Atlantis began its final flight, STS-135, at 11:29 a.m. EDT on July 8 to deliver the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module packed with supplies and spare parts to the International Space Station.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, technicians monitor the progress as a large crane begins to lift the first stage of the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket into the vertical position. The Atlas V is being prepared for the Radiation Belt Storm Probes, or RBSP, mission.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 launch aboard an Atlas V rocket. Launch is targeted for Aug. 23.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At the Vertical Integration Facility on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Launch Complex 41, cranes are attached to the Atlas V first stage to raise it to vertical. The Atlas will be lifted into the VIF. The Atlas V/Centaur is the launch vehicle for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO. The orbiter will carry seven instruments to provide scientists with detailed maps of the lunar surface and enhance our understanding of the moon's topography, lighting conditions, mineralogical composition and natural resources. Information gleaned from LRO will be used to select safe landing sites, determine locations for future lunar outposts and help mitigate radiation dangers to astronauts. Launch of LRO is targeted no earlier than June 2.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- On the Skid Strip at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, workers unload the first stage of the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket slated to launch NASA's Juno spacecraft from a Volga-Dnepr Antonov AN-124-100, a Ukranian/Russian cargo aircraft.Juno is scheduled to launch aboard an Atlas V rocket 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.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - The United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket for NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 mission, or OCO-2, is lifted into a vertical position beside the mobile service tower at Space Launch Complex 2 on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Launch is scheduled for July 2014. The observatory will collect precise global measurements of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere and provide scientists with a better idea of the chemical compound's impacts on climate change. Scientists will analyze this data to improve our understanding of the natural processes and human activities that regulate the abundance and distribution of this important atmospheric gas.

The first stage of the rocket that will launch Boeing's CST-100 Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station on the company's uncrewed Orbital Flight Test arrives at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Dec. 7, 2018. The United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V first stage booster was shipped aboard ULA's Mariner cargo vessel from the company's manufacturing plant in Decatur, Alabama. It is the final piece of hardware that ULA needs to launch the first Boeing Starliner. The booster will be transported to the Atlas Spaceflight Operations Center for receiving inspections and checkout.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The payload canister containing the equipment and hardware for space shuttle Atlantis STS-125 mission to the Hubble Space Telescope is moved from the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, to the canister rotation facility. The canister will be transferred to Launch Pad 39A and the payload will be loaded into Atlantis payload bay. Launch of Atlantis is targeted for Oct 10.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- At Vandenberg AFB, the first stage of the Taurus rocket is being moved into Building 1555's west bay. The Taurus will launch the Orbiting Carbon Observatory, or OCO, in 2009. The OCO is a new Earth-orbiting mission sponsored by NASA's Earth System Science Pathfinder Program.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - On Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the GOES-O and Delta IV second stage are being prepared to leave the Horizontal Integration Facility. They will be moved to 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.

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) worker on a scissor lift watches as the second stage of a ULA Delta IV Heavy is mated to the common booster core inside the Horizontal Integration Facility near Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The Delta IV Heavy will launch NASA's upcoming Parker Solar Probe mission in July 2018. 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.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - At the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Skid Strip, the booster segment for a Lockheed Martin Atlas V is rolled out of a Russian Antonov AH-124-100 cargo airplane. The Atlas V, designated AV-007, 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 orbiter is undergoing environmental tests in facilities at Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver, Colo., and is on schedule for a launch window that begins Aug. 10. Launch will be from Launch Pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

Technicians with United Launch Alliance (ULA) monitor the progress as the solid rocket motor is mated to the ULA Atlas V rocket in the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-R) will launch aboard the Atlas V rocket this month. GOES-R is the first satellite in a series of next-generation NOAA GOES Satellites.

At Port Canaveral in Florida, a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket booster is transported from the company's Mariner ship to the Atlas Spaceflight Operations Center at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The rocket is scheduled to launch the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, TDRS-M. It will be the latest spacecraft destined for the agency's constellation of communications satellites that allows nearly continuous contact with orbiting spacecraft ranging from the International Space Station and Hubble Space Telescope to the array of scientific observatories. Liftoff atop the ULA Atlas V rocket is scheduled to take place from Cape Canaveral's Space Launch Complex 41 on Aug. 3, 2017 at 9:02 a.m. EDT.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - On the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Node 3 module is being unloaded from the Beluga Airbus. Named Tranquility, the module will be delivered to the International Space Station on the STS-130 mission. Tranquility will eventually house the life support equipment necessary for the space station's permanent crew of six. It will also accommodate the European Space Agency's Cupola observation module, a seven-window, dome-shaped structure. Tranquility is targeted for launch aboard space shuttle Endeavour in February 2010.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The first stage of the SpaceX COTS-2 Falcon 9 rocket is being moved into a SpaceX hangar at Pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Once assembled, it will be a two-stage fully integrated launch vehicle, consisting of a first stage powered by nine SpaceX-developed Merlin 1C engines, a second stage, an interstage, an unpressurized trunk and the Dragon spacecraft qualification unit. SpaceX was awarded procurement for three demonstration flights under the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services, or COTS, program managed by NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. A subsequent contract for Commercial Resupply Services, or CRS, was awarded in late 2008 to resupply the International Space Station. The SpaceX CRS contract provides for 12 missions to resupply the station from 2011 through 2015.

Atlas V Launch Vehicle on Stand. The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket that will launch the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASAs Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2) mission arrives at the Vertical Integration Facility (VIF) at Vandenberg Space Force Bases Space Launch Complex 3E in California on Sept. 28, 2022. Once JPSS-2 - enclosed inside its protective payload fairing - arrives at the VIF, it will be secured to the top of the rocket. JPSS-2 is the third satellite in the Joint Polar Satellite System series that will be used to capture data and improve weather forecasts, leading scientists to better predict for extreme weather events and climate change. Launching as a secondary payload to JPSS-2 is NASAs Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID), dedicated to the memory of Bernard Kutter. LOFTID is a technology demonstration of an inflatable heat shield that could one day help land humans on Mars. Liftoff is targeted for 2:25 p.m

The move team loads the launch vehicle stage adapter, part of the agencys new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, on NASAs Pegasus barge at NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, July 17. The launch vehicle stage adapter, which connects the rockets 212-foot-tall core stage to the rockets upper stage, is being shipped to NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida for Artemis I launch preparations. This is the final piece of Artemis I SLS rocket hardware built at Marshall to be delivered to Kennedy. Only the SLS core stage, currently in final testing at Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, remains to be shipped to Kennedy on Pegasus. NASA is working to land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024. SLS, along with Orion, the human landing system, and the Gateway in orbit around the Moon are NASAs backbone for a new generation of deep space exploration.

Engineers prepare to test the parachute system for NASAs Orion spacecraft at the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground in Yuma, Arizona on Aug. 24, 2015. During the test, planned for Wednesday, Aug. 26, a C-17 aircraft will carry a representative Orion capsule to 35,000 feet in altitude and then drop it from its cargo bay. Engineers will test a scenario in which one of Orions two drogue parachutes, used to stabilize it in the air, does not deploy, and one of its three main parachutes, used to slow the capsule during the final stage of descent, also does not deploy. The risky test will provide data engineers will use as they gear up to qualify Orions parachutes for missions with astronauts. On Aug. 24, a C-17 was loaded with the test version of Orion, which has a similar mass and interfaces with the parachutes as the Orion being developed for deep space missions but is shorter on top to fit inside the aircraft. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.

On Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, workers stand by while an overhead crane lifts the Delta II second stage to a vertical position. The second stage will be lifted into the mobile service tower and mated with the first stage already in place. The Delta II is the launch vehicle for the THEMIS spacecraft. THEMIS consists of five identical probes, the largest number of scientific satellites ever launched into orbit aboard a single rocket. This unique constellation of satellites will resolve the tantalizing mystery of what causes the spectacular sudden brightening of the aurora borealis and aurora australis - the fiery skies over the Earth's northern and southern polar regions. THEMIS is scheduled to launch Feb. 15 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Inside the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility (RPSF) at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians lift the right aft motor segment - one of five segments that make up one of two solid rocket boosters for the agencys Space Launch System (SLS) - onto an inspection stand on June 23, 2020. While in the RPSF, the boosters will be mated to the rockets two aft skirts before they are moved to the Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking on the mobile launcher. The boosters, manufactured by Northrop Grumman in Utah, recently arrived at Kennedy for processing ahead of the Artemis I launch. Together, the twin boosters provide more than 75 percent of the total SLS thrust at launch. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - On Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, sunlight glints off the core stage of a Delta IV rocket newly delivered to Launch Complex 37.The rocket's core stage is the first stage mated to the second stage. This 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. Launch is targeted for no earlier than March 1.

A fit check of the Orion Crew and Service Module Horizontal Transporter (CHT) with NASA's Super Guppy aircraft began March 12, 2019, at NASA Kennedy Space Centers Shuttle Landing Facility in Florida, operated by Space Florida. In this photo, the Super Guppys payload bay is opened as the CHT, secured on the U.S. Air Force aircraft loader, is moved inside the aircrafts payload bay. The fit check is being performed to confirm loading operations, ensure that the CHT fits inside the Super Guppy and test the electrical interface to aircraft power. The Orion crew and service modules will be readied for a trip to NASAs Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, for full thermal vacuum testing. In this unique facility, the crew and service modules will be put through extensive testing to ensure they can survive the rigors of launch, space travel, re-entry and splashdown. The Orion spacecraft will launch atop the agency's Space Launch System rocket on Exploration Mission-1.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, workers prepare the first stage of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket to be lifted 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.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- The Stage 0 motor, left, of the Orbital Sciences Corp. Taurus XL rocket is almost ready for its journey from Building 1555 to Space Launch Complex 576-E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. As part of the four-stage Taurus XL rocket that will carry NASA's Glory spacecraft into low Earth orbit, stages 1, 2 and 3, right, will join Stage 0 at the launch pad about a week later. Once Glory reaches orbit, it will 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. Launch is scheduled for 5:09 a.m. EST Feb. 23. For information, visit www.nasa.gov/glory.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a worker attaches an overhead crane to space shuttle Endeavour. The crane will lift the spacecraft into a high bay where it will be attached to its external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters for its final mission, STS-134.Endeavour and its STS-134 crew will deliver the Express Logistics Carrier-3, Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, a high-pressure gas tank, additional spare parts for Dextre and micrometeoroid debris shields to the International Space Station. Launch is targeted for April 19 at 7:48 p.m. EDT.

Technicians with Jacobs on the Test and Operations Support Contract have positioned a platform close to NASAs Super Guppy aircraft at the Shuttle Landing Facility, managed and operated by Space Florida, at the agencys Kennedy Space Center in Florida, for offloading of the shipping container carrying the Orion heat shield for Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1). The heat shield will be offloaded and transported to the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay for processing. The heat shield arrived from Lockheed Martins manufacturing facility near Denver. The Orion spacecraft will launch atop NASAs Space Launch System rocket on EM-1, an uncrewed test flight, in 2018.

PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. - Following arrival at Port Canaveral, Fla., the United Launch Alliance Centaur upper stage that will boost the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, or TDRS-L, spacecraft into orbit is being towed off the barge, Delta Mariner. The first and second stages of the launch vehicle will then be transported to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Atlas Spaceflight Operations Center for checkout in preparation for launch.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.

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.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At Launch Complex 37 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the core stage of a Delta IV rocket is moved from the Horizontal Integration Facility to the pad in the background.The rocket's core stage is the first stage mated to the second stage. This 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. Launch is targeted for no earlier than March 1.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Shrouded with a protective cover, half of the payload fairing for the STEREO spacecraft arrives on Launch Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The payload fairing will be lifted into the clean room in the mobile service tower and later installed around the spacecraft for protection during launch. 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. STEREO, which stands for Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory, comprises two spacecraft. The STEREO 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. STEREO is expected to lift off aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket in August 2006.

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 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.

Inside Building 1555 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians and engineers offload the first stage motor for the Orbital ATK Pegasus XL rocket which will launch eight NASA Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System, or CYGNSS, spacecraft. When preparations are completed at Vandenberg, the rocket, with CYGNSS in its payload fairing, will be attached to the Orbital ATK L-1011 carrier aircraft and transported to NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. On Dec. 12, 2016, the carrier aircraft is scheduled to take off from the Skid Strip at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and CYGNSS will launch on the Pegasus XL rocket with the L-1011 flying off shore. 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 t

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, engineers and technicians prepare the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket 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.

A fit check of the Orion Crew and Service Module Horizontal Transporter (CHT) with NASA's Super Guppy aircraft is underway March 13, 2019, at NASA Kennedy Space Centers Shuttle Landing Facility in Florida, operated by Space Florida. In this photo, the Super Guppys payload bay has been opened and the CHT, secured on the U.S. Air Force aircraft loader, is moved inside the aircrafts payload bay. The fit check is being performed to confirm loading operations, ensure that the CHT fits inside the Super Guppy and test the electrical interface to aircraft power. The Orion crew and service modules will be readied for a trip to NASAs Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, for full thermal vacuum testing. In this unique facility, the crew and service modules will be put through extensive testing to ensure they can survive the rigors of launch, space travel, re-entry and splashdown. The Orion spacecraft will launch atop the agency's Space Launch System rocket on Exploration Mission-1.

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.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- On Space Launch Complex 576-E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, Orbital Sciences workers prepare NASA's Glory upper stack for attachment to the Taurus XL rocket's Stage 0. The upper stack consists of Stages 1, 2 and 3 of the Taurus as well as the encapsulated Glory spacecraft. The Orbital Sciences Taurus XL rocket will launch Glory into low Earth orbit. Once Glory reaches orbit, it will 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. Launch is scheduled for 5:09 a.m. EST Feb. 23.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, CALIF. - Another Solid Rocket Booster for the CALIPSO_CloudSat launch is ready to be raised to a vertical position at NASA Space Launch Complex 2 on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. It will then be lifted into the mobile service tower, or gantry, and attached to the Boeing Delta II rocket. The Delta is the launch vehicle for the CALIPSO_CloudSat spacecraft. CALIPSO stands for Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation. CALIPSO and CloudSat are highly complementary satellites and together 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. Sept. 29.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Ares I-X motor segment is revealed after removal of the rail car cover. It is one of four reusable motor segments and nozzle exit cone shipped by the Ares I first-stage prime contractor Alliant Techsystems Inc. for final processing and integration in the facility. The booster used for the Ares I-X launch is being modified by adding new forward structures and a fifth segment simulator. The motor is the final hardware needed for the rocket's upcoming flight test this summer. The stacking operations are scheduled to begin in the Vehicle Assembly Building in April.

An Orbital Science Corporation Antares rocket is seen as it is rolled out to launch Pad-0A at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility Tuesday, December 17, 2013 in advance of a Thursday launch, Wallops Island, VA. The Antares will launch a Cygnus spacecraft on a cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station. The Orbital-1 mission is Orbital Sciences' first contracted cargo delivery flight to the space station for NASA. Among the cargo aboard Cygnus set to launch to the space station are science experiments, crew provisions, spare parts and other hardware. Launch is scheduled for 9:19 p.m. EST on Thursday, Dec. 19. Weather permitting, it may be widely visible along the east coast of the United States.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A Falcon 9 rocket with a Dragon capsule secured atop rolls from the processing hangar to the pad at Space Launch Complex 40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX, built both the rocket and capsule for NASA's first Commercial Resupply Services, or CRS-1, mission to the International Space Station. Rollout was complete at 9:55 p.m. EDT. SpaceX CRS-1 is an important step toward making Americas microgravity research program self-sufficient by providing a way to deliver and return significant amounts of cargo, including science experiments, to and from the orbiting laboratory. Launch is scheduled for 8:35 p.m. EDT on Oct. 7. NASA has contracted for 12 commercial resupply flights from SpaceX and eight from the Orbital Sciences Corp.

A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket carrying a Cygnus resupply spacecraft is seen as it is rolled out of the Horizontal Integration Facility to the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceports Pad-0A, Saturday, September 26, 2020, at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Northrop Grummans 14th contracted cargo resupply mission with NASA to the International Space Station will deliver about 8,000 pounds of science and research, crew supplies and vehicle hardware to the orbital laboratory and its crew. The CRS-14 Cygnus spacecraft is named after the first female astronaut of Indian descent, Kaplana Chawla, and is scheduled to launch at 10:27 p.m., Tuesday, September 29, 2020 EDT.

A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket is seen as it is rolled out of the Horizontal Integration Facility to launch Pad-0A, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020, at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Northrop Grummans 13th contracted cargo resupply mission with NASA to the International Space Station will deliver more than 7,500 pounds of science and research, crew supplies and vehicle hardware to the orbital laboratory and its crew. The CRS-13 Cygnus spacecraft is named after the first African American astronaut, Major Robert Henry Lawrence Jr., and is scheduled to launch at 5:39pm EST Sunday, Feb. 9.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, a technician supports lifting of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket 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.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In a processing facility at Space Launch Complex-40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the Space Exploration Technologies Dragon capsule is rotated into a horizontal position for mating with the second stage of the companys Falcon 9 rocket. Known as SpaceX, the launch will be the company's second demonstration test flight for NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program, or COTS. During the flight, the capsule will conduct a series of check-out procedures to test and prove its systems, including rendezvous and berthing with the International Space Station. If the capsule performs as planned, the NanoRacks-CubeLabs Module-9 experiments and other cargo aboard Dragon will be transferred to the station. The cargo includes food, water and provisions for the stations Expedition crews, such as clothing, batteries and computer equipment. Under COTS, NASA has partnered with two private companies to provide resupply missions to the station. T

Space capsule structure model

A United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy common booster core arrives at the Horizontal Integration Facility at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station for preflight processing. 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.

A crane lifts a United Launch Alliance Atlas V first stage at the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The rocket will be positioned on its launcher to boost the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, or GOES-S. It will be the second in a series of four advanced geostationary weather satellites and will significantly improve the detection and observation of environmental phenomena that directly affect public safety. GOES-S is slated to launch March 1, 2018.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The Atlas V first stage to support the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission is positioned inside 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.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- The first solid rocket motor arrives on Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. It will be attached to the Delta II first stage inside the mobile service tower. The Delta II is the launch vehicle for the OSTM/Jason-2 spacecraft. The OSTM, or Ocean Topography Mission, on the Jason-2 satellite is a follow-on to Jason-1. It will take oceanographic studies of sea surface height into an operational mode for continued climate forecasting research and science and industrial applications. This satellite altimetry data will help determine ocean circulation, climate change and sea-level rise. OSTM is a joint effort by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NASA, Frances Centre National dEtudes Spatiales and the European Meteorological Satellite Organisation. OSTM/Jason-2 will be launched aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II 7320 from Vandenberg on June 15.

HAMPTON, Va. - At the Naval Station Norfolk near NASAs Langley Research Center in Virginia, the Orion boilerplate test article is reflected in water on a U.S. Navy ship. The test article and support equipment for a stationary recovery test were transferred to the ship from a 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

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The S5 truss segment for the International Space Station is offloaded from the Super Guppy transport aircraft at the KSC Shuttle Landing Facility. The S5 truss will be transferred to the Space Station Processing Facility where it will be fit checked for a Photo-Voltaic Radiator Grapple Fixture. It will also undergo a fit check to a truss simulator to make sure S5 will fit together with the S4 and S6 truss segments. S5 is scheduled for launch in October 2003 on mission STS-118. It will be the 10th truss assembled as part of a total 11 trusses.

Workers offload the abort motor for NASAs Artemis 1 mission from a heavy transport truck inside the Launch Abort System Facility (LASF) at the agencys Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 6, 2019. The abort motor, manufactured by Northrop Grumman, will be integrated with Orion subcomponents and prepared for Artemis 1. The abort motor is one of three motors located on the tower of the Launch Abort System (LAS). The LAS is designed to pull the Orion capsule and its crew away to safety if an emergency occurs during ascent of the Space Launch System (SLS). During Artemis 1, the uncrewed Orion spacecraft will launch atop the SLS from Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy. Orion will embark on an approximately three-week mission that will take the spacecraft thousands of miles past the Moon. Orion will return to Earth and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California, where it will be retrieved and returned to Kennedy.

A United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy common booster core arrives by truck at 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.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Engine No. 2, one of three space shuttle main engines, was removed from Endeavour and is being transported from Orbiter Processing Facility-1 to the Space Shuttle Main Engine Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.The removal is part of Endeavour's transition and retirement processing. Endeavour is being prepared for public display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Endeavour flew 25 missions, spent 299 days in space, orbited Earth 4,671 times and traveled 122,883,151 miles over the course of its 19-year career.

This image highlights the liquid oxygen tank, which will be used on the core stage of NASA Space Launch System rocket for Artemis II, the first crewed mission of NASAs Artemis program, at NASAs Michoud Assembly Facility. 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 forward skirt houses flight computers, cameras, and avionics systems. The liquid oxygen tank holds 196,000 gallons of liquid oxygen cooled to minus 297 degrees Fahrenheit. The LOX hardware sits between the core stages forward skirt and the intertank. Along with the liquid hydrogen tank, it will provide fuel to the four RS-25 engines at the bottom of the core 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

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Vehicle Assembly Building's extended duration orbiter lab, or EDO, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Ares I-X fifth segment simulator aft section is lifted by a crane from the transporter. The aft section will be moved to a stand. Ares I-X is the test vehicle for the Ares I, which is part of the Constellation Program to return men to the moon and beyond. Ares I is the essential core of a safe, reliable, cost-effective space transportation system that eventually will carry crewed missions back to the moon, on to Mars and out into the solar system. Ares I-X is targeted for launch in July 2009.

A full-scale flight-test mockup of the Constellation program's Orion crew vehicle arrived at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in late March 2008 to undergo preparations for the first short-range flight test of the spacecraft's astronaut escape system later that year. Engineers and technicians at NASA's Langley Research Center fabricated the structure, which precisely represents the size, outer shape and mass characteristics of the Orion space capsule.The Orion crew module mockup was ferried to NASA Dryden on an Air Force C-17. After painting in the Edwards Air Force Base paint hangar, the conical capsule was taken to Dryden for installation of flight computers, instrumentation and other electronics prior to being sent to the U.S. Army's White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico for integration with the escape system and the first abort flight test in late 2008. The tests were designed to ensure a safe, reliable method of escape for astronauts in case of an emergency.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The external fuel tank, ET- 132, designated for use with space shuttle Discovery on the STS-128 mission moves toward the open door of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The tank will be moved into a high bay for checkout. On the STS-128 mission, Discovery will carry science and storage racks to the International Space Station. Launch of Discovery is targeted for Aug. 6.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Two of the three United Launch Alliance Delta IV heavy boosters for NASAs upcoming Exploration Flight Test-1, or EFT-1, mission with the Orion spacecraft, have arrived by barge at the U.S. Army Outpost wharf at Port Canaveral in Florida. The core booster and starboard booster will be offloaded and then transported to the Horizontal Integration Facility, or HIF, at Space Launch Complex 37 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The port booster and the upper stage are planned to be shipped to Cape Canaveral in April. At the HIF, all three boosters will be processed and checked out before being moved to the nearby launch pad and hoisted into position. During the EFT-1 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 ris

A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket arrives at launch Pad-0A, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020, at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Northrop Grummans 13th contracted cargo resupply mission with NASA to the International Space Station will deliver more than 7,500 pounds of science and research, crew supplies and vehicle hardware to the orbital laboratory and its crew. The CRS-13 Cygnus spacecraft is named after the first African American astronaut, Major Robert Henry Lawrence Jr., and is scheduled to launch at 5:39pm EST Sunday, Feb. 9.

Crew Module Water Landing Model Assessment (CMWLMA)Test site photos at Aberdeen Test Center Aberdeen Maryland

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The port booster for the United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy for Exploration Flight Test-1, or EFT-1, is being offloaded from the barge at the U.S. Army Outpost wharf at Port Canaveral in Florida and will be transported to the Horizontal Integration Facility, or HIF, at Space Launch Complex 37 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The upper stage and spacecraft adapter arrived with the booster and were transported to the HIF on May 6.At the HIF, all three booster stages will be processed and checked out before being moved to the nearby launch pad and hoisted into position. The spacecraft adapter will connect Orion to the ULA Delta IV, and also will connect Orion to NASA's new rocket, the Space Launch System, on its first mission in 2017. During the EFT-1 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 a

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is ready to roll out to Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, with NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) secured in its payload fairing. TESS will launch on the Falcon 9 no earlier than 6:51 p.m. EDT on April 18. TESS will search for planets outside of our solar system. The mission will find exoplanets that periodically block part of the light from their host stars, events called transits. The satellite will survey the nearest and brightest stars for two years to search for transiting exoplanets.

A crane is used to lift the Northrop Grumman right-manufactured aft exit cone for the Space Launch Systems solid rocket boosters away from its shipping base for securing on a processing stand inside the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Dec. 9, 2019. The right and left aft exit cones were shipped from Promontory, Utah. They will be checked out and prepared for the Artemis I uncrewed test flight. The aft exit cones sit at the bottommost part of the twin boosters. The cones help provide added thrust for the boosters, while protecting the aft skirts from the thermal environment during launch.

A KAMAG transporter with Orbital ATK's CYGNUS pressurized cargo module secured on top arrives at the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. CYGNUS will be moved inside the facility for final propellant loading and late cargo stowage. The Orbital ATK CRS-7 commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station is scheduled to launch atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on March 19, 2017. CYGNUS will deliver thousands of pounds of supplies, equipment and scientific research materials to the space station.

The Space Launch System (SLS) core stage for NASAs Artemis I mission is in the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 5, 2021. Teams from the centers Exploration Ground Systems and contractor Jacobs will perform checkouts ahead of integrating the massive rocket stage with the twin solid rocket boosters, Orion spacecraft, and additional flight hardware ahead of the Artemis I launch. Artemis I will be the first integrated test of SLS and Orion and will pave the way for landing the first woman and first person of color on the lunar surface. It will be a proving ground for deep space exploration, leading the agencys efforts under the Artemis program for a sustainable presence on the Moon and preparing for human missions to Mars.

The Northrop Grumman-provided ascent test booster for the Orion Ascent Abort-2 (AA-2) Flight Test is secured on a work stand inside the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility (RPSF) at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Jan. 29, 2019. The booster will be outfitted for flight. AA-2 is a full-stress test of the Launch Abort System, scheduled for April 2019. AA-2 will launch from Space Launch Complex 46, carrying a fully functional LAS and a 22,000-pound Orion test vehicle to an altitude of 31,000 feet and traveling at more than 1,000 miles an hour. The test will verify the LAS can steer the crew module and astronauts aboard to safety in the event of an issue with the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket when the spacecraft is under the highest aerodynamic loads it will experience during a rapid climb into space. NASA's Orion and Exploration Ground Systems programs and contractors from Jacob's and Northrup Grumman in conjunction with the Air Force Space and Missile Center's Launch Ope

A United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy common booster core is about to be 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.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Two of the three United Launch Alliance Delta IV heavy boosters for NASAs upcoming Exploration Flight Test-1, or EFT-1, mission with the Orion spacecraft, have arrived by barge at the U.S. Army Outpost wharf at Port Canaveral in Florida. The core booster and starboard booster are being offloaded and will be transported to the Horizontal Integration Facility, or HIF, at Space Launch Complex 37 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The port booster and the upper stage are planned to be shipped to Cape Canaveral in April. At the HIF, all three boosters will be processed and checked out before being moved to the nearby launch pad and hoisted into position. During the EFT-1 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 missio

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - This view from the top of the Vertical Integration Facility at Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, shows the Atlas V rocket scheduled to launch NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, suspended in a vertical position.SDO is the first space weather research network mission in NASA's Living With a Star Program. The spacecraft's long-term measurements will give solar scientists in-depth information about changes in the sun's magnetic field and insight into how they affect Earth. Liftoff on the United Launch Alliance Atlas V is scheduled for Feb. 3, 2010.

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The Orion boilerplate test vehicle has been secured in the crew module recovery cradle at a warehouse at the Naval Base San Diego in California. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program, Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Navy are evaluating the hardware and processes for preparing the Orion crew module for Exploration Flight Test-1, or EFT-1, for overland transport from the naval base to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.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 later this year atop a Delta IV 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

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - On Launch Complex 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) observatory is on a transporter to be taken back to NASA Spacecraft Hangar AE. SIRTF will remain in the clean room at Hangar AE until it returns to the pad in early August.

At Vandenberg AFB, the canister enclosing the Gravity Probe B (GP-B) spacecraft is removed from the transporter. Gravity Probe B will launch a payload of four gyroscopes into low-Earth polar orbit to test two extraordinary predictions of Albert Einsteins general theory of relativity: the geodetic effect (how space and time are warped by the presence of the Earth) and frame dragging (how Earths rotation drags space and time around with it). Once in orbit, for 18 months each gyroscopes spin axis will be monitored as it travels through local spacetime, observing and measuring these effects. The experiment was developed by Stanford University, Lockheed Martin and NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center.

The Orbital ATK Antares rocket, with the Cygnus spacecraft onboard, is prepared to be raised at launch Pad-0A, Friday, May 18, 2018 at Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The Antares will launch with the Cygnus spacecraft filled with 7,400 pounds of cargo for the International Space Station (ISS), including science experiments, crew supplies, and vehicle hardware. The mission is Orbital ATK's ninth contracted cargo delivery flight to ISS for NASA.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The latest Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, or GOES, moves out of the C-17 military cargo aircraft at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Developed by NASA for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, the GOES-O satellite is targeted to launch April 28 onboard a United Launch Alliance Delta IV expendable launch vehicle. Once in orbit, GOES-O will be designated GOES-14, and NASA will provide on-orbit checkout and then transfer operational responsibility to NOAA. GOES-O will be placed in on-orbit storage as a replacement for an older GOES satellite. After arriving, the satellite was transported to Astrotech in Titusville, Fla., where final testing of the imaging system, instrumentation, communications and power systems will be performed.

Engineers at Kennedy Space Center prepare the Orion heat shield for transport to Marshall Space Flight Center for testing on March 2, 2015. The heat shield flew on Orion's Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) in December 2014, protecting the spacecraft from 4000 degree F temperatures during reentry. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The Delta IV first stage that will be used to launch the GOES-O satellite makes a wide turn toward Complex 37 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The satellite is part of the series developed by the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite Program, a joint effort of NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, known as NOAA. Currently, the GOES system consists of GOES-12 operating as GOES-East in the eastern part of the constellation at 75° west longitude, and GOES-10 operating as GOES-West at 135° west longitude. These spacecraft help meteorologists observe and predict local weather events, including thunderstorms, tornadoes, fog, flash floods, and other severe weather. In addition, GOES observations have proven helpful in monitoring dust storms, volcanic eruptions and forest fires. GOES-O is targeted for launch on July 20 aboard a Boeing Delta IV rocket.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - On the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the second component of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory is offloaded from the Russian Antonov AH-124-100 cargo airplane. The components are the Kibo Exposed Facility, or EF, and the Experiment Logistics Module Exposed Section, or ELM-ES. The EF provides a multipurpose platform where science experiments can be deployed and operated in the exposed environment. The payloads attached to the EF can be exchanged or retrieved by Kibo's robotic arm, the JEM Remote Manipulator System. The ELM-ES will be attached to the end of the EF to provide payload storage space and can carry up to three payloads at launch. In addition, the ELM-ES provides a logistics function where it can be detached from the EF and returned to the ground aboard the space shuttle. The two JEM components will be carried aboard space shuttle Endeavour on the STS-127 mission targeted for launch in May 20

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The Pegasus launch vehicle is moved from the Skid Strip, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, to the Multi-Payload Processing Facility (MPPF) at KSC. There it will be mated to the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX). The Pegasus will carry into orbit the GALEX, a space telescope that will observe galaxies in ultraviolet light across 10 billion years of cosmic history. Led by the California Institute of Technology, GALEX will conduct several first-of-a-kind sky surveys, including an extra-galactic (beyond our galaxy) ultraviolet all-sky survey. During its 29-month mission GALEX will produce the first comprehensive map of a Universe of galaxies under construction, bringing more understanding of how galaxies like the Milky Way were formed. GALEX is due to be launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station March 25.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane moves the next section of the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, or AMS, toward a tractor-trailer which will transport the AMS from the Shuttle Landing Facility runway to the Space Station Processing Facility, where it will be processed for launch.AMS, a state-of-the-art particle physics detector, is designed to operate as an external module on the International Space Station. It will use the unique environment of space to study the universe and its origin by searching for dark matter. AMS will fly to the International Space Station aboard space shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 mission, targeted to launch Feb. 26, 2011.

. Technicians at NASAs Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans move the liquid hydrogen tank of NASAs Space Launch System (SLS) rocket to Cell A for white light scans of the tanks dimensions in preparation of multiple join activities throughout the manufacturing process. The flight hardware will be used for Artemis III, one of the first crewed Artemis missions. The liquid hydrogen tank holds 537,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen cooled to minus 432 degrees Fahrenheit and is the largest of the five elements that make up the rockets 212-foot-tall core stage. The liquid hydrogen tank is situated 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 core 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 NAS

A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket arrives at launch Pad-0A, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020, at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Northrop Grummans 13th contracted cargo resupply mission with NASA to the International Space Station will deliver more than 7,500 pounds of science and research, crew supplies and vehicle hardware to the orbital laboratory and its crew. The CRS-13 Cygnus spacecraft is named after the first African American astronaut, Major Robert Henry Lawrence Jr., and is scheduled to launch at 5:39pm EST Sunday, Feb. 9.

NASA technicians position the aerodynamic tailcone around the engine nozzles of the Space Shuttle Endeavour Dec. 7 in preparation for its ferry flight from NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base back to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA's GOES-P meteorological satellite is moved to the edge of the cargo bay of a U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft for offloading.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 no earlier than Feb. 25, 2010, from Launch Complex 37 aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Workers in Building 1555 at Vandenberg AFB maneuver the wing into place on the Pegasus rocket for installation. The Pegasus will launch NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer Mission, or IBEX, satellite from Kwajalein Island in the Marshall Islands, South Pacific. IBEX will make the first map of the boundary between the solar system and interstellar space. IBEX is the first mission designed to detect the edge of the solar system. As the solar wind from the sun flows out beyond Pluto, it collides with the material between the stars, forming a shock front. IBEX contains two neutral atom imagers designed to detect particles from the termination shock at the boundary between the solar system and interstellar space. IBEX also will study galactic cosmic rays, energetic particles from beyond the solar system that pose a health and safety hazard for humans exploring beyond Earth orbit. IBEX will make these observations from a highly elliptical orbit that

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The Italian-built module, U.S. Node 2, waits at the Space Station Processing Facility for the door to open. The second of three connecting modules on the International Space Station, Node 2 attaches to the end of the U.S. Lab and provides attach locations for the Japanese laboratory, European laboratory, the Centrifuge Accommodation Module and, later, Multipurpose Logistics Modules. It will provide the primary docking location for the Shuttle when a pressurized mating adapter is attached to Node 2. Installation of the module will complete the U.S. Core of the ISS. Node 2 is the designated payload for mission STS-120. No orbiter or launch date has been determined yet.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- The High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (HESSI) spacecraft, which will be launched by a Pegasus XL rocket, arrives at the Skid Strip at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Part of NASA's Small Explorer Program, HESSI's primary mission is to explore the basic physics of particle acceleration and explosive energy release in solar flares. Launch is scheduled for no earlier than June 14

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - As technicians monitor the progress of the transporter, the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with its Dragon spacecraft arrive at Space Launch Complex-40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Liftoff with the SpaceX Falcon 9 is set for 4:55 a.m. EDT on May 19. The launch will be the company's second demonstration test flight for NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services Program, or COTS.During the flight, the capsule will conduct a series of check-out procedures to test and prove its systems, including rendezvous and berthing with the International Space Station. If the capsule performs as planned, the cargo and experiments it is carrying will be transferred to the station. The cargo includes food, water and provisions for the stations Expedition crews, such as clothing, batteries and computer equipment. Under COTS, NASA has partnered with two aerospace companies to deliver cargo to the station.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The Project Morpheus prototype lander is attached to a tether at the launch platform located at the north end of the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Morpheus is being prepared for a dress rehearsal of a tethered flight test. Testing of the prototype lander was performed at NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston in preparation for tethered and free flight testing at Kennedy.The landing facility will provide the lander with the kind of field necessary for realistic testing, complete with rocks, craters and hazards to avoid. Morpheus utilizes an autonomous landing and hazard avoidance technology, or ALHAT, payload that will allow it to navigate to clear landing sites amidst rocks, craters and other hazards during its descent. Project Morpheus is being managed under the Advanced Exploration Systems, or AES, Division in NASAs Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. The efforts in AES pioneer new approaches for rapid

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