Space Launch Vehicle Assembly

Images depicting the assembly process of space launch vehicles, showcasing external tanks and solid rocket boosters in various stages of integration at NASA facilities.

LAUNCH VEHICLE STAGE ADAPTER (LVSA) AFT CONE MOVE FROM THE VERTICAL WELD TOOL TO THE FLOOR OF BLDG 4755

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- External tank No. 124 is lowered into high bay 1 of the Vehicle Assembly Building where it will be mated with the solid rocket boosters for mission STS-117. The boosters are already in place on the mobile launcher platform in the VAB. The mission is targeted to launch on March 16 aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis.

LAUNCH VEHICLE STAGE ADAPTER (LVSA) AFT CONE MOVE FROM THE VERTICAL WELD TOOL TO THE FLOOR OF BLDG 4755

NASA engineers install test hardware for the agency's new heavy lift rocket, the Space Launch System, into a newly constructed 50-foot structural test stand at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. In the stand, hydraulic cylinders will be electronically controlled to push, pull, twist and bend the test article with millions of pounds of force. Engineers will record and analyze over 3,000 channels of data for each test case to verify the capabilities of the engine section and validate that the design and analysis models accurately predict the amount of loads the core stage can withstand during launch and ascent. The engine section, recently delivered via NASA's barge Pegasus from NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility, is the first of four core stage structural test articles scheduled to be delivered to Marshall for testing. The engine section, located at the bottom of SLS's massive core stage, will house the rocket's four RS-25 engines and be an attachment point for the two solid rocket boos

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building, the external tank for Endeavour is being lowered toward the mobile launcher platform for mating with the solid rocket boosters. Endeavour is currently targeted for rollover to the VAB July 5. Endeavour is the designated orbiter for mission STS-118, targeted for launch on Aug. 9 to the International Space Station. The mission will continue space station construction by delivering a third starboard truss segment, S5, as well as carrying the external stowage platform 3.

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.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, external tank No. 120 is lowered into high bay 1 where it will be mated with the solid rocket boosters. Seen on the tank are the sites of modification to the foam where BX265 foam insulation and super lightweight ablator, cork insulation was removed and the BX265 foam insulation alone reapplied. The external tank-SRB stack is being prepared for the orbiter Discovery, which will be mated to the stack in the VAB in two weeks. Space Shuttle Discovery is targeted to launch Oct. 23 on mission STS-120 to the International Space Station.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Vehicle Assembly Building's transfer aisle at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane lifts the Ares I-X forward assembly toward a stand in preparation for being moved into High Bay 4. Ares I-X is the flight test vehicle for the Ares I, a component of the Constellation Program. 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. The launch of the Ares I-X flight test is targeted for August 2009.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building, the external tank designated for Space Shuttle Discovery is lifted by crane off its transporter for the move to high bay 3. There it will be stacked with the solid rocket boosters already in place on the mobile launcher platform. Discovery is scheduled to launch on mission STS-121 in July.

NASA engineers install test hardware for the agency's new heavy lift rocket, the Space Launch System, into a newly constructed 50-foot structural test stand at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. In the stand, hydraulic cylinders will be electronically controlled to push, pull, twist and bend the test article with millions of pounds of force. Engineers will record and analyze over 3,000 channels of data for each test case to verify the capabilities of the engine section and validate that the design and analysis models accurately predict the amount of loads the core stage can withstand during launch and ascent. The engine section, recently delivered via NASA's barge Pegasus from NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility, is the first of four core stage structural test articles scheduled to be delivered to Marshall for testing. The engine section, located at the bottom of SLS's massive core stage, will house the rocket's four RS-25 engines and be an attachment point for the two solid rocket boos

LVSA AFT CONE SECTION POST WELD #8 EXTERIOR VIEWS OF LVSA AFT CONE

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Rotation Processing and Surge Facility, an SRB solid segment is being moved to a rail car for shipment to Utah for testing. The segment was part of the STS-114 stack. It is the first time actual flight segments that had been stacked for flight in the VAB are being returned to Utah for testing. It will undergo firing, which will enable inspectors to check the viability of the solid and verify the life expectancy for stacked segments.

T&R Endeavour, Final Buildup of Tail Cover for Ferry Flight

The Soyuz rocket and Soyuz TMA-16M spacecraft are assembled at Building 112 on the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Tuesday, March 24, 2015 in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly, and Russian Cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko, and Gennady Padalka 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 (March 27 Eastern time.) As the one-year crew, Kelly and Kornienko will return to Earth on Soyuz TMA-18M in March 2016.

The left-hand forward segment for NASAs Space Launch System (SLS) is in the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Feb. 18, 2021. Workers will use a crane to lift the segment up and transfer it into High Bay 3, where it will be attached to the center forward segment on the mobile launcher. Workers with Exploration Ground Systems and contractor Jacobs teams are stacking the twin five-segment boosters on the ML over a number of weeks. When the core stage arrives, it will join the boosters on the mobile launcher, followed by the interim cryogenic propulsion stage and Orion spacecraft. Manufactured by Northrop Grumman in Utah, the twin boosters provide more than 75 percent of the total SLS thrust at launch. The SLS is managed by Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artem

In High Bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane lowers one Space Launch System (SLS) solid rocket booster pathfinder segment onto another segment during a training exercise on Jan. 8, 2020. A team of engineers with Exploration Ground Systems and crane operators and technicians with contractor Jacobs are practicing lifting, moving and stacking maneuvers, using important ground support equipment to train employees and certify all the equipment works properly. The booster pathfinders are inert, full-scale replicas of the actual booster hardware that will be attached to the SLS rocket for Artemis missions. The five-segment, 17-story-tall twin boosters will provide 3.6 million pounds of thrust each at liftoff to help launch Orion on Artemis I, its first uncrewed mission beyond the Moon.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, external tank No. 120 is lowered between the solid rocket boosters for mating on the mobile launcher platform. The external tank-SRB stack is being prepared for the orbiter Discovery, which will be mated to the stack in the VAB in two weeks. Space Shuttle Discovery is targeted to launch Oct. 23 on mission STS-120 to the International Space Station.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building, external tank No. 125 is suspended above the floor as it is being raised to a vertical position. It will then be lifted into a checkout cell in high bay 4 to allow for processing. The tank will be part of the space shuttle stack for mission STS-122 targeted to launch Dec. 6.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In Orbiter Processing Facility-2 at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a large crane is lifted away after it was used to lower the forward reaction control system (FRCS) for installation on space shuttle Endeavour. The work is part of the Space Shuttle Program transition and retirement processing of Endeavour. The FRCS helped maneuver a shuttle while it was in orbit. The FRCS was removed from Endeavour and sent to White Sands Test Facility in N.M. to be cleaned of its toxic propellants. Endeavour is being prepared for display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In Hanger AF at Cape Canaveral, Fla., workers get ready to remove one of the separation rings from around a segment of one of the retrieved solid rocket boosters from the STS-126 launch. The pins attaching the segments to each other are removed at the start. Each separation ring has three joints that help mold the ring around the segment and an air motor is used to rotate the rings to separate the segments. After disassembly, the segments will be sent to ATK (Alliant Techsystems) in Utah for final processing and return to Kennedy for another shuttle launch.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, construction workers lower the large space shuttle-era Level E north work platform from high bay 3 inside the Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB. The platform will be moved to the VAB north parking area for temporary storage.The work is part of a center-wide refurbishment initiative under the Ground Systems Development and Operations, or GSDO, Program. High bay 3 is being refurbished to accommodate NASAs Space Launch System and a variety of other spacecraft.

Teams from NASAs Exploration Ground Systems and Space Launch System (SLS) practice SLS booster stacking with pathfinders inside Kennedy Space Centers Vehicle Assembly Building on Nov. 19, 2019. Using overhead cranes and booster handling activities, the teams focused on procedures for mating a center segment onto a cylinder that simulated another segment. The exercise was performed around the clock, operating three shifts per day. SLS will launch the first woman and next man to the Moon by 2024 through the Artemis program.

A NASA KAMAG transporter moves the Space Launch Systems launch vehicle stage adapter (LVSA) to an area where spray-on foam insulation will be applied. The LVSA recently completed manufacturing on a 30 foot welding tool at NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Al. The LVSA will be coated with insulation that will protect it during its trip to space. The LVSA provides structural support and connects the core stage and the interim cryogenic propulsion stage during the first integrated flight of SLS and Orion.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At the Receipt Inspection Shop on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, ATK Space Systems workers guide a 60-inch graphite epoxy motor, or GEM, slated for launch of the GOES-P spacecraft as it is lowered toward a work stand.The United Launch Alliance Delta IV is the launch vehicle for GOES-P, the latest Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite developed by NASA for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA. Launch is targeted for March 4, 2010, from Launch Complex 37.

Teams from NASAs Exploration Ground Systems and Space Launch System (SLS) practice SLS booster stacking with pathfinders inside Kennedy Space Centers Vehicle Assembly Building on Nov. 19, 2019. Using overhead cranes and booster handling activities, the teams focused on procedures for mating a center segment onto a cylinder that simulated another segment. The exercise was performed around the clock, operating three shifts per day. SLS will launch the first woman and next man to the Moon by 2024 through the Artemis program.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the external fuel tank for space shuttle Atlantis' STS-125 mission is lowered into high bay 3. It will be installed on the mobile launcher platform and attached to the solid rocket boosters already there. Atlantis' STS-125 mission is the fifth and final shuttle servicing mission to NASAs Hubble Space Telescope. Launch is targeted for May 12.

Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Space Launch System (SLS) Core Stage pathfinder is suspended by two cranes in the horizontal position above the transfer aisle on Oct. 15, 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.

Teams from NASAs Exploration Ground Systems and Space Launch System (SLS) practice SLS booster stacking with pathfinders inside Kennedy Space Centers Vehicle Assembly Building on Nov. 19, 2019. Using overhead cranes and booster handling activities, the teams focused on procedures for mating a center segment onto a cylinder that simulated another segment. The exercise was performed around the clock, operating three shifts per day. SLS will launch the first woman and next man to the Moon by 2024 through the Artemis program.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Platforms surround the 327-foot tall Ares I-X rocket in NASA Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building. The rocket is stacked on the mobile launcher platform in High Bay 3. Five super stacks make up the upper stage that are integrated with the four-segment solid rocket booster first stage below. 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. The Ares I-X flight test is targeted for Oct. 31.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In Hanger AF at Cape Canaveral, Fla., workers separate segments of one of the retrieved solid rocket boosters from the STS-126 launch. The pins attaching the segments to each other are removed at the start. Each separation ring has three joints that help mold the ring around the segment and an air motor is used to rotate the rings to separate the segments. After disassembly, the segments will be sent to ATK (Alliant Techsystems) in Utah for final processing and return to Kennedy for another shuttle launch.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the 175-ton crane is being lowered by crane onto steel stands on the transfer aisle floor. The crane was lowered from Level 16. In view at right is the cab that is used to control the crane. Upgrades to the crane's 45-year-old controls will be performed in order to improve reliability, precision and safety. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to the VAB. The crane will be upgraded so that it can support lifting needs for NASA and other exploration vehicles, including the agency's Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft.

jsc2018e025511 - In the Integration Facility at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Soyuz MS-08 spacecraft is rotated to a horizontal position March 14 to be encapsulated in the upper stage of a Soyuz booster rocket. Expedition 55 crewmembers Drew Feustel and Ricky Arnold of NASA and Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos will launch in the Soyuz March 21 for a five-month mission on the International Space Station...NASA/Victor Zelentsov.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a large crane is used to lift a fuel tank away from crawler-transporter 1 CT-1 in high bay 3. The fuel tank will be transported to the Wiltech facility at Kennedy for cleaning and inspection. Work continues in high bay 3 to upgrade CT-1 as part of its general maintenance. CT-1 could be available to carry commercial launch vehicles to the launch pad. The crawler-transporters were used to carry the mobile launcher platform and space shuttle to Launch Complex 39 for space shuttle launches for 30 years.

Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, two cranes are used to lift the Space Launch System (SLS) Core Stage pathfinder horizontally above the transfer aisle on Oct. 15, 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.

The twin boosters for NASAs Space Launch System (SLS) for Artemis I are in view in High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Jan. 26, 2021. Work is in progress to lower the right-hand center center booster segment onto the center aft booster segment on the mobile launcher. Workers with Exploration Ground Systems and contractor Jacobs teams will stack the twin five-segment boosters on the mobile launcher in High Bay 3 over a number of weeks. When the core stage arrives, it will join the boosters on the mobile launcher, followed by the interim cryogenic propulsion stage and Orion spacecraft. Manufactured by Northrop Grumman in Utah, the twin boosters provide more than 75 percent of the total SLS thrust at launch. The SLS is managed by Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Arte

A close-up view in High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, as the left-hand forward center booster segment for Artemis I is lowered onto the center center booster segment on the mobile launcher for the Space Launch System (SLS) on Jan. 29, 2021. Workers with Exploration Ground Systems and contractor Jacobs teams will stack the twin five-segment boosters on the mobile launcher in High Bay 3 over a number of weeks. When the core stage arrives, it will join the boosters on the mobile launcher, followed by the interim cryogenic propulsion stage and Orion spacecraft. Manufactured by Northrop Grumman in Utah, the twin boosters provide more than 75 percent of the total SLS thrust at launch. The SLS is managed by Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spa

LAUNCH VEHICLE STAGE ADAPTER (LVSA) AFT CONE MOVE FROM THE VERTICAL WELD TOOL TO THE FLOOR OF BLDG 4755

On Thursday, February 10, 2022, move crews at NASAs Michoud Assembly Facility lift the core stage 3 liquid oxygen tank (LOX) aft barrel out of the vertical friction stir weld tool to be moved for its next phase of production. Eventually, the aft barrel will be mated with the forward barrel and forward and aft domes to create the LOX tank, which will be used for the Space Launch Systems Artemis III mission. The LOX tank holds 196,000 gallons of super-cooled liquid oxygen to help fuel four RS-25 engines.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 oxygen hardware, along with the liquid hydrogen tank will provide propellant to the four RS-25 engines to produce more than two million pounds of thrust to help launch NASAs Orion spacecraft, astronauts, and supplies beyond Earths orbit to the Moon.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, preparations are underway to lower the 175-ton crane. The crane is being lowered from Level 16 down to the floor of the transfer aisle to perform upgrades to its 45-year-old controls in order to improve reliability, precision and safety. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to the VAB. The crane will be upgraded so that it can support lifting needs for NASA and other exploration vehicles, including the agency's Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians use a crane to lift a solid rocket motor for the United Launch Alliance Delta II that will carry NASA's National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project (NPP) satellite at NASA's Space Launch Complex-2. NPP represents a critical first step in building the next-generation of Earth-observing satellites. NPP will carry the first of the new sensors developed for this satellite fleet, now known as the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) to be launched in 2016. NPP is the bridge between NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) satellites and the forthcoming series of JPSS satellites. The mission will test key technologies and instruments for the JPSS missions. NPP is targeted to launch Oct. 25.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - Workers lower the canister containing the interstage adapter, or ISA, for NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive mission, or SMAP, into a flight hardware cradle in the high bay of the Building 836 hangar on south Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.A United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket will loft SMAP into orbit from Vandenberg's Space Launch Complex 2. The ISA connects the Delta II first and second stages and encloses the second stage engine and thrust section. The spacecraft will provide global measurements of soil moisture and its freeze/thaw state. These measurements will be used to enhance understanding of processes that link the water, energy and carbon cycles, and to extend the capabilities of weather and climate prediction models. The data returned also will be used to quantify net carbon flux in boreal landscapes and to develop improved flood prediction and drought monitoring capabilities. Launch is scheduled for November 2014.

MMRTG Loaded into Spacecraft at VIF

Interior View of Orbiter Processing Facility 3

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A completed replica shuttle main engine (RSME) awaits transport from the Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne engine shop at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida to Orbiter Processing Facility-1 where it will be installed on space shuttle Discovery.The RSME is one of three that will be installed on Discovery during Space Shuttle Program transition and retirement activities. Discovery is being prepared for display at the Smithsonians National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va.

The fuel tank assembly of the Saturn V S-IC (first) stage is readied to be mated to the liquid oxygen tank at the Marshall Space Flight Center. The fuel tank carried kerosene as its fuel. The S-IC stage utilized five F-1 engines that used kerosene and liquid oxygen as propellant. Each engine provided 1,500,000 pounds of thrust. This stage lifted the entire vehicle and Apollo spacecraft from the launch pad.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In high bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building, Atlantis' external tank and solid rocket boosters are ready on the mobile launcher platform for mating with the orbiter Atlantis, being lowered by a crane. After the stacking, Atlantis will undergo a shuttle interface test and other prelaunch processing. Atlantis' launch window begins Aug. 28. During its 11-day mission to the International Space Station, the STS-115 crew of six astronauts will continue construction of the station and install their cargo, the Port 3/4 truss segment with its two large solar arrays.

T&R Endeavour, LH Oms Pod Lift and Move for Installation

Teams with NASAs Exploration Ground Systems and contractor Jacobs lift the Space Launch System (SLS) core stage - the largest part of the rocket - and prepare to move it over to High Bay 3 in the Vehicle Assembly Building, where it will be placed atop the mobile launcher in between the twin solid rocket boosters, at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 11, 2021. The 188,000-pound core stage, with its four RS-25 engines, will provide more than 2 million pounds of thrust during launch and ascent, and coupled with the boosters, will provide more than 8.8 million pounds of thrust to send the Artemis I mission to space. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon, as well as establish a sustainable presence on the lunar surface in preparation for human missions to Mars.

This photograph shows the components for the Saturn V S-IC stage fuel tank assembly in the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory, building 4707, at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). Left to right are upper head, lower head, and forward skirt assembly. Thirty-three feet in diameter, they will hold a total of 4,400,000 pounds of fuel. Although this tankage was assembled at MSFC, the elements were made by the Boeing Company at Wichita and the Michould Operations at New Orleans.

Technicians and engineers at Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, lift a United Launch Alliance/Orbital ATK solid rocket motor for mating to a Delta II rocket in preparation for launch of the Joint Polar Satellite System-1 (JPSS-1) later this year. JPSS, a next-generation environmental satellite system, is a collaborative program between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA.

T&R Endeavour Airlock Removal

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In high bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, a solid rocket booster segment is placed on mobile launcher platform No. 2 for use on mission STS-115. The mission will deliver a truss and other key components to the International Space Station. Launch is currently scheduled for late August.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - As part of NASA's Ground Systems Development and Operations Program at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a large space shuttle-era work platform has been removed from high bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB. The work is part of a center-wide modernization and refurbishment initiative to accommodate NASAs Space Launch System and a variety of other spacecraft instead of the whole building supporting one design.The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is developing the necessary ground systems, infrastructure and operational approaches required to safely process, assemble, transport and launch the next generation of rockets and spacecraft in support of NASAs exploration objectives. Future work also will replace the antiquated communications, power and vehicle access resources with modern efficient systems. Some of the utilities and systems slated for replacement have been used since the VAB opened in 1965.

Engine section test stand in building 4619 prior to test article being installed.

Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers watch the progress as two cranes are used to lift the Space Launch System (SLS) Core Stage pathfinder horizontally in the transfer aisle on Oct. 15, 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.

The Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft is seen prior to being encapsulated in its fairing on Thursday, Sept. 15, 2016 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Expedition 49 flight engineer Shane Kimbrough of NASA, flight engineer Andrey Borisenko of Roscosmos, and Soyuz commander Sergey Ryzhikov of Roscosmos are scheduled to launch to the International Space Station aboard the Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on September 24 Kazakh time.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, a technician support lifting the first stage of the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket during stacking operations 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. --Solid rocket booster, or SRB, segments from the STS-126 launch are being loaded onto transporters to take to the NASA Railroad yard at NASA's Kennedy Space Center for transfer to a rail car. The segments will be taken to Utah. After a mission, the spent boosters are recovered, cleaned, disassembled, refurbished and reused for another launch. After the segments are hydrolased inside, they are placed on flatbed trucks and transferred to the NASA Railroad yard. The NASA Railroad locomotive backs up the rail cars and the segments will be lowered onto the car. After being covered for the trip, the segments will be moved to Titusville for interchange with Florida East Coast Railway to begin the trip back to Utah.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility, or RSPF, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers make sure the final solid rocket booster segments are level, balanced and concentric, which is a required safety analysis. Workers also will perform a propellant grain inspection. The booster segments were manufactured at the ATK solid rocket booster plant in Promontory, Utah, and traveled to Kennedy along the Florida East Coast Railway. The booster segments will be stacked and then mated to space shuttle Atlantis and its external fuel tank in the Vehicle Assembly Building. The segments will be used for what currently is planned as the 'launch on need,' or potential rescue mission for the final shuttle flight, Endeavour's STS-134 mission.

Day In The Life of Artemis Employees

LAUNCH VEHICLE STAGE ADAPTER (LVSA) AFT CONE MOVE FROM THE VERTICAL WELD TOOL TO THE FLOOR OF BLDG 4755

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - The Taurus XL Stage 0 motor has been moved into Orbital Sciences' Hangar 1555 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The Taurus XL will launch NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory, or OCO, spacecraft targeted for Jan. 15. The OCO is a new Earth-orbiting mission sponsored by NASA's Earth System Science Pathfinder Program.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- On Launch Pad 39A, Discoverys payload bay doors close on the payloads inside. In the center is the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo, filled with laboratory racks of science equipment and racks and platforms of experiments and supplies. Above Leonardo is the Integrated Cargo Carrier with the Early Ammonia Servicer (EAS) in the center. The EAS contains spare ammonia for the Stations cooling system. Ammonia is the fluid used in the radiators that cool the Stations electronics. The EAS will be installed on the P6 truss holding the giant U.S. solar arrays, batteries and cooling radiators. Seen below the MPLM and attached on the port and starboard adapter beams are experiments. Discovery is scheduled to be launched Aug. 9, 2001

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The 154.2-foot-high external tank #120 is suspended above the transfer aisle of NASA Kennedy Space Centers Vehicle Assembly Building. It will be lowered to a horizontal position and placed on a transporter to wait for the return of the Pegasus barge from delivering tank #119 to Louisiana. In a few weeks, tank #120 also will be returned to NASAs Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana for routine testing and maintenance. This tank is the first of the newly designed tanks that were delivered to Kennedy. Previously stacked with Discovery, the tank has already gone through two tanking cycles during tanking tests but was replaced with tank #121 for Discoverys return to flight mission STS-114

. 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

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Positioned on its 12-wheeled, 24-tire transporter, the payload canister with the STS-124 mission payload, Japanese Experiment Module - Pressurized Module and the Japanese Remote Manipulator System, or RMS, inside, backs out of the Vertical Integration Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The payload canister is being transported to Launch Pad 39A where the pressurized module and RMS will be lifted into the payload changeout room on the rotating service structure. The transporter is 65 feet long and 23 feet wide. The transporters wheels are independently steerable, permitting it to move forward, backward, sideways or diagonally and to turn on its own axis like a carousel. It is equipped with pneumatic-actuated braking and hydrostat¬ic leveling and drive systems. It is steered from a two-seat operator cab mounted at one end. From the payload changeout room, the pressurized module and RMS will be transferred into space shuttle Discoverys payload bay. Launch

Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane is used to lift the Space Launch System (SLS) Core Stage pathfinder into the vertical position in the transfer aisle on Oct. 15, 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.

In High Bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane is used to lift Space Launch System (SLS) solid rocket booster pathfinder segments and move them to be added atop other booster pathfinder segments during a training exercise on Jan. 8, 2020. A team of engineers with Exploration Ground Systems and crane operators and technicians with contractor Jacobs are practicing lifting, moving and stacking maneuvers, using important ground support equipment to train employees and certify all the equipment works properly. The booster pathfinders are inert, full-scale replicas of the actual booster hardware that will be attached to the SLS rocket for Artemis missions. The five-segment, 17-story-tall twin boosters will provide 3.6 million pounds of thrust each at liftoff to help launch Orion on Artemis I, its first uncrewed mission beyond the Moon.

TWO CRANES LIFT THE APPROXIMATELY 8,000-POUND INTERIM CRYOGENIC PROPULSION STAGE TEST ARTICLE OUT OF ITS CRATE AT MARSHALL. THE TEST ARTICLE ARRIVED AT MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER VIA BARGE ON THE TENNESSEE RIVER AND WAS TRANSPORTED TO BUILDING 4649 WHERE TESTING WILL BEGIN.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Assembly and Refurbishment Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers move a parachute pack under the Ares I-X forward skirt segment, in which it will be installed. The forward skirt is the initial piece of first-stage hardware in preparation for the July 2009 test flight of the agency's next-generation spacecraft and launch vehicle system.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Inside the Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne engine shop at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, one of the three replica shuttle main engines (RSMEs) created for space shuttle Discovery is attached to the space shuttle main engine horizontal installer.The replica engines will be transported from the engine shop to the processing facility for installation on Discovery in January 2012. The work is part of the Space Shuttle Programs transition and retirement processing of shuttle Discovery. Discovery is being prepared for display at the Smithsonians National Air and Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va.

This image shows the forward skirt 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, 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 hardware is located at the top of the 212-foot-tall core stage and connects the upper part of the rocket to the core stage. Soon, technicians will ready the forward skirt for the first of three core stage assembly mates called the forward join. The forward join consists of three main parts -- the forward skirt, liquid oxygen tank, and intertank - to create the top, or forward part, of the core 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 b

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - From the upper regions of NASA Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building, the newly delivered external tank is lowered 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. - In high bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a ballast assembly is lowered into the Ares I-X segment 7 (at center). Ballast assemblies are being installed in the upper stage 1 and 7 segments and will mimic the mass of the fuel. Their total weight is approximately 160,000 pounds. 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 may also use its 25-ton payload capacity to deliver resources and supplies to the International Space Station, or to "park" payloads in orbit for retrieval by other spacecraft bound for the moon or other destinations. The Ares I-X is targeted for launch in July 2009.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Vehicle Assembly Building's High Bay 1 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers begin "pull plug testing" on foam adhesion from the intertank of space shuttle Discovery's external tank. They are collecting 26 foam samples an inch-and-half in diameter for analysis to confirm the foam is bonded well to the metal primer underneath. The testing was prompted by the foam loss during launch of space shuttle Endeavour on the STS-127 mission July 15. Samples are being sent to Michoud for study.

In view high up in High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is the Artemis I Orion spacecraft enclosed in its launch abort system atop the Space Launch System on Jan 10, 2022. A work platform has been extended around Orion. Artemis I will be the first integrated test of NASAs deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the ground systems at Kennedy. In later missions, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone on the way to Mars.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In Orbiter Processing Facility bay 2, workers secure the orbiter boom sensor system in Endeavour's payload bay. The orbiter is scheduled to fly on mission STS-118 to the International Space Station in the summer of 2007. It will deliver the third starboard truss segment, S5.

At the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), the fuel tank assembly for the Saturn V S-IC-T (static test stage) fuel tank assembly is mated to the liquid oxygen (LOX) tank in building 4705. This stage underwent numerous static firings at the newly-built S-IC Static Test Stand at the MSFC west test area. The S-IC (first) stage used five F-1 engines that produced a total thrust of 7,500,000 pounds as each engine produced 1,500,000 pounds of thrust. The S-IC stage lifted the Saturn V vehicle and Apollo spacecraft from the launch pad.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - On Launch Complex 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, a solid rocket booster is viewed from above after being lifted to vertical. It will be mated to the Delta II rocket for the Mars Exploration Rover 1 (MER-1) launch June 25. NASAs twin Mars Exploration Rovers are designed to study the history of water on Mars. These robotic geologists are equipped with a robotic arm, a drilling tool, three spectrometers, and four pairs of cameras that allow them to have a human-like, 3D view of the terrain. Each rover could travel as far as 100 meters in one day to act as Mars scientists' eyes and hands, exploring an environment where humans cant yet go. MER-2 (MER-A) will launch June 5.

Inside High Bay 2 in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane lifts the Orion heat shield from Exploration Flight Test-1 up off its transporter. It will be lowered onto foam blocks. The heat shield is being transferred from the Orion Program to the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program, Landing and Recovery Operations. In the VAB, the heat shield will be integrated with the Orion ground test article and used for future underway recovery testing.

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.

NASA AND BOEING ENGINEERS INSPECT AND PREPARE ONE OF THE LARGEST COMPSITE ROCKET PROPELLANT TANKS EVER MANUFACTURED. THE COMPOSITE CRYOTANK PROMISES A 30% WEIGHT REDUCTION AND A 25 % COST REDUCTION OVER THE PREVIOUSLY USED METAL TANKS.

Interior View of Orbiter Processing Facility 3

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Vehicle Assembly Building, the solid rocket booster segments are being stacked on the mobile launcher platform for mission STS-122. Space shuttle Atlantis is targeted for launch on mission STS-122 on Dec. 6.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - Solid rocket motor installation progresses on the Delta II rocket for NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive mission, or SMAP, with the attachment of the second motor to the rocket's first stage in the mobile service tower at Space Launch Complex 2 on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.SMAP will be launched on a Delta II 7320 configuration vehicle featuring a United Launch Alliance first stage booster powered by an Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-27A main engine and three Alliant Techsystems, or ATK, strap-on solid rocket motors. Once on station in Earth orbit, SMAP will provide global measurements of soil moisture and its freeze/thaw state. These measurements will be used to enhance understanding of processes that link the water, energy and carbon cycles, and to extend the capabilities of weather and climate prediction models. SMAP data also will be used to quantify net carbon flux in boreal landscapes and to develop improved flood prediction and drought

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. --In the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians attach a crane to a full-size mock-up of the Orion spacecraft to prepare it to be lifted into High Bay 4. Crane operators and technicians practice stacking and de-stacking operations in order to keep processing procedures and skills current for the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program.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 NASAs Space Launch System rocket.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne space shuttle main engine, or SSME, is rotated into a horizontal position with the aid of an engine-handling device attached to a crane inside the SSME Processing Facility, the engine shop at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The engine will be placed in a horizontal position on a portable workstand.The engine is one of the last SSMEs remaining at Kennedy and is being prepared for shipment to NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. The first two groups of engines were shipped from Kennedy to Stennis in November 2011 and January 2012 the remaining engines are scheduled to depart on April 9. Altogether, 15 shuttle-era engines will be stored at Stennis for reuse on NASAs Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket, under development.

S68-29781 (22 April 1968) --- Low angle view at the Kennedy Space Center's Pad 34 showing the erection of the first stage of the Saturn 205 launch vehicle. The two-stage Saturn IB will be the launch vehicle for the first unmanned Apollo space mission, Apollo 7 (Spacecraft 101/Saturn 205).

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - Workers raise the Delta II interstage adapter, or ISA, for NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive mission, or SMAP, into a vertical position in the Building 836 hangar on south Vandenberg Air Force Base in California during preparations for its move to the pad.A United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket will loft SMAP into orbit from Vandenberg's Space Launch Complex 2. The ISA connects the Delta II first and second stages and encloses the second stage engine and thrust section. The spacecraft will provide global measurements of soil moisture and its freeze/thaw state. These measurements will be used to enhance understanding of processes that link the water, energy and carbon cycles, and to extend the capabilities of weather and climate prediction models. The data returned also will be used to quantify net carbon flux in boreal landscapes and to develop improved flood prediction and drought monitoring capabilities. Launch is scheduled for November 2014.

Discovery T & R, Oms Pod Rotate for Removal

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A NASA railroad locomotive at Kennedy Space Center in Florida moves into Launch Complex 39 area's Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility, or RPSF. The operation was to allow wheel and axle assemblies to be swapped between two locomotives.The RPSF was built to support work on the solid rocket used motors during the space shuttle era. The facility had never previously been used for another purpose, but is now free to serve other customers. With rails running into the building's high bay and a pair of heavy-lift cranes positioned overhead, the facility's capabilities were a perfect fit for the NASA Railroad's needs. Railroad managers wanted to trade the wheel and axle assemblies, or trucks, of locomotives No. 2 and No. 3. Locomotive No. 3 was painstakingly restored in recent years by the NASA Railroad team, and handles much of the rail work required at the center in the post-shuttle era. But the trucks on locomotive No. 2 are in better shape and are more environ

The third and final aeroshell for Orion's Launch Abort System (LAS) is lifted by crane and will be lowered onto slats in High Bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building on July 12, 2018, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The aeroshell was shipped from EMF Inc. on nearby Merritt Island. All three aeroshells will be stacked and prepared for a full-stress test of the LAS, called Ascent Abort-2 (AA-2) flight test, scheduled for April 2019. During the test, a booster will launch from Space Launch Complex 46 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, 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. Orion is being prepared for its first

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The first Ares I-X motor segment is in the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. 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.

The Soyuz TMA-8 capsule was mated Monday, March 27, 2006, to its booster in preparation for the launch on March 30, 2006 carrying Expedition 13 crew members, Jeffrey N. Williams, Science Officer and Flight Engineer; Pavel V. Vinogradov, Russias Federal Space Agency International Space Station Commander; and Marcos Pontes, Brazilian Space Agency Soyuz crew member. Baikonur Cosmodrome in Baikonur, Kazakhstan.

MSFC Deputy Director Jody Singer and Center Operations Manager Roy Malone examine the interior of the transportation barge Pegasus with the RS-25 engine core stage test article in the background.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Vehicle Assembly Building, the forward fifth segment simulator for the Ares I-X rocket is lifted from the transporter. It will be stacked with the center segment beside it. 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.

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

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Workers adjust the second stage of a Delta IV on its mobile work stand in the Horizontal Integration Facility at Launch Complex 37 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.This United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket is the vehicle slated to launch GOES-P, the latest Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite developed by NASA for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA. Processing of the Delta IV is on track for launch, targeted for March 4, 2010.

Preparations are underway to move the Space Launch System Core Stage pathfinder to the north end of the transfer aisle inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 3, 2019. A cover, called a spider, in view at the far end of the transfer aisle, will be attached to the top of the pathfinder. With the spider secured in place, a crane will be attached to it to lift the pathfinder into the vertical position. The 212-foot-long core stage pathfinder arrived in 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 upgraded 310-foot-long barge arrived, ferrying the SLS core stage pathfinder, a full-scale mock-up of the rocket's core stage. It will be used by Exploration Ground Systems and its contractor, Jacobs, to practice offloading, moving and stacking maneuvers, using important ground support equipment to train emp

The launch vehicle stage adapter for the Artemis I mission is lifted into place atop the already assembled pieces of the Space Launch System rocket.

SPACE X MMRTG Offload and Lift for Insertion

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