Spacecraft Preparation Scenes

Technicians in protective gear work on various spacecraft components, showcasing the detailed engineering and assembly processes at space research facilities.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The aeroshell enclosing Mars Exploration Rover 2 and lander is being moved to a rotation table for a spin stabilization test. There are two identical rovers that will land at different regions of Mars and are designed to cover roughly 110 yards each Martian day over various terrain. Each rover will carry five scientific instruments that will allow it to search for evidence of liquid water that may have been present in the planet's past. The first rover, MER-A, is scheduled to launch June 5 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The second is scheduled for launch June 25.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians and engineers install a separation system ring that will be attached to NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS, spacecraft. The separation system will push IRIS away from an Orbital Pegasus XL rocket when the spacecraft reaches its proper orbit after launch. Scheduled for launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base no earlier than June 26, 2013, IRIS will open a new window of discovery by tracing the flow of energy and plasma through the chromospheres and transition region into the suns corona using spectrometry and imaging. IRIS fills a crucial gap in our ability to advance studies of the sun-to-Earth connection by tracing the flow of energy and plasma through the foundation of the corona and the region around the sun known as the heliosphere.

VANDENBERG AFB, Calif. - Engineers prepare to connect NASA's IRIS spacecraft to the nose of an Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL rocket that will lift the solar observatory into orbit in June. The work is taking place in a hangar at Vandenberg Air Force Base where IRIS, short for Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, is being prepared for launch on a Pegasus XL rocket. Scheduled for launch from Vandenberg no earlier than June 26, 2013, IRIS will open a new window of discovery by tracing the flow of energy and plasma through the chromospheres and transition region into the suns corona using spectrometry and imaging. IRIS fills a crucial gap in our ability to advance studies of the sun-to-Earth connection by tracing the flow of energy and plasma through the foundation of the corona and the region around the sun known as the heliosphere.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- A worker in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility examines the Mars Exploration Rover-2.The rover , aeroshell and lander will undergo a full mission simulation while at KSC. All flight elements will then be integrated. After spin balance testing, each spacecraft will be mated to a solid propellant upper stage booster that will propel it out of Earth orbit. The rovers will serve as robotic geologists to seek answers about the evolution of Mars, particularly for a history of water. The rovers will be identical to each other, but will land at different regions of Mars. Launch of the MER-1 is scheduled for May 30. MER-2 will follow June 25.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Boeing technicians at Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Fla., prepare the third stage of a Delta II rocket for mating with the Deep Impact spacecraft. When the spacecraft and third stage are mated, they will be moved to Launch Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. There they will be mated to the Delta II rocket and the fairing installed around them for protection during launch and ascent. Scheduled for liftoff Jan. 12, Deep Impact will probe beneath the surface of Comet Tempel 1 on July 4, 2005, when the comet is 83 million miles from Earth. After releasing a 3- by 3-foot projectile to crash onto the surface, Deep Impacts flyby spacecraft will reveal the secrets of its interior by collecting pictures and data of how the crater forms, measuring the craters depth and diameter as well as the composition of the interior of the crater and any material thrown out, and determining the changes in natural outgassing produced by the impact. It wi

STS-132 MINI RESEARCH MODULE-1 CARGO STORAGE

High Bay 1 looks much as it does today in this photo of NASA's Spirit and Opportunity Mars rovers being tested on Feb. 10, 2003. Some workers are wearing booties and others wear shoes that were stored in the gowning area and cleaned regularly.

Cape Canaveral, Fla. -- Dr. Charles Elachi, Director of Advanced Planning at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, third from left, looks over the rocket-powered descent stage for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover, known as Curiosity, as it sits in a work stand at the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.A United Launch Alliance Atlas V-541 configuration will be used to loft MSL into space. Curiositys 10 science instruments are designed to search for evidence on whether Mars has had environments favorable to microbial life, including chemical ingredients for life. The unique rover will use a laser to look inside rocks and release its gasses so that the rovers spectrometer can analyze and send the data back to Earth. MSL is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida Nov. 25 with a window extending to Dec. 18 and arrival at Mars Aug. 2012.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians carefully monitor the attachment of an overhead crane to a rocket-powered descent stage which will be integrated with NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover, known as Curiosity (in the foreground). The descent stage will lower Curiosity to the surface of Mars. A United Launch Alliance Atlas V-541 configuration will be used to loft MSL into space. Curiositys 10 science instruments are designed to search for evidence on whether Mars has had environments favorable to microbial life, including chemical ingredients for life. The unique rover will use a laser to look inside rocks and release its gasses so that the rovers spectrometer can analyze and send the data back to Earth. MSL is scheduled to launch Nov. 25 with a window extending to Dec. 18 and arrival at Mars Aug. 2012.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The aeroshell enclosing Mars Exploration Rover 2 and lander is being moved to a rotation table for a spin stabilization test. There are two identical rovers that will land at different regions of Mars and are designed to cover roughly 110 yards each Martian day over various terrain. Each rover will carry five scientific instruments that will allow it to search for evidence of liquid water that may have been present in the planet's past. The first rover, MER-A, is scheduled to launch June 5 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The second is scheduled for launch June 25.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, workers prepare to mate the Mars Exploration Rover 1 (MER-B) above with the third stage of the Delta rocket below. The second of twin rovers being sent to Mars, it is equipped with a robotic arm, a drilling tool, three spectrometers, and four pairs of cameras that allow it to have a human-like, 3D view of the terrain. Each rover could travel as far as 100 meters in one day to act as Mars scientists' eyes and hands, exploring an environment where humans can't yet go. MER-B is scheduled to launch from Launch Pad 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, June 26 at one of two available times, 12:27:31 a.m. EDT or 1:08:45 a.m. EDT.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the high bay of the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHSF) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane lifts the multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator (MMRTG) for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission from its support base, at left, toward the MMRTG integration cart behind it. The cart will be used to install the MMRTG on the Curiosity rover for a fit check. The rover appears above the heads of the spacecraft technicians, at right. The MMRTG will be installed on the rover for launch at the pad.The MMRTG will generate the power needed for the mission from the natural decay of plutonium-238, a non-weapons-grade form of the radioisotope. Heat given off by this natural decay will provide constant power through the day and night during all seasons. Curiosity, MSL's car-sized rover, has 10 science instruments designed to search for signs of life, including methane, and help determine if the gas is from a biological or geological s

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - At Astrotech in Titusville, Fla., technicians with The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) prepare the MESSESNGER spacecraft for a move to a hazardous processing facility in preparation for loading the spacecrafts complement of hypergolic propellants. MESSENGER is scheduled to launch Aug. 2 aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket from Pad 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., on a journey to Mercury. It will return to Earth for a gravity boost in July 2005, then fly past Venus twice, in October 2006 and June 2007. The spacecraft uses the tug of Venus gravity to resize and rotate its trajectory closer to Mercurys orbit. Three Mercury flybys, each followed about two months later by a course-correction maneuver, put MESSENGER in position to enter Mercury orbit in March 2011. During the flybys, MESSENGER will map nearly the entire planet in color, image most of the areas unseen by Mariner 10, and measure the composition of the surf

Workers in the Spacecraft Assembly and Encapsulation Facility -2 help guide the solar array just removed from the 2001 Mars Odyssey Orbiter toward a nearby workstand. This will give workers access to other components of the spacecraft and allow inspection of the array. The Mars Odyssey carries three science instruments the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS), the Gamma Ray Spectrometer (GRS), and the Mars Radiation Environment Experiment (MARIE). THEMIS will map the mineralogy and morphology of the Martian surface using a high-resolution camera and a thermal infrared imaging spectrometer. The GRS will achieve global mapping of the elemental composition of the surface and determine the abundance of hydrogen in the shallow subsurface. The GRS is a rebuild of the instrument lost with the Mars Observer mission. The MARIE will characterize aspects of the near-space radiation environment as related to the radiation-related risk to human explorers. The Mars Odyssey Orbiter is scheduled f

Cape Canaveral, Fla. - NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver, fourth from left, looks over NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover known as Curiosity as it sits in a workstand at the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A United Launch Alliance Atlas V-541 configuration will be used to loft MSL into space. Curiositys 10 science instruments are designed to search for evidence on whether Mars has had environments favorable to microbial life, including chemical ingredients for life. The unique rover will use a laser to look inside rocks and release its gasses so that the rovers spectrometer can analyze and send the data back to Earth. MSL is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida Nov. 25 with a window extending to Dec. 18 and arrival at Mars Aug. 2012.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At Astrotech in Titusville, Fla., technicians prepare an Aronson table to receive NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, at left. The orbiter will be rotated on the table to provide proper access for processing. 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. The polar regions of the moon are the main focus of the mission because continuous access to sunlight may be possible and water ice may exist in permanently shadowed areas of the poles. Accompanying LRO on its journey to the moon will be the Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, a mission that will impact the lunar surface in its search

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Spacecraft Assembly and Encapsulation Facility-2 (SAEF-2), technicians test the science instruments and the basic spacecraft subsystems on the Mars Polar Lander. The solar-powered spacecraft is targeted for launch from Cape Canaveral Air Station aboard a Delta II rocket on Jan. 3, 1999. It is designed to touch down on the Martian surface near the northern-most boundary of the south pole in order to study the water cycle there. The lander also will help scientists learn more about climate change and current resources on Mars, studying such things as frost, dust, water vapor and condensates in the Martian atmosphere

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the high bay of the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator (MMRTG) for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission, still connected to the turning fixture, rests on a support base following the MMRTG fit check on the Curiosity rover. A mobile plexiglass radiation shield is in place between the MMRTG and the spacecraft technicians, at right, to help minimize the employees' radiation exposure.The MMRTG will generate the power needed for the mission from the natural decay of plutonium-238, a non-weapons-grade form of the radioisotope. Heat given off by this natural decay will provide constant power through the day and night during all seasons. MSL's components include a car-sized rover, Curiosity, which has 10 science instruments designed to search for signs of life, including methane, and help determine if the gas is from a biological or geological source. Waste

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers check the mast deployment on the SEDA-AP or Space Environment Data Acquisition equipment--Attached Payload. SEDA-AP will measure space environment in ISS orbit and environmental effects on materials and electronic devices to investigate the interaction with and from the environment at the Kibo exposed facility. The payload will be installed on the Japanese Experiment Module's Experiment Logistics Module-Exposed Section, or ELM-ES. The ELM-ES is one of the final components of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory for the International Space Station. It can provide payload storage space and can carry up to three payloads at launch. In addition, the ELM-ES provides a logistics function where it can be returned to the ground aboard the space shuttle. The ELM-ES will be carried aboard space shuttle Endeavour on the STS-127 mission targeted for launch May 15

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - On the Mars Exploration Rover 1 (MER-1), the science boom, below the front petal, is deployed. Set to launch in Spring 2003, the MER Mission will consist of two identical rovers designed to cover roughly 110 yards each Martian day over various terrain. Each rover will carry five scientific instruments that will allow it to search for evidence of liquid water that may have been present in the planet's past. The rovers will be identical to each other, but will land at different regions of Mars. The first rover has a launch window opening May 30, and the second rover a window opening June 25.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Space Assembly and Encapsulation Facility 2 (SAEF-2), workers at right prepare the upper stage of a Boeing Delta II rocket for mating with the Comet Nucleus Tour (CONTOUR) spacecraft at left. CONTOUR will provide the first detailed look into the heart of a comet -- the nucleus. Flying as close as 60 miles (100 kilometers) to at least two comets, the spacecraft will take the sharpest pictures yet of a nucleus while analyzing the gas and dust that surround these rocky, icy building blocks of the solar system. Launch of CONTOUR aboard the Delta II is scheduled for July 1, 2002, from Launch Complex 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

Workers in the spacecraft processing facility on North Vandenberg Air Force Base get ready to begin processing the Gravity Probe B experiment. Mechanical and electrical ground support equipment will be set up and necessary connections made with the spacecraft. Spacecraft battery conditioning will also begin. The 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.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, the Rover Equipment Deck (RED) on one of the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) is integrated to the Warm Electronics Box (WEB) on the WEB cart. Processing of the rovers, plus cruise stage, lander and heat shield elements, is ongoing. Set to launch in 2003, the MER Mission will consist of two identical rovers designed to cover roughly 110 yards each Martian day. Each rover will carry five scientific instruments that will allow it to search for evidence of liquid water that may have been present in the planet's past. The rovers will be identical to each other, but will land at different regions of Mars. The first rover has a launch window opening May 30, and the second rover a window opening June 25, 2003.

In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, an overhead crane moves the heat shield toward a platform at left. The heat shield was removed from the Phoenix Mars Lander spacecraft at right. The Phoenix mission is the first project in NASA's first openly competed program of Mars Scout missions. Phoenix will land in icy soils near the north polar permanent ice cap of Mars and explore the history of the water in these soils and any associated rocks, while monitoring polar climate. Landing is planned in May 2008 on arctic ground where a mission currently in orbit, Mars Odyssey, has detected high concentrations of ice just beneath the top layer of soil. It will serve as NASA's first exploration of a potential modern habitat on Mars and open the door to a renewed search for carbon-bearing compounds, last attempted with NASAs Viking missions in the 1970s. A stereo color camera and a weather station will study the surrounding environment while the other instruments check excavated soil sample

In the Astrotech facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians and engineers inspect NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, or InSight, spacecraft after it was placed on a spin table during preflight processing. InSight will be the first mission to look deep beneath the Martian surface. It will study the planet's interior by measuring its heat output and listen for marsquakes. The spacecraft will use the seismic waves generated by marsquakes to develop a map of the planets deep interior. The resulting insight into Mars formation will provide a better understanding of how other rocky planets, including Earth, were created. InSight is scheduled for liftoff May 5, 2018.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, integration between a rocket-powered descent stage and NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover, known as Curiosity, is complete. The descent stage will lower Curiosity to the surface of Mars. A United Launch Alliance Atlas V-541 configuration will be used to loft MSL into space. Curiositys 10 science instruments are designed to search for evidence on whether Mars has had environments favorable to microbial life, including chemical ingredients for life. The unique rover will use a laser to look inside rocks and release its gasses so that the rovers spectrometer can analyze and send the data back to Earth. MSL is scheduled to launch Nov. 25 with a window extending to Dec. 18 and arrival at Mars Aug. 2012.

A technician inspects the special radiation vault being installed atop the propulsion module of NASA's Juno spacecraft; the vault has titanium walls to protect the spacecraft's electronic brain and heart from Jupiter's harsh radiation environment.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Workers in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility place the lower sections of the transport canister around the Mars Exploration Rover 2 (MER-2). After encapsulation, it will be transferred to Launch Complex 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. MER-2 is one of NASA's twin Mars Exploration Rovers designed to study the history of water on Mars. These robotic geologists are equipped with a robotic arm, a drilling tool, three spectrometers, and four pairs of cameras that allow them to have a human-like, 3D view of the terrain. Each rover could travel as far as 100 meters in one day to act as Mars scientists' eyes and hands, exploring an environment where humans can't yet go. MER-2 is scheduled to launch no earlier than June 8 as MER-A aboard a Delta II rocket.

NASA's next Mars rover, Curiosity, stretches its robotic arm upward during tests on a tilt table in a clean room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Labotatory.

Spacecraft specialists test the descent stage and rover of the Mars Science Laboratory in this scene from the Spacecraft Assembly Facility at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, technicians prepare to close the lander petals and attached airbags of the Mars Exploration Rover 2 (MER-2) around the spacecraft prior to launch. The MER Mission consists of two identical rovers set to launch in Spring 2003. Landing at different regions of Mars, they are designed to cover roughly 110 yards each Martian day over various terrain. Each rover will carry five scientific instruments that will allow it to search for evidence of liquid water that may have been present in the planet's past.

BALL AEROSPACE TECHNICIANS REMOVE FINAL SIX JWST MIRRORS TESTED AT MSFC X-RAY AND CRYOGENIC FACILITY

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the high bay of the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a spacecraft technician from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory conducts a visual inspection of the cooling tubes on the exterior of the multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator (MMRTG) for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission following the MMRTG fit check on the Curiosity rover. At right is the Curiosity rover on an elevated work stand. The MMRTG will generate the power needed for the mission from the natural decay of plutonium-238, a non-weapons-grade form of the radioisotope. Heat given off by this natural decay will provide constant power through the day and night during all seasons. MSL's components include a car-sized rover, Curiosity, which has 10 science instruments designed to search for signs of life, including methane, and help determine if the gas is from a biological or geological source. Waste heat from the MMRTG will be circul

Workers in the Spacecraft Assembly and Encapsulation Facility (SAEF 2) watch an oscilloscope while testing the UHF antenna on the Mars Odyssey Orbiter. The antenna is the cylindrical object on the left side of the satellite. The 2001 Mars Odyssey Orbiter, scheduled for launch April 7, 2001, contains three science instruments: THEMIS, the Gamma Ray Spectrometer (GRS), and the Mars Radiation Environment Experiment (MARIE). THEMIS will map the mineralogy and morphology of the Martian surface using a high-resolution camera and a thermal infrared imaging spectrometer. The GRS will achieve global mapping of the elemental composition of the surface and determine the abundance of hydrogen in the shallow subsurface. The MARIE will characterize aspects of the near-space radiation environment with regards to the radiation-related risk to human explorers

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, workers move the Mars Exploration Rover-2 (MER-2) into position over the base petal of its lander assembly. Set to launch in Spring 2003, the MER Mission will consist of two identical rovers designed to cover roughly 110 yards each Martian day over various terrain. Each rover will carry five scientific instruments that will allow it to search for evidence of liquid water that may have been present in the planet's past. The rovers will be identical to each other, but will land at different regions of Mars. The first rover has a launch window opening May 30, and the second rover, a window opening June 25.

Webb telescope Quality Engineer Matt Magsamen and Product Assurance Engineer Jessica Lieberman inspect one of the primary mirror segments. The Webb telescope's third batch of flight mirrors now reside in the clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The latest arrivals included the seventh, eighth and ninth primary mirror segments.

With workers keeping watch, the 2001 Mars Odyssey Orbiter, suspended by an overhead crane in the Space Assembly and Encapsulation Building 2, moves toward the spin table at left where it will be tested. The orbiter is being transferred to a spin table for testing. The orbiter carries three science instruments THEMIS, the Gamma Ray Spectrometer (GRS), and the Mars Radiation Environment Experiment (MARIE) that will map the mineralogy and morphology of the Martian surface, the elemental composition of the surface and determine the abundance of hydrogen in the shallow subsurface, and characterize aspects of the near-space radiation environment with regards to the radiation-related risk to human explorers. The Mars Odyssey Orbiter is scheduled for launch on April 7, 2001, aboard a Delta II rocket from Launch Pad 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Workers prepare the GALEX satellite for solar array testing in the Multi-Payload Processing Facility. The Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) is an orbiting 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 via a Pegasus rocket.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, the Rover Equipment Deck (RED) on one of the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) is integrated to the Warm Electronics Box (WEB) on the WEB cart. Processing of the rovers, plus cruise stage, lander and heat shield elements, is ongoing. Set to launch in 2003, the MER Mission will consist of two identical rovers designed to cover roughly 110 yards each Martian day. Each rover will carry five scientific instruments that will allow it to search for evidence of liquid water that may have been present in the planet's past. The rovers will be identical to each other, but will land at different regions of Mars. The first rover has a launch window opening May 30, and the second rover a window opening June 25, 2003.

This photograph of the NASA Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity, was taken during testing on June 3, 2011. The turret at the end of Curiosity's robotic arm holds five devices.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians inspect beneath NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission aeroshell, (containing the compact car-sized rover Curiosity), which has been mated to the cruise stage. The cruise stage provides solar power, thrusters for navigation, and heat exchangers to the rover during its flight from Earth to Mars. The rover Curiosity has 10 science instruments designed to search for evidence on whether Mars has had environments favorable to microbial life, including chemical ingredients for life. The unique rover will use a laser to look inside rocks and release its gasses so that the rovers spectrometer can analyze and send the data back to Earth. Launch of MSL aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket is scheduled for Nov. 25 from Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Workers at the Defense Satellite Communications System Processing Facility (DPF), Cape Canaveral Air Station (CCAS), attach a strap during installation of the ion propulsion engine on Deep Space 1. The first flight in NASA's New Millennium Program, Deep Space 1 is designed to validate 12 new technologies for scientific space missions of the next century, including the engine. Propelled by the gas xenon, the engine is being flight-tested for future deep space and Earth-orbiting missions. Deceptively powerful, the ion drive emits only an eerie blue glow as ionized atoms of xenon are pushed out of the engine. While slow to pick up speed, over the long haul it can deliver 10 times as much thrust per pound of fuel as liquid or solid fuel rockets. Other onboard experiments include software that tracks celestial bodies so the spacecraft can make its own navigation decisions without the intervention of ground controllers. Deep Space 1 will complete most of its mis

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, workers complete installing segments of the shipping canister around the base of the Phoenix Mars Lander. After the canning, the Phoenix will be transferred to Launch Pad 17-A on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida for launch on Aug. 3. Phoenix will land in icy soils near the north polar permanent ice cap of Mars and explore the history of the water in these soils and any associated rocks, while monitoring polar climate. Landing on Mars is planned in May 2008 on arctic ground where a mission currently in orbit, Mars Odyssey, has detected high concentrations of ice just beneath the top layer of soil.

In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, technicians remove one of the circuit boards on the Mars Exploration Rover 2 (MER-2).

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, integration between a rocket-powered descent stage and NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover, known as Curiosity, is complete. The descent stage will lower Curiosity to the surface of Mars. A United Launch Alliance Atlas V-541 configuration will be used to loft MSL into space. Curiositys 10 science instruments are designed to search for evidence on whether Mars has had environments favorable to microbial life, including chemical ingredients for life. The unique rover will use a laser to look inside rocks and release its gasses so that the rovers spectrometer can analyze and send the data back to Earth. MSL is scheduled to launch Nov. 25 with a window extending to Dec. 18 and arrival at Mars Aug. 2012.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- At Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Fla., a worker removes the protective cover from one of the components of the recently arrived THEMIS spacecraft. THEMIS, which stands for Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms, comprises five identical probes that will study the dynamic and colorful eruptions of auroras. THEMIS is scheduled to launch Feb. 15 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, integration between a rocket-powered descent stage and NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover, known as Curiosity, is complete. The descent stage will lower Curiosity to the surface of Mars. A United Launch Alliance Atlas V-541 configuration will be used to loft MSL into space. Curiositys 10 science instruments are designed to search for evidence on whether Mars has had environments favorable to microbial life, including chemical ingredients for life. The unique rover will use a laser to look inside rocks and release its gasses so that the rovers spectrometer can analyze and send the data back to Earth. MSL is scheduled to launch Nov. 25 with a window extending to Dec. 18 and arrival at Mars Aug. 2012.

This image, taken in the clean room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, shows the Radar Imager for Mars' Subsurface Experiment (RIMFAX) electronic's box after it has been inserted into the Perseverance rover. The gold-plated electronics box is at the top of the opening. RIMFAX's antenna will be mounted on the bottom rear of the rover.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - In the Astrotech payload processing facility on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, Orbital Sciences workers and technicians position NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2, or OCO-2, onto a test fixture.Testing and launch preparations now will get underway for its launch from Space Launch Complex 2 aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket, scheduled for July 1, 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. OCO-2 is a NASA Earth System Science Pathfinder Program mission managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory JPL in Pasadena, California, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Orb

KENNEDY SPACE CENTE, FLA. -- In the Spacecraft Assembly and Encapsulation Facility-2 (SAEF-2), the Mars Polar Lander is unpacked for testing, including a functional test of the science instruments and the basic spacecraft subsystems. The Mars Polar Lander is targeted for launch from Cape Canaveral Air Station aboard a Delta II rocket on Jan. 3, 1999. The solar-powered spacecraft is designed to touch down on the Martian surface near the northern-most boundary of the south pole in order to study the water cycle there. The lander also will help scientists learn more about climate change and current resources on Mars, studying such things as frost, dust, water vapor and condensates in the Martian atmosphere

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Multi-Payload Processing Facility, NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer is prepared for mating with the Pegasus XL launch vehicle. The GALEX, set to launch April 2 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, will carry into space an orbiting telescope that will observe a million galaxies across 10 billion years of cosmic history to help astronomers determine when the stars and elements we see today had their origins. The spacecraft will sweep the skies for 28 months using state-of-the-art ultraviolet detectors to single out galaxies dominated by young, hot, short-lived stars that give off a great deal of energy at that wavelength. These galaxies are actively creating stars, and therefore provide a window into the history and causes of star formation in galaxies.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- At SPACEHAB, STS-102 Mission Specialist Andrew S.W. Thomas checks out the Early Ammonia Servicer under the watchful eyes of workers in the facility. Thomas and other crew members are at SPACEHAB to get acquainted with tools and equipment they will be using on their mission to the International Space Station. The second spacewalk of the mission will require the crew to transfer the Early Ammonia Servicer to the P6 truss. STS-102 is the 8th construction flight to the Space Station and will carry the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo. On that flight, Leonardo will be filled with equipment and supplies to outfit the U.S. laboratory module Destiny. The mission will also be carrying the Expedition Two crew to the Space Station, replacing the Expedition One crew who will return on Shuttle Discovery. STS-102 is scheduled for launch March 8, 2001

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Spacecraft Assembly and Encapsulation Facility 2 (SAEF-2), workers at left hold the antenna and solar panel steady while make adjustments before attaching it to the Comet Nucleus Tour (CONTOUR) spacecraft. Scheduled for launch July 1, 2002, from LC 17A at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, CONTOUR will provide the first detailed look into the heart of a comet -- the nucleus. The spacecraft will fly as close as 60 miles (100 kilometers) to at least two comets, Encke and Schwassmann-Wachmann 3. It will take the sharpest pictures yet of the nucleus while analyzing the gas and dust that surround these rocky, icy building blocks of the solar system. The Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md., built CONTOUR and will also be in control of the spacecraft after launch

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Inside Orbital Sciences Building 1555 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, workers begin the mating process of the Space Technology 5 (ST5), at right, with the Pegasus XL launch vehicle, at left. The ST5 contains three microsatellites, with miniaturized redundant components and technologies. Each will validate New Millennium Program selected technologies, such as the Cold Gas Micro-Thruster and X-Band Transponder Communication System. After deployment from the Pegasus, the micro-satellites will be positioned in a “string of pearls” constellation that demonstrates the ability to position them to perform simultaneous multi-point measurements of the magnetic field using highly sensitive magnetometers. The data will help scientists understand and map the intensity and direction of the Earths magnetic field, its relation to space weather events, and affects on our planet. With such missions, NASA hopes to improve scientists ability to accurately fo

Workers in the Space Assembly and Encapsulation Building 2 prepare the 2001 Mars Odyssey Orbiter for its move to the spin table for testing. The orbiter carries three science instruments THEMIS, the Gamma Ray Spectrometer (GRS), and the Mars Radiation Environment Experiment (MARIE) that will map the mineralogy and morphology of the Martian surface, the elemental composition of the surface and determine the abundance of hydrogen in the shallow subsurface, and characterize aspects of the near-space radiation environment with regards to the radiation-related risk to human explorers. The Mars Odyssey Orbiter is scheduled for launch on April 7, 2001, aboard a Delta II rocket from Launch Pad 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - At NASA Kennedy Space Centers Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, technicians from the Applied Physics Laboratory hold a panel they are installing on the New Horizons spacecraft. A series of interconnecting panels will enclose the spacecraft beneath the antenna to maintain safe operating temperatures in space. New Horizons will make the first reconnaissance of Pluto and its moon, Charon - a 'double planet' and the last planet in our solar system to be visited by spacecraft. As it approaches Pluto, the spacecraft will look for ultraviolet emission from Pluto's atmosphere and make the best global maps of Pluto and Charon in green, blue, red and a special wavelength that is sensitive to methane frost on the surface. It will also take spectral maps in the near infrared, telling the science team about Pluto's and Charon's surface compositions and locations and temperatures of these materials. When the spacecraft is closest to Pluto or its moon, it will take cl

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Fla., technicians check data (left) as the range of motion is tested on the high-gain antenna (foreground) for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. 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.

In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, workers carry one of the Stardust solar panels removed for testing. The spacecraft Stardust will use a unique medium called aerogel to capture comet particles flying off the nucleus of comet Wild 2 in January 2004, plus collect interstellar dust for later analysis. Stardust will be launched aboard a Boeing Delta 7426 rocket from Complex 17, Cape Canaveral Air Station, targeted for Feb. 6, 1999. The collected samples will return to Earth in a re-entry capsule to be jettisoned from Stardust as it swings by Earth in January 2006

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Engineers examine NASAs Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution MAVEN spacecraft inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility on Aug. 3, 2013, at the agencys Kennedy Space Center in Florida. MAVEN will be prepared inside the facility for its scheduled November launch to Mars. Positioned in an orbit above the Red Planet, MAVEN will study the upper atmosphere of Mars in unprecedented detail.

The science instrument on NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer is shown here with its aperture cover removed, during assembly at the Space Dynamics Laboratory in Logan, Utah.

An artist's concept showing the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft is seen orbiting the moon as it prepares to fire its maneuvering thrusters to maintain a safe orbital altitude.

VANDENBERG AFB, Calif. - Technicians process NASA's IRIS spacecraft for launch aboard an Orbital Pegasus XL rocket. Working inside a clean room tent at Vandenberg, the technicians will conduct numerous tests and assembly operations on the spacecraft and rocket ahead of the launch. IRIS is short for Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph and the spacecraft's mission will improve our understanding of how heat and energy move through the deepest levels of the suns atmosphere, thereby increasing our ability to forecast space weather.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, workers check the progress of the Mars Exploration Rover-2 (MER-2) as it rolls over ramps to test its mobility and maneuverability. Set to launch in Spring 2003, the MER Mission will consist of two identical rovers designed to cover roughly 110 yards each Martian day over various terrain. Each rover will carry five scientific instruments that will allow it to search for evidence of liquid water that may have been present in the planet's past. The rovers will be identical to each other, but will land at different regions of Mars. The first rover has a launch window opening May 30, and the second rover a window opening June 25.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, spacecraft technicians from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory roll the multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator (MMRTG) for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission on its support base from the high bay into the airlock following the MMRTG fit check on the Curiosity rover. The MMRTG will generate the power needed for the mission from the natural decay of plutonium-238, a non-weapons-grade form of the radioisotope. Heat given off by this natural decay will provide constant power through the day and night during all seasons. MSL's components include a car-sized rover, Curiosity, which has 10 science instruments designed to search for signs of life, including methane, and help determine if the gas is from a biological or geological source. Waste heat from the MMRTG will be circulated throughout the rover system to keep instruments, computers, mechanical devices an

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - At NASA Kennedy Space Centers Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, technicians from the Applied Physics Laboratory install another panel on the New Horizons spacecraft. A series of interconnecting panels will enclose the spacecraft beneath the antenna to maintain safe operating temperatures in space. New Horizons will make the first reconnaissance of Pluto and its moon, Charon - a "double planet" and the last planet in our solar system to be visited by spacecraft. As it approaches Pluto, the spacecraft will look for ultraviolet emission from Pluto's atmosphere and make the best global maps of Pluto and Charon in green, blue, red and a special wavelength that is sensitive to methane frost on the surface. It will also take spectral maps in the near infrared, telling the science team about Pluto's and Charon's surface compositions and locations and temperatures of these materials. When the spacecraft is closest to Pluto or its moon, it will take close-up

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover, known as Curiosity, will be integrated with a rocket-powered descent stage (shown here to the left of the rover). The descent stage will lower Curiosity to the surface of Mars. A United Launch Alliance Atlas V-541 configuration will be used to loft MSL into space. Curiositys 10 science instruments are designed to search for evidence on whether Mars has had environments favorable to microbial life, including chemical ingredients for life. The unique rover will use a laser to look inside rocks and release its gasses so that the rovers spectrometer can analyze and send the data back to Earth. MSL is scheduled to launch Nov. 25 with a window extending to Dec. 18 and arrival at Mars Aug. 2012.

VANDENBERG AFB, Calif. -- Technicians unload and rotate NASA's Landsat Data Continuity Mission, or LDCM, satellite at the Astrotech processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.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. 11, 2013.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The NASA Comet Nucleus Tour (CONTOUR) spacecraft arrived at KSC on April 24 and was transported to the Spacecraft Assembly and Encapsulation Facility-2 (SAEF-2) to begin final preparations for launch. CONTOUR will provide the first detailed look into the heart of a comet - the nucleus. The spacecraft will fly as close as 60 miles (100 kilometers) to at least two comets, Encke and Schwassmann-Wachmann 3, taking the sharpest pictures yet of the nucleus while analyzing the gas and dust that surround these rocky, icy building blocks of the solar system. The Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md., built CONTOUR and will also be in control of the spacecraft after launch, scheduled for July 1, 2002, from LC 17A at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

In clean room C of Astrotech's Payload Processing Facility, a worker wearing a "bunny suit," or clean-room attire, looks over the Dawn spacecraft after removing the protective cover, at bottom right. In the clean room, the spacecraft will undergo further processing. Dawn's mission is to explore two of the asteroid belt's most intriguing and dissimilar occupants: asteroid Vesta and the dwarf planet Ceres. The Dawn mission is managed by JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington, D.C.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - At NASA Kennedy Space Centers Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, technicians work on a panel they are installing on the New Horizons spacecraft. A series of interconnecting panels will enclose the spacecraft beneath the antenna to maintain safe operating temperatures in space. New Horizons will make the first reconnaissance of Pluto and its moon, Charon - a "double planet" and the last planet in our solar system to be visited by spacecraft. As it approaches Pluto, the spacecraft will look for ultraviolet emission from Pluto's atmosphere and make the best global maps of Pluto and Charon in green, blue, red and a special wavelength that is sensitive to methane frost on the surface. It will also take spectral maps in the near infrared, telling the science team about Pluto's and Charon's surface compositions and locations and temperatures of these materials. When the spacecraft is closest to Pluto or its moon, it will take close-up pictures in both visi

The Huygens probe is installed into the Cassini orbiter in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHSF)

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The NASA Comet Nucleus Tour (CONTOUR) spacecraft arrived at KSC on April 24 and was transported to the Spacecraft Assembly and Encapsulation Facility-2 (SAEF-2) to begin final preparations for launch. CONTOUR will provide the first detailed look into the heart of a comet - the nucleus. The spacecraft will fly as close as 60 miles (100 kilometers) to at least two comets, Encke and Schwassmann-Wachmann 3, taking the sharpest pictures yet of the nucleus while analyzing the gas and dust that surround these rocky, icy building blocks of the solar system. The Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md., built CONTOUR and will also be in control of the spacecraft after launch, scheduled for July 1, 2002, from LC 17A at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

Cape Canaveral, Fla. - NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver, center, looks over the backshell for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover known as Curiosity as it sits in a workstand at the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The backshell carries the parachute and several components used during later stages of entry, descent and landing. A United Launch Alliance Atlas V-541 configuration will be used to loft MSL into space. Curiositys 10 science instruments are designed to search for evidence on whether Mars has had environments favorable to microbial life, including chemical ingredients for life. The unique rover will use a laser to look inside rocks and release its gasses so that the rovers spectrometer can analyze and send the data back to Earth. MSL is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida Nov. 25 with a window extending to Dec. 18 and arrival at Mars Aug. 2012.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, the Mars Exploration Rover 2 (MER-2) has been installed on the base petal of the lander and the solar arrays have been stowed for flight. The cruise stage is in the background. There are two rovers, identical to each other, and each will land at different regions of Mars. They are designed to cover roughly 110 yards each Martian day over various terrain. Each rover will carry five scientific instruments that will allow it to search for evidence of liquid water that may have been present in the planet's past. The first rover has a launch window opening May 30, and the second rover a window opening June 25.

The solar arrays on NASA's InSight lander are deployed in this test inside a clean room at Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver. This configuration is how the spacecraft will look on the surface of Mars. The image was taken on April 30, 2015.

Cape Canaveral, Fla. -- At the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers prepare to attach an overhead crane to lift the container cover from NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover, known as Curiosity.A United Launch Alliance Atlas V-541 configuration will be used to loft MSL into space. Curiositys 10 science instruments are designed to search for evidence on whether Mars has had environments favorable to microbial life, including chemical ingredients for life. The unique rover will use a laser to look inside rocks and release its gasses so that the rovers spectrometer can analyze and send the data back to Earth. MSL is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida Nov. 25 with a window extending to Dec. 18 and arrival at Mars Aug. 2012.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, the lander petals and attached airbags of the Mars Exploration Rover 2 (MER-2) are closed around the spacecraft during testing prior to launch. The MER Mission consists of two identical rovers set to launch in Spring 2003. Landing at different regions of Mars, they are designed to cover roughly 110 yards each Martian day over various terrain. Each rover will carry five scientific instruments that will allow it to search for evidence of liquid water that may have been present in the planet's past.

LOFTID Spacecraft Stack Lift and Mate to GTV. Technicians assist as a crane lowers NASAs Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) stack onto a ground transport vehicle as part of launch preparations occurring inside Building 836 at Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) in California on Sept. 9, 2022. LOFTID is the secondary payload on NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations (NOAA) Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2) satellite mission. JPSS-2 is the third satellite in the Joint Polar Satellite System series. It is scheduled to lift off from VSFB on Nov. 1 from Space Launch Complex-3. JPSS-2, which will be renamed NOAA-21 after reaching orbit, will join a constellation of JPSS satellites that orbit from the North to the South pole, circling Earth 14 times a day and providing a full view of the entire globe twice daily. LOFTID will demonstrate inflatable heat shield technology that could enable a variety of proposed NASA missions to desti

Workers at Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, position a telescopic camera for installation onto NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft on Dec. 11, 2004.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Technicians inside Building 1555 conduct inspection, cleaning and electrical testing on half of a payload fairing for the Orbital Sciences Corp. Pegasus XL rocket that will launch the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS, spacecraft. The fairing will be fitted to the nose of the Pegasus to protect the spacecraft from atmospheric heating and stress during launch. IRIS will open a new window of discovery by tracing the flow of energy and plasma through the chromospheres and transition region into the suns corona using spectrometry and imaging. IRIS fills a crucial gap in our ability to advance studies of the sun-to-Earth connection by tracing the flow of energy and plasma through the foundation of the corona and the region around the sun known as the heliosphere.

Workers testing in the Spacecraft Assembly and Encapsulation Facility (SAEF 2) stand alongside the 2001 Mars Odyssey Orbiter and behind its solar array panels. The arrays of lights (right) focus on the panels during illumination testing. Scheduled for launch April 7, 2001, the orbiter contains three science instruments: THEMIS, the Gamma Ray Spectrometer (GRS), and the Mars Radiation Environment Experiment (MARIE). THEMIS will map the mineralogy and morphology of the Martian surface using a high-resolution camera and a thermal infrared imaging spectrometer. The GRS will achieve global mapping of the elemental composition of the surface and determine the abundance of hydrogen in the shallow subsurface. The MARIE will characterize aspects of the near-space radiation environment with regards to the radiation-related risk to human explorers

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

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At Astrotech Space Operation's payload processing facility in Titusville, Fla., Lockheed Martin technicians guide the protective canister enclosing NASA's twin Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory spacecraft into place on a transportation pallet. Preparations are under way to move the lunar probes, attached to a spacecraft adapter ring in their side-by-side launch configuration, to the launch pad.The spacecraft will fly in tandem orbits around the moon for several months to measure its gravity field. GRAIL's primary science objectives are to determine the structure of the lunar interior, from crust to core, and to advance understanding of the thermal evolution of the moon. Launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket from Space Launch Complex 17B on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is scheduled for Sept. 8.

Engineers test Aquarius 2.5 meter reflector in the clean room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

Technicians installed the special radiation vault for NASA's Juno spacecraft on the propulsion module. The radiation vault has titanium walls to protect the spacecraft's electronic brain and heart from Jupiter's harsh radiation environment.

At Astrotech Space Operations, technicians weigh one of the THEMIS probes. Next the probe will be installed on a probe carrier, along with is four mates, and then undergo spin-balance testing. 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.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, the lander petals and attached airbags of the Mars Exploration Rover 2 (MER-2) are closed around the spacecraft during testing prior to launch. The MER Mission consists of two identical rovers set to launch in Spring 2003. Landing at different regions of Mars, they are designed to cover roughly 110 yards each Martian day over various terrain. Each rover will carry five scientific instruments that will allow it to search for evidence of liquid water that may have been present in the planet's past.

Aquarius reflector deployment is tested in the clean room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, workers monitor the Phoenix spacecraft during a heat shield deployment test, with a firing of ordnance associated with the separation device. Phoenix will land in icy soils near the north polar permanent ice cap of Mars and explore the history of the water in these soils and any associated rocks, while monitoring polar climate. Landing is planned in May 2008 on arctic ground where a mission currently in orbit, Mars Odyssey, has detected high concentrations of ice just beneath the top layer of soil. Launch of Phoenix aboard a Delta II rocket is targeted for Aug. 3 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Spacecraft Assembly and Encapsulation Facility -2 (SAEF-2), workers prepare the Mars Climate Orbiter for a spin test. Targeted for launch aboard a Delta II rocket on Dec. 10, 1998, the orbiter is heading for Mars where it will primarily support its companion Mars Polar Lander spacecraft, which is planned for launch on Jan. 3, 1999. At the extreme right can be seen the lander in another work area. The orbiter's instruments will monitor the Martian atmosphere and image the planet's surface on a daily basis for 687 Earth days. It will observe the appearance and movement of atmospheric dust and water vapor, as well as characterize seasonal changes on the surface. The detailed images of the surface features will provide important clues to the planet's early climate history and give scientists more information about possible liquid water reserves beneath the surface

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The Comet Nucleus Tour (CONTOUR) spacecraft is on display for the media in the Spacecraft Assembly and Encapsulation Facility 2. CONTOUR will provide the first detailed look into the heart of a comet -- the nucleus. Flying as close as 60 miles (100 kilometers) to at least two comets, the spacecraft will take the sharpest pictures yet of a nucleus while analyzing the gas and dust that surround them. CONTOUR is scheduled for launch aboard a Delta II rocket July 1, 2002, from Launch Complex 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians help guide the Star-27 kick motor and nozzle for NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer, or IBEX, mission spacecraft. The motor will be lifted and moved to the waiting adapter cone. The IBEX satellite 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 takes it beyo

In Building 1555 on North Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians prepare the AIM spacecraft for integrated testing and a flight simulation. The AIM spacecraft will fly three instruments designed to study polar mesospheric clouds located at the edge of space, 50 miles above the Earth's surface in the coldest part of the planet's atmosphere. The mission's primary goal is to explain why these clouds form and what has caused them to become brighter and more numerous and appear at lower latitudes in recent years. AIM's results will provide the basis for the study of long-term variability in the mesospheric climate and its relationship to global climate change. AIM is scheduled to be mated to its launch vehicle, Orbital Sciences' Pegasus XL, during the second week of April, after which final inspections will be conducted. Launch is scheduled for April 25.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Payload Handling Servicing Facility, an overhead crane lifts the Phoenix spacecraft from its stand for a move to a rotation stand for an interim weight and center of gravity determination. The Phoenix mission is the first project in NASA's first openly competed program of Mars Scout missions. Phoenix will land in icy soils near the north polar permanent ice cap of Mars and explore the history of the water in these soils and any associated rocks, while monitoring polar climate. Landing is planned in May 2008 on arctic ground where a mission currently in orbit, Mars Odyssey, has detected high concentrations of ice just beneath the top layer of soil. It will serve as NASA's first exploration of a potential modern habitat on Mars and open the door to a renewed search for carbon-bearing compounds,

Construction of the New Horizons Spacecraft

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - At Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Fla., Boeing technicians oversee the final movement of the Deep Impact spacecraft being lowered onto the Delta II third stage for mating. When the spacecraft and third stage are mated, they will be moved to Launch Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. There they will be mated to the Delta II rocket and the fairing installed around them for protection during launch and ascent. Scheduled for liftoff Jan. 12, Deep Impact will probe beneath the surface of Comet Tempel 1 on July 4, 2005, when the comet is 83 million miles from Earth. After releasing a 3- by 3-foot projectile to crash onto the surface, Deep Impacts flyby spacecraft will reveal the secrets of its interior by collecting pictures and data of how the crater forms, measuring the craters depth and diameter as well as the composition of the interior of the crater and any material thrown out, and determining the changes in natural outgassing produ

This photo shows the upper side of the cruise stage of NASA's InSight spacecraft as specialists at Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, attach it to the spacecraft's back shell. The photo was taken on April 29, 2015.

During their only opportunity to see NASA's next Mars rover from inside JPL's clean room prior to its shipment to Cape Canaveral, members of the media interview the builders of the Mars 2020 mission. The image was taken inside the clean room on Dec. 27, 2019.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- At Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Fla., workers place another segment of the transportation canister around the upper stage booster beneath the Dawn spacecraft. The canister will protect the spacecraft and booster during transfer to Launch Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS). During its nearly decade-long mission, the Dawn mission will study the asteroid Vesta and dwarf planet Ceres, celestial bodies believed to have accreted early in the history of the solar system. To carry out its scientific mission, the Dawn spacecraft will carry a visible camera, a visible and infrared mapping spectrometer, and a gamma ray and neutron spectrometer, whose data will be used in combination to characterize these bodies. In addition to the three instruments, radiometric and optical navigation data will provide data relating to the gravity field and thus bulk properties and internal structure of the two bodies. Data returned from the Dawn space

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, a metal canister is lowered over the radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG). The canister will protect the RTG while it is being moved to the RTG facility. The RTG underwent a fit check with the spacecraft. The RTG is the baseline power supply for the New Horizons, scheduled to launch in January 2006 on a journey to Pluto and its moon, Charon. As it approaches Pluto, the spacecraft will look for ultraviolet emission from Pluto's atmosphere and make the best global maps of Pluto and Charon in green, blue, red and a special wavelength that is sensitive to methane frost on the surface. It will also take spectral maps in the near infrared, telling the science team about Pluto's and Charon's surface compositions and locations and temperatures of these materials. When the spacecraft is closest to Pluto or its moon, it will take close-up pictures in both visible and near-infrared wavelengths. It is expected

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. In the Orbital Sciences Building 836 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, workers are mating a third satellite onto the payload support structure. The three satellites make up the Space Technology 5 spacecraft, called ST5, and will be launched by a Pegasus XL rocket. The satellites contain miniaturized redundant components and technologies. Each will validate New Millennium Program selected technologies, such as the Cold Gas Micro-Thruster and X-Band Transponder Communication System. After deployment from the Pegasus, the micro-satellites will be positioned in a “string of pearls” constellation that demonstrates the ability to position them to perform simultaneous multi-point measurements of the magnetic field using highly sensitive magnetometers. The data will help scientists understand and map the intensity and direction of the Earth’s magnetic field, its relation to space weather events, and affects on our planet. With such missions,

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