Aerospace and Defense Maintenance

Photos of aircraft and spacecraft maintenance and assembly in large facility environments, highlighting technical processes and machinery.

Airbus Industries, Bremen factory, Germany, Europe

The Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma,is the largest depot repair complex in the Air Force. The Complex's depotArtisans perform award-winning program depot maintenance and modificationson B-1 Lancer aircraft, supporting the sustainment of combat-readyairpower. (U.S. Air Force photo/Gina Anderson)

This photograph shows how the fuel tank assembly and the liquid oxygen tank for the Saturn V S-IC (first) stage are placed side by side prior to commencement of the mating of the two stages in the Marshall Space Flight Center, building 4705. The fuel tank carried kerosene as its fuel. The S-IC stage used five F-1 engines, that used kerosene and liquid oxygen as propellant and each engine provided 1,500,000 pounds of thrust. This stage lifted the entire vehicle and Apollo spacecraft from the launch pad.

Lower Empennage Test Fit Install. Lockheed Martin Photography By Garry Tice1011 Lockheed Way, Palmdale, Ca. 93599Event: Lower Empennage Test Fit InstallDate: 1/27/2023Additional Info:

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Technicians install a new bearing on crawler-transporter 2 in the Vehicle Assembly Building High Bay 2 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.Modifications underway on the crawler are designed to ensure its ability to transport launch vehicles currently under development, such as the agencys Space Launch System, to the launch pad. Present modifications represent a redesign and upgrade to the roller bearings and assemblies originally installed on the crawler. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program office at Kennedy is overseeing the upgrades. For more than 45 years the crawler-transporters were used to transport the mobile launcher platform carrying the Apollo-Saturn V rockets and space shuttles to Launch Pads 39A and 39B.

The ground test motor for Orion's Launch Abort System (LAS) is secured on a work stand inside the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility on July 31, 2018, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It will be inspected and prepared for transport to Space Launch Complex 46 (SLC-46) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station for mechanical fit testing. This inert motor will not be used for flight, but will be used to certify flight hardware assembly in preparation for a full-stress test of the LAS, called Ascent Abort-2 (AA-2) flight test, scheduled for April 2019. During the test, the booster will launch from SLC 46, carrying a fully functional LAS and a 22,000-pound Orion test vehicle to an altitude of 31,000 feet and traveling at more than 1,000 miles an hour. The test will verify the LAS can steer the crew module and astronauts aboard to safety in the event of an issue with the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket when the spacecraft is under the highest aerodynamic loads it will experience du

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane is lowered toward crawler-transporter 2 CT-2) so that the Apollo era diesel engine can be removed. New engines will be installed later this month.Work is in progress in high bay 2 to upgrade CT-2 so that it can carry NASAs Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket, which is under design, and new Orion spacecraft 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.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - Workers prepare to attach a section of the fairing for NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 mission, or OCO-2, onto a turnover fixture in the NASA Building 836 high bay at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The fairing will protect OCO-2 during launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket from Space Launch Complex 2 in July. OCO-2 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.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Inside the Orbital Sciences Corp. Building 1555 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, a worker installs a protective blanket over the Stage 0 motor in preparation for its move to Space Launch Complex 576-E, scheduled for Jan. 17. As part of the four-stage Taurus XL rocket that will carry NASA's Glory spacecraft into low Earth orbit, stages 1, 2 and 3 will join Stage 0 at the launch pad about a week later. Once Glory reaches orbit, it will collect data on the properties of aerosols and black carbon. It also will help scientists understand how the sun's irradiance affects Earth's climate. Launch is scheduled for 5:09 a.m. EST Feb. 23. For information, visit www.nasa.gov/glory.

Left side view of a KC-135R Stratotanker aircraft, with a vertical shaker positioned under the left wing tip, during ground vibration testing. Base: Wichita State: Kansas (KS) Country: United States Of America (USA)

Airbus Industries, Bremen factory, Germany, Europe

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane lifts part of an Apollo era diesel engine from crawler-transporter 2 CT-2). New engines will be installed later this month.Work is in progress in high bay 2 to upgrade CT-2 so that it can carry NASAs Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket, which is under design, and new Orion spacecraft 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.

On Thursday 8th October 2020, Florence Parly, Minister of the Armed Forces, visits two defence companies essential to the economic fabric of the Brittany region. The Minister of the Armed Forces then visits SABENA TECHNICS, a company specialising in aeronautical maintenance, aircraft conversion and cabin fittings. Half of this company's turnover is in the military sector. SABENA TECHNICS will benefit from the government's aeronautics support plan with, in particular, the anticipation of the order for a light surveillance and intelligence aircraft (ALSR). Saint-Lunaire on 2020-10-08.Le jeudi 8 octobre 2020, Florence Parly, ministre des Armees, visite deux entreprises de defense essentielles au tissu economique de la region Bretagne. La ministre des Armées visite ensuite la societe SABENA TECHNICS, spécialisee dans la maintenance aeronautique, la transformation davions et laménagement des cabines. La moitie du chiffre daffaire de cette entreprise concerne lactivite militaire. SABENA

License construction of the General Dynamics F-16 at the Breeder Factories Schiphol.

The Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma,is the largest depot repair complex in the Air Force. The Complex's depotArtisans perform award-winning program depot maintenance and modificationson B-1 Lancer aircraft, supporting the sustainment of combat-readyairpower. (U.S. Air Force photo/Gina Anderson)

License construction of the General Dynamics F-16 at the Breeder Factories Schiphol.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - In Building 1555, workers help guide a wing toward the Pegasus XL launch vehicle in the background for a fit check. The Pegasus will launch NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer Mission, or IBEX, satellite from Kwajalein Island in the Marshall Islands, South Pacific. IBEX will make the first map of the boundary between the solar system and interstellar space. IBEX is the first mission designed to detect the edge of the solar system. As the solar wind from the sun flows out beyond Pluto, it collides with the material between the stars, forming a shock front. IBEX contains two neutral atom imagers designed to detect particles from the termination shock at the boundary between the solar system and interstellar space. IBEX also will study galactic cosmic rays, energetic particles from beyond the solar system that pose a health and safety hazard for humans exploring beyond Earth orbit. IBEX will make these observations from a highly elliptical orbit t

On Thursday 8th October 2020, Florence Parly, Minister of the Armed Forces, visits two defence companies essential to the economic fabric of the Brittany region. The Minister of the Armed Forces then visits SABENA TECHNICS, a company specialising in aeronautical maintenance, aircraft conversion and cabin fittings. Half of this company's turnover is in the military sector. SABENA TECHNICS will benefit from the government's aeronautics support plan with, in particular, the anticipation of the order for a light surveillance and intelligence aircraft (ALSR). Saint-Lunaire on 2020-10-08.Le jeudi 8 octobre 2020, Florence Parly, ministre des Armees, visite deux entreprises de defense essentielles au tissu economique de la region Bretagne. La ministre des Armées visite ensuite la societe SABENA TECHNICS, spécialisee dans la maintenance aeronautique, la transformation davions et laménagement des cabines. La moitie du chiffre daffaire de cette entreprise concerne lactivite militaire. SABENA

Work continues on the Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) Orion heat shield at Textron in Wimington, MA on March 28, 2013. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.

. NASA 862, which is an F/A-18D based at NASAs Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, is positioned in the U.S. Air Force Corrosion Control Facility. The facility is also known as the Paint Barn.

Air Force Airman 1st Class Morgan Domenico and Tech. Sgt. John Breitenbach, both maintainers with the 167th Maintenance Group stabilize a left elevator being hoisted to the tail of a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft during a unit training assembly, Shepherd Field, Martinsburg, West Virginia, May 14, 2022. Maintenance events such as this held during UTAs allow drill status guardsmen training time in unique procedures which require a high level of teamwork.

At Launch Pad 36A on the Cape Canaveral Air Station, technicians prepare to erect the first stage of a Lockheed Martin Atlas II rocket which will be used to launch the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-L (GOES-L). GOES-L is the latest in the current series of advanced geostationary weather satellites in service. Once in orbit, it will become GOES-11 and function as an on-orbit spare to be activated when one of the operational satellites needs to be replaced. Launch is scheduled for Saturday, May 15 at the opening of a launch window which extends from 2:23 to 4:41 a.m. EDT

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - Workers move a section of the fairing for NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive mission, or SMAP, from a hardware dolly toward a transportation cradle in the Building 836 high bay on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.The fairing will protect the SMAP spacecraft from the heat and aerodynamic pressure generated during its ascent to orbit aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket from Space Launch Complex 2. 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 will also 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.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The installation of new bearings on crawler-transporter 2 is underway in Vehicle Assembly Building High Bay 2 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.Modifications underway on the crawler are designed to ensure its ability to transport launch vehicles currently under development, such as the agencys Space Launch System, to the launch pad. Present modifications represent a redesign and upgrade to the roller bearings and assemblies originally installed on the crawler. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program office at Kennedy is overseeing the upgrades. For more than 45 years the crawler-transporters were used to transport the mobile launcher platform carrying the Apollo-Saturn V rockets and space shuttles to Launch Pads 39A and 39B.

Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. - Inside a processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians assist as a crane moves the wing closer for a fit check with the Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL launch vehicle.NASAs Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS, spacecraft will launch aboard the Pegasus XL in late 2012. 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 heliosphere, or region around the sun.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Inside the Hangar M on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, another Delta II first stage is ready to be placed on a transporter. The Delta will be moved to the launch pad for the future launch of a Global Positioning Satellite.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- In a processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, a technician helps guide a crane away after final wing installation on the Pegasus XL launch vehicle. The Orbital Sciences Corp. Pegasus rocket will launch the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) into space. After the rocket and spacecraft are processed at Vandenberg, they will be flown on the Orbital Sciences L-1011 carrier aircraft to the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site at the Pacific Oceans Kwajalein Atoll for launch. The high-energy x-ray telescope will conduct a census for black holes, map radioactive material in young supernovae remnants, and study the origins of cosmic rays and the extreme physics around collapsed stars. For more information, visit science.nasa.gov_missions_nustar_.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In Hanger AF at Cape Canaveral, Fla., the disassembled solid rocket boosters from the STS-126 launch will be transported to the NASA railway. The segments will be sent to ATK (Alliant Techsystems) in Utah for final processing and return to Kennedy for another shuttle launch.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - A section of the fairing for NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive mission, or SMAP, secured to a lifting device, glides across the floor of the Building 836 high bay on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.The fairing will protect the SMAP spacecraft from the heat and aerodynamic pressure generated during its ascent to orbit aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket from Space Launch Complex 2. 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 will also 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.

Russian engineers prepare the Soyuz TMA-14 spacecraft and boosters for mating Monday, March 23, 2009 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Soyuz is scheduled to launch the crew of Expedition 19 and a spaceflight participant on March 26, 2009.

France, Occitanie, Blagnac on 2023-07-10. Bruno Le Maire, French Minister for the Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty, Roland Lescure, French Minister for Industry, Dominique Faure, French Minister for Local Authorities and Rural Affairs, and Clement Beaune, French Minister for Transport, inaugurate Airbus' new A320 Family final assembly line in Blagnac. This new assembly line, which is highly digitised and automated, will employ almost 700 people. They were welcomed by Guillaume Faury, Executive Chairman of Airbus, Marion Smeyers, Director of the new assembly line, and Carole Delga, President of the Occitanie Region. Photograph by Martin Bertrand.France, Occitanie, Blagnac le 2023-07-10. Bruno Le Maire, ministre de lEconomie, des Finances et de la Souverainete industrielle et numerique, Roland Lescure, ministre de lIndustrie, Dominique Faure, ministre des Collectivites territoriales et de la Ruralite, et Clement Beaune, ministre des Transports, inaugurent la nou

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

Lower Empennage Final Install Event. Lockheed Martin Photography By Garry Tice1011 Lockheed Way, Palmdale, Ca. 93599Event: Lower Empennage Final Install EventDate: 3/26-28/2023Additional Info:

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Workers in the Orbiter Processing Facility get ready to lift and install the rear body flap on orbiter Discovery. The body flap, which is temporarily under protective covering, attaches below the main engines.

License construction of the General Dynamics F-16 at the Breeder Factories Schiphol.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In In the transfer aisle of NASA Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building, the newly delivered external tank is suspended vertically just above the floor. 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.

Technicians place the second stage of a Delta II rocket onto a transport trailer inside NASA Hangar 836 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in preparation to launch the Joint Polar Satellite System spacecraft in 2017. JPSS-1 is part of the next-generation environmental satellite system, a collaborative program between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Inside NASA Kennedy Space Centers Vehicle Assembly Building, workers secure the cranes onto External Tank 119 that enable the tank to be lowered to a horizontal position. Then it will be placed on a transporter in the transfer aisle to be moved to the barge at the Turn Basin. The tank will embark on a voyage around the Florida peninsula to the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. Delivered to KSC in June, ET-119 is the third newly redesigned tank.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Vehicle Assembly Building transfer aisle at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the overhead crane lifts space shuttle Atlantis from its transporter. Atlantis will be raised to vertical for transfer to high bay 3. There it will be stacked with its external fuel tank and twin solid rocket boosters. After additional preparations are made, the shuttle will be rolled out to Launch Pad 39A to prepare for launch on the STS-125 mission targeted for 1:34 a.m. EDT Oct. 8.

A Bombardier C Series jet is shown on the assembly line at a Bombardier assembly plant in Mirabel, Que., Canada, Friday, April 2

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

Exhaust and cooling hoses are attached to a 96th Bomber Wing B-1B bomber aircraft as the plane sits in a maintenance hangar. Base: Dyess Air Force Base State: Texas (TX) Country: United States Of America (USA)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, ground support technicians use a special work stand to guide a roller bearing shaft for insertion on the C truck of crawler-transporter 2, or CT-2. A section of the treads on the C truck were removed to allow access to the bearings.Work continues in high bay 2 to upgrade CT-2. The modifications are designed to ensure CT-2s ability to transport launch vehicles currently in development, such as the agencys Space Launch System, to the launch pad. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program office at Kennedy is overseeing the upgrades. For more than 45 years the crawler-transporters were used to transport the mobile launcher platform and the Apollo-Saturn V rockets and, later, space shuttles to Launch Pads 39A and B.

U.S. Air Force Airmen assigned to the 735th Air Mobility Squadron and the 15th Maintenance Group prepare a C-17 Globemaster III engine for installation at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii on Aug. 19, 2022.

Panel installation takes place on the MGM-118A Peacekeeper weapons system. Base: Vandenberg Air Force Base State: California (CA) Country: United States Of America (USA)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida, a view from below shows space shuttle Atlantis tilted at a 43.21 angle to the portside and supported by special jacks to elevate it 26 feet from the ground. Its portside wingtip is only 7.5 feet off the ground. Atlantis payload bay doors have been opened in preparation for display in the Space Shuttle Atlantis exhibit, a 90,000-square-foot facility, scheduled to open June 29, 2013. The new $100 million facility will include interactive exhibits that tell the story of the 30-year Space Shuttle Program and highlight the future of space exploration. Visitors to the exhibit will get an up close look at Atlantis with its payload bay doors open, similar to how it looked in space.

Photograph taken within the assembly plant at Boeing in Wichita. A Trent 800 development engine is mounted to its Boeing 777 strut before being flight cycle and endurance testing at Rolls-Royce. Dated 20th Century

. The engine that will power NASAs quiet supersonic X-59 in flight is installed, marking a major milestone in the experimental aircrafts journey toward first flight. The installation of the F414-GE-100 engine at Lockheed Martins Skunk Works facility brings the vehicle close to the completion of its assembly.

Seen from behind, the orbiter Atlantis moves into the Orbiter Processing Facility 2 (OPF-2) where it will undergo preparations for its planned flight in June 1999. Atlantis spent 10 months in Palmdale, CA, undergoing extensive inspections and modifications in the orbiter processing facility there. The modifications included several upgrades enabling it to support International Space Station missions, such as adding an external airlock for ISS docking missions and installing thinner, lighter thermal protection blankets for weight reduction which will allow it to haul heavier cargo. OPF-2 consists of two 2,700-square-meter (29,000 square feet) high bays. It measures 29 meters (95 ft). high, 121 meters (397 ft) long and 71 meters (233 ft) wide

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - In the NASA Building 836 high bay at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, workers position a section of the fairing for NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 mission, or OCO-2, onto a mobile fairing trailer. The fairing will protect OCO-2 during launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket from Space Launch Complex 2 in July. OCO-2 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.

Lower Empennage Test Fit Install. Lockheed Martin Photography By Garry Tice1011 Lockheed Way, Palmdale, Ca. 93599Event: Lower Empennage Test Fit InstallDate: 1/27/2023Additional Info:

The Breguet BR1150 Atlantic (SP-13A) maritime patrol range 258 (1972-1984) during maintenance in a hangar at Marineliegkamp Valkenburg.

Female worker at the Beechcraft factory in Wichita, Kansas.

Worker Adding Cowling and Control Rods to Motors of B-25 Bombers on Assembly Line, North American Aviation Plant, Inglewood, California, USA, Alfred T. Palmer for Office of War Information, October 1942

The Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma,is the largest depot repair complex in the Air Force. The Complex's depotArtisans perform award-winning program depot maintenance and modificationson B-1 Lancer aircraft, supporting the sustainment of combat-readyairpower. (U.S. Air Force photo/Gina Anderson)

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.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building, workers check under the nose of the orbiter Discovery as the 175-ton bridge crane slowly lifts Discovery off the orbiter transporter. Discovery is being lifted to vertical for the remate with the new External Tank, ET-121, and Solid Rocket Boosters in high bay 3. That tank was originally scheduled to fly with Atlantis on the second Return to Flight mission, STS-121. A new heater was added to the tank's feedline bellows, part of the pipeline that carries the liquid oxygen to the orbiters main engines, to minimize the potential for ice and frost buildup. After the remate, technicians will work final closeouts on the fully assembled Space Shuttle stack, and perform liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen electrical mates and an interface verification test. Discovery is currently scheduled to return to Launch Pad 39B on June 13.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - Workers at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California prepare to lift a solid rocket motor, or SRM, for NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2, the OCO-2 mission, from a transporter onto a storage chock where it will be kept until needed. The SRMs will be attached to a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket slated to launch the OCO-2 spacecraft from Space Launch Complex 2 in July. OCO-2 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.

Maintenance workers at an aviation facility.

Russian engineers prepare the Soyuz TMA-14 spacecraft and boosters for mating Monday, March 23, 2009 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Soyuz is scheduled to launch the crew of Expedition 19 and a spaceflight participant on March 26, 2009.

JSC2010-E-044365 (30 March 2010) --- In preparation for an April 2 liftoff for Expedition 23, the final assembly for Soyuz TMA-18 was performed March 30 by TsSKB-Progress personnel in the Launch Vehicle Assembly facility at Site 112 of Baikonur Cosmodrome.

Assistant crew chief David Wyckoff applies some elbow grease to loosen a link pin during a landing gear changeout on NASA Johnson Space Center's Super Guppy.

Assembly work at the Beechcraft factory in Wichita, Kansas.

Technicians at the NASA Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif., removed the German-built primary mirror assembly from the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, or SOFIA, April 18, 2008 in preparation for the final finish coating of the mirror. A precision crane lifted the more than two-ton mirror assembly from its cavity in the rear fuselage of the highly modified Boeing 747SP. The assembly was then secured in its transport dolly and moved to a clean room where it was prepared for shipment to NASA Ames Research Center at Moffett Field near Mountain View, Calif. where it would receive its aluminized finish coating before being re-installed in the SOFIA aircraft.

First Power-On SCO. Lockheed Martin Photography By Theresa Hoey1011 Lockheed Way, Palmdale, Ca. 93599Event: First Power-On SCODate: 10/06/2022Additional Info:

Lower Empennage Test Fit Install. Lockheed Martin Photography By Garry Tice1011 Lockheed Way, Palmdale, Ca. 93599Event: Lower Empennage Test Fit InstallDate: 1/27/2023Additional Info:

Iberia maintenance facility, Madrid, Spain, Europe

External aircraft fuel tanks are arranged on the vertical tank storage system in an 18th Component Maintenance Squadron fuels building at Kadena Air Base, Japan, Sept. 16, 2022. Each of the three VTSS units can hold up to 100 external aircraft fuel tanks.

FRUSELAJE CENTRAL DEL PROTOTIPO CASA 212 - FOTO AÑOS 60. Location: CONSTRUCCIONES AERONAUTICAS-CASA. GETAFE. MADRID. SPANIEN.

Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Justin Nicol (left), an aviation maintenance technician, teaches Petty Officer 3rd Class Aubrey Lametterey (right), an avionics electrical technician, the rotary system of the MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter at Air Station Kodiak, Alaska, on Sept. 7, 2022. Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak is a 17th Coast Guard District unit located on Kodiak Island approximately 250 miles southwest of Anchorage, Alaska. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Ian Gray.

Caucasian man working in airplane hangar

A 10K forklift removes the supplies from a C-130 Hercules out of Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark. The supplies are for support of Base Camp Ayoko.(Exact date unknown). Subject Operation/Series: DISTANT HAVEN Country: Suriname (SUR)

Close up of airplane engine during maintenance

License construction of the General Dynamics F-16 at the Breeder Factories Schiphol.

At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the boattail adaptor interface that will connect the Centaur upper stage to the payload fairing is offloaded for NASA's upcoming Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, or InSight, mission to land on Mars. InSight will liftoff atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket to send the spacecraft on the first mission to explore the Red Planet's deep interior. It will investigate processes that shaped the rocky planets of the inner solar system including Earth. Liftoff from Vandenberg is scheduled for May 5, 2018.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Workers in the Multi-Payload Processing Facility prepare one part of the fairing for encapsulation of the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX). The spacecraft is already mated to the Pegasus launch vehicle. After encapsulation, the GALEX/Pegasus will be transported to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and mated to the L-1011 about four days before launch. A new launch date has not been determined.

At the Integration Facility at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the upper stage of the Soyuz booster rocket containing the Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft is positioned for mating with the rest of the rocket Dec. 18, 2011. Preparations continue for launch from Baikonur to the International Space Station on Dec. 21 with Expedition 30 Flight Engineer Don Pettit of NASA, Soyuz Commander Oleg Kononenko and Flight Engineer Andre Kuipers of the European Space Agency.

A new Egress System Maintenance Trainer is unveiled during a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new F-35 Field Training Detachment facility at RAF Lakenheath, England, Feb. 8, 2024. The improved infrastructure will be able to house 13 instructors and can host up to 65 students a day at max training demand, ultimately increasing overall readiness in the region. Air Force

Engineers work at the Beechcraft factory in Wichita, Kansas.

The Shuttle Orbiter Enterprise is off-loaded at Redstone Arsenal Airfield for later Mated Vertical Ground Vibration tests (MVGVT) at Marshall Space Flight Center's Dynamic Test Stand. The tests marked the first time ever that the entire shuttle complement including orbiter, external tank, and solid rocket boosters were vertically mated.

3% Space Shuttle Model preparation in Ames Machine Shop for Return to flight test to be run in the Ames 9X7ft wind tunnel test T97-0131 (IA-700B)

Under the watchful eyes of technicians, a crane positions the Orion PA-1 Abort Flight Test module for mass properties testing in NASA Dryden's Flight Loads Lab.

Gear Swings SCO. Lockheed Martin Photography By Garry Tice1011 Lockheed Way, Palmdale, Ca. 93599Event: Gear Swings SCODate: 04/19/2023Additional Info:

Engineers and technicians prepare SOFIA's German-built primary mirror assembly for reinstallation into NASA's 747SP airborne observatory.

Members of the 37th Component Repair Squadron inspect two J-79 turbojet engines in the squadron propulsion shop. Base: George Air Force Base State: California (CA) Country: United States Of America (USA)

SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) primary mirror being moved into N-211, readied and move into the Ames Vacuum Chamber for the coating process.

This rear view shows the wing loading test configuration and testing area of an F/A-18E from the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) in Patuxent River, Maryland. The aircraft is in NASAs Armstrong Flight Research Center Flight Loads Laboratory in Edwards, California, for the centers biggest load calibrations tests. This testing is needed before the aircraft can serve as a test vehicle for determining if it can safely manage maneuvers and proposed upgrades

A technician works on the new F-110 turbofan engine to be used in the F-16 aircraft. Country: Unknown

An Aerospace Propulsion specialist assigned to the 148th Fighter Wing, Minnesota Air National Guard, Duluth, Minn., conducts intermediate maintenance on General Electric F110-129 jet engines on October 9, 2022. Responsible for ensuring our F-16 Fighting Falcons are in first-rate operational condition, Aerospace Propulsion specialists, also known as jet engine mechanics, test, maintain and repair all parts of the engine. These specialists are a critical to keeping our jets in the air.

Jet engine in factory

Madrid, 01/18/2016. Iberia area. Aircraft maintenance hangar 6. Photo: De San Bernardo. ARCHDC.

This view shows the left wing loading test configuration and testing area of an F/A-18E from the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) in Patuxent River, Maryland. The aircraft is in NASAs Armstrong Flight Research Center Flight Loads Laboratory in Edwards, California, for the centers biggest load calibrations tests. This testing is needed before the aircraft can serve as a test vehicle for determining if it can safely manage maneuvers and proposed upgrades.

F-16 in Maintenance Hangar, Showing Disassembled Wing

Members of the news media view the high bay inside the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility (RPSF) at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Inside the RPSF, engineers and technicians with Jacobs Engineering on the Test and Operations Support Contract, explain the various test stands. In the far corner is one of two pathfinders, or test versions, of solid rocket booster segments for NASAs Space Launch System rocket. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program and Jacobs are preparing the booster segments, which are inert, for a series of lifts, moves and stacking operations to prepare for Exploration Mission-1, deep-space missions and the journey to Mars.

Pilot works on antique plane in Hood River, Oregon.

Multiple cargo pallets filled with rice sit inside a KC-10 Extender during a humanitarian aid mission at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas, Feb. 21, 2024. The 19th Airlift Wing has many mission sets, one of which is to provide and support humanitarian aid missions across the globe. Air Force

CADENA DE MONTAJE DE AVIONES NORTHROP F-5 - FOTO AÑOS 60. Location: CONSTRUCCIONES AERONAUTICAS-CASA. GETAFE. MADRID. SPANIEN.

Detail of Turbine Blades of an Afterburning Turbofan Engine under Maintenance

3% Space Shuttle Model preparation in Ames Machine Shop for Return to flight test to be run in the Ames 9X7ft wind tunnel test T97-0131 (IA-700B)

F-111 aircraft are being converted into EF-111A model aircraft at the Grumman Riverhead Plant, Grumman Aerospace Corporation. Base: Long Island State: New York (NY) Country: United States Of America (USA)

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