Aerospace Engineering Work

Snapshots of engineers working on space shuttle engine installations and testing at NASA facilities. Highlights the complexity of aerospace technology.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility bay 2, technicians work the engine installer to maneuver main engine 1 into place on space shuttle Endeavour. The scheduled launch vehicle for the STS-126 mission, Endeavour will deliver a multi-purpose logistics module to the International Space Station. Launch is targeted for Nov. 10. Endeavour is also the backup shuttle, if needed for rescue, for the STS-125 mission in October that will make repairs on the Hubble Space Telescope. For that purpose, it is designated STS-400.

T&R Endeavour Airlock Removal

T&R Atlantis Engine 3 Removal

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne technician carefully maneuvers a space shuttle main engine into position on space shuttle Endeavour in Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 2 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The engine will fly on the shuttle's STS-130 mission to the International Space Station.Even though this engine weighs one-seventh as much as a locomotive engine, its high-pressure fuel pump alone delivers as much horsepower as 28 locomotives, while its high-pressure oxidizer pump delivers the equivalent horsepower of an additional 11 locomotives. The maximum equivalent horsepower developed by the shuttle's three main engines is more than 37 million horsepower. Endeavour is targeted to launch Feb. 4, 2010.

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

STS-335 STS-135 ATLANTIS ENGINE-3 (LAST) INSTALLATION

At NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana, Lockheed Martin technicians complete the first weld on the pressure vessel for Orion which will carry humans to deep space on Artemis II on Dec. 21, 2017.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In Orbiter Processing Facility-1 at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians sitting on the Hyster forklift monitor the progress as technicians in the aft portion of space shuttle Atlantis connect replica shuttle main engine RSME number 2. Three RSMEs will be installed on Atlantis. The work is part of the Space Shuttle Programs transition and retirement processing of the space shuttle fleet. A groundbreaking was held Jan. 18 for Atlantis future home, a 65,000-square-foot exhibit hall in Shuttle Plaza at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Atlantis is scheduled to roll over to the visitor complex in November in preparation for the exhibits grand opening in July 2013.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Workers on the engine lift get ready to install the last engine in orbiter Atlantis after a welding and polishing process was undertaken on flow liners where cracks were detected. All engines were removed for inspection of flow liners. Atlantis will next fly on mission STS-112, scheduled for launch no earlier than Oct. 2.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility bay 2, technicians work the engine installer to maneuver main engine 1 into place on space shuttle Endeavour. The scheduled launch vehicle for the STS-126 mission, Endeavour will deliver a multi-purpose logistics module to the International Space Station. Launch is targeted for Nov. 10. Endeavour is also the backup shuttle, if needed for rescue, for the STS-125 mission in October that will make repairs on the Hubble Space Telescope. For that purpose, it is designated STS-400.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Horizontal Integration Facility at Launch Complex 37 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, preparations are under way to mate the second stage of a Delta IV rocket, at left, to the first stage.This United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket is slated to launch GOES-P, the latest Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite developed by NASA for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA. Launch is targeted for Feb. 25.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Technicians carefully remove main engine No. 3 from space shuttle Discovery using a specially designed engine installer, called a Hyster forklift. The work is taking place in Orbiter Processing Facility-2 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The removal is part of Discovery's transition and retirement processing. Work performed on Discovery is expected to help rocket designers build next-generation spacecraft and prepare the shuttle for future public display.NASA/Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In Orbiter Processing Facility-1 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians carefully remove engine No. 2, one of three space shuttle main engines from Endeavour, using a specially designed engine installer, called a Hyster forklift.The removal is part of Endeavour's transition and retirement processing. Endeavour is being prepared for public display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Endeavour flew 25 missions, spent 299 days in space, orbited Earth 4,671 times and traveled 122,883,151 miles over the course of its 19-year career.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 3 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane lifts the gaseous nitrogen tank from space shuttle Discovery's payload bay with the aid of a "fish pole" lifting fixture. The tank is being removed during processing for the shuttle's STS-131 mission to the International Space Station.The tanks are used for atmosphere conditioning and for moving potable water in the crew module. The seven-member STS-131 crew will deliver a Multi-Purpose Logistics Module filled with science racks to be transferred to laboratories on the station. Three spacewalks will include work to attach a spare ammonia tank assembly to the station's exterior and return a European experiment from outside the station's Columbus module. This will be the 33rd shuttle mission to the station. Launch is targeted for March 18, 2010.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In Orbiter Processing Facility bay No. 1, technicians coordinate the movement of one of the three main engines being installed on space shuttle Atlantis. Main engine No. 1 has already been installed. Atlantis is the designated vehicle for the STS-125 mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. Launch is targeted for Oct. 8.

T & R Discovery, Right OMS Pod Removal

. On May 24, 2022, the core stage production team moved the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket engine section for Artemis II to the core stage final integration area at NASAs Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. While there, the engine section team is completing installation of the main propulsion systems, finishing integration of the electrical and avionics systems, and preparing for functional testing of the various systems. During final integration, the team also will install remaining internal thermal protection systems and prepare to position the engine section from vertical to horizontal so that it can be joined with the rest of the core stage. The engine section is located at the bottom of the core stage and includes the rockets main propulsion systems that connect to the core stages four RS-25 engines that will help launch the Artemis II lunar mission. This fall, the engine section will be horizontally integrated with the previously-joined forward assembly and liquid hydroge

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

The Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft is seen as the work platforms around it are retracted in preparation for being encapsulated in its fairing on Thursday, Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Expedition 49 flight engineer Shane Kimbrough of NASA, flight engineer Andrey Borisenko of Roscosmos, and Soyuz commander Sergey Ryzhikov of Roscosmos are scheduled to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Oct. 19.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In Orbiter Processing Facility-1 at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, an orbital maneuvering system, or OMS, pod is lifted from its transporter under the careful supervision of United Space Alliance technicians. The pod will be reinstalled on space shuttle Atlantis.The orbital maneuvering system provided the shuttle with thrust for orbit insertion, rendezvous and deorbit, and could provide up to 1,000 pounds of propellant to the aft reaction control system. The OMS is housed in two independent pods located on each side of the shuttle's aft fuselage. Each pod contains one OMS engine and the hardware needed to pressurize, store and distribute the propellants to perform the velocity maneuvers. Atlantis OMS pods were removed and sent to White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico to be cleaned of residual toxic propellant. The work is part of the Space Shuttle Programs transition and retirement processing of the shuttle fleet. A groundbreaking was held Jan. 1

Discovery T&R, Right Hand Inner Heat Shield Removal from Engine #1

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In Orbiter Processing Facility-1 at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers position a replica shuttle main engine (RSME) into the engine well of space shuttle Discovery with the aid of a Hyster forklift, a specially designed engine installer.The RSME is one of three being installed on Discovery during Space Shuttle Program transition and retirement activities. The replicas are built in the Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne engine shop at Kennedy to replace the shuttle engines which will be placed in storage to support NASA's Space Launch System, under development. Discovery is being prepared for display at the Smithsonians National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 2 at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians move the Hyster forklift into position for installation of replica shuttle main engine RSME number 3 on the space shuttle Endeavour.The work is part of Transition and Retirement of the remaining space shuttles, Endeavour and Atlantis. Endeavour is being prepared for public display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Its ferry flight to California is targeted for mid-September. Endeavour was the last space shuttle added to NASAs orbiter fleet. Over the course of its 19-year career, Endeavour spent 299 days in space during 25 missions.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center, United Space Alliance technicians Terry Williams (left) and Ron Delaney retract the nose landing gear on Space Shuttle Atlantis. Compression measurements will be taken of the newly installed nose landing gear thermal barrier seal with the gear in position in its wheel well and the landing gear doors closed. Atlantis is being processed for launch on the second Return to Flight mission, STS-121, which is scheduled to fly in July.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In Orbiter Processing Facility-2 at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a technician moves a Hyster forklift toward Engine #3 on space shuttle Atlantis. The forklift will be used to remove the engine and transport it to the Engine Shop for possible future use. Each of the three space shuttle main engines is 14 feet long and weighs 7,800 pounds. Removal of the space shuttle main engines is part of the Transition and Retirement work that is being performed in order to prepare Atlantis for eventual display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The new block 2 engine for the orbiter Atlantis is moved into place next to the other two engines. The work is being done in the Orbiter Processing Facility bay 3. The engine will have its first flight on mission STS-104, scheduled for launch June 14. The Block II Main Engine configuration is manufactured by Boeing Rocketdyne in Canoga Park, Calif., and includes a new Pratt and Whitney high-pressure fuel turbo pump. Engine improvements are managed by NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. Each Space Shuttle Main Engine is 14 feet (4.3 meters) long, weighs about 7,000 pounds (3,175 kilograms), and is 7.5 feet (2.3 meters) in diameter at the end of the nozzle

The Soyuz TMA-5 spacecraft is mated to its booster rocket in a processing hangar at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan Monday, October 11, 2004, in preparation for its rollout to the launch pad October 12 and its liftoff October 14 to carry Expedition 10 Commander and NASA Science Officer Leroy Chiao, Flight Engineer and Soyuz Commander Salizhan Sharipov and Russian Space Forces cosmonaut Yuri Shargin to the International Space Station.

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

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

jsc2018e050837 - In the Integration Facility at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft is lowered from its test stand May 29 in preparation for its encapsulation into the upper stage of its Soyuz booster rocket. Serena Aunon-Chancellor of NASA, Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency and Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos will launch June 6 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft for a six-month mission on the International Space Station...Courtesy: Roscosmos and RSC-Energia.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Cranes rotate the Ares I-X motor segment to a vertical position in order to transfer it to a work stand in the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Four segments were delivered to Kennedy for final processing and integration. The booster used for the Ares I-X launch is being modified by adding new forward structures and a fifth segment simulator. The motor is the final hardware needed for the rocket's upcoming test flight this summer. The stacking operations are scheduled to begin in the Vehicle Assembly Building in April.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the transporter has been moved from under space shuttle Discovery as preparations are made for its move into a high bay. In the high bay, Discovery will be attached to its external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters completing the STS-131 shuttle stack. Rollout to Launch Pad 39A is planned for March 2. The seven-member STS-131 crew will deliver the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo, filled with resupply stowage platforms and racks, to the International Space Station aboard space shuttle Discovery. Work to attach a spare ammonia tank assembly to the station's exterior and return a European experiment from outside the station's Columbus module will be conducted during three spacewalks. STS-131, targeted for launch on April 5, will be the 33rd shuttle mission to the station and the 131st shuttle mission overall.

jsc2018e025512 - In the Integration Facility at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Soyuz MS-08 spacecraft is rotated to a horizontal position March 14 to be encapsulated in the upper stage of a Soyuz booster rocket. Expedition 55 crewmembers Drew Feustel and Ricky Arnold of NASA and Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos will launch in the Soyuz March 21 for a five-month mission on the International Space Station...NASA/Victor Zelentsov.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - - Inside Orbiter Processing Facility-1 at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane is used to lift a sling holding one of two orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pods that will be re-installed on space shuttle Discovery. The OMS pods were returned from White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico where they underwent a complete deservicing and cleaning. The work is part of the Space Shuttle Programs transition and retirement processing of shuttle Discovery. Discovery is being prepared for display at Smithsonians National Air and Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va.

Space Launch System Corestage-2 Liquid Hydrogen(LH2) tank is under construction at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility. Here you can see 1 of 5 barrels being loaded in the Vertical Assembly Center tool where it will be welded.

T&R Atlantis Engine 3 Removal

Documentation and PR photographs of Gamma-Ray Imager/Polarimeter for Solar Flares (GRIPS) test hardware at Plum Brook B-2 Faciity (Bldg. 3211)

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

T&R Endeavour Airlock Removal

. These images and videos show technicians at NASAs Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans lifting and installing the liquid oxygen dome weld confidence article for a future upper stage for NASAs SLS (Space Launch System) rocket onto the LTAC (LOX Tank Assembly Center) in Building 115 at Michoud for the next phase of manufacturing in July 2023. The dome makes up a portion of the liquid oxygen tank weld confidence article for the EUS (exploration upper stage). Teams use weld confidence articles to verify welding procedures and structural integrity of the welds to manufacture structural test and flight versions of the hardware. EUS flight hardware is in early production at Michoud. The more powerful upper stage and its four RL10 engines will be used on the second configuration of the SLS rocket, known as Block 1B, and will provide in-space propulsion to send astronauts in NASAs Orion spacecraft and heavy cargo on a precise trajectory to the Moon. NASA and Boeing, the lead contractor fo

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) Shop, the SSME is lowered onto the Hyster lift for transport to the Orbiter Processing Facility. There it will be installed in the orbiter Discovery for Return to Flight mission STS-114. This is the third SSME to be installed in Discovery. Overall, an SSME weighs approximately 7,000 pounds. An SSME operates at greater temperature extremes than any mechanical system in common use today. The liquid hydrogen fuel is -423 degrees Fahrenheit, the second coldest liquid on Earth. When the hydrogen is burned with liquid oxygen, the temperature in the engine's combustion chamber reaches +6000 degrees Fahrenheit -- higher than the boiling point of iron. Each SSME is controlled by its own computer, which checks the health of the engines 50 times per second during countdown and ascent. The controller can shut an engine down if it detects a problem.

Technicians with NASAs Exploration Ground Systems lower a mock-up, or pathfinder, of the Space Launch Systems (SLS) center booster segment onto an aft pathfinder segment inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at the agencys Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sept. 14, 2020. Teams rehearsed stacking both pathfinder segments on top of the mobile launcher in High Bay 3 of the VAB in preparation for the Artemis I launch. Stacking of the actual SLS booster segments will occur later this year, when the rockets core stage arrives at Kennedy. Artemis I is the first in a series of increasingly complex missions that will test SLS and the Orion spacecraft as an integrated system prior to crewed flights to the Moon.

The completed Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) Orion crew module pressure vessel is packed for shipment to NASA's Kennedy Space Center at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans on June 26, 2011. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane lifts the conjoined forward and center segments of the fifth segment simulator for the Ares I-X. The segments will be mated to the simulators aft segment, at left. Ares I-X is the test vehicle for the Ares I, a component of the Constellation Program to return men to the moon and beyond. Ares I is the essential core of a safe, reliable, cost-effective space transportation system that eventually will carry crewed missions back to the moon, on to Mars and out into the solar system. The launch of the Ares I-X flight test is targeted for August 2009.

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

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) Processing Facility, Boeing-Rocketdyne move conductor Bob Brackett (left) oversees the work of technicians on his team as they secure SSME 2058, the first SSME fully assembled at KSC, onto an engine stand. The engine is being placed into a horizontal position in preparation for shipment to NASAs Stennis Space Center in Mississippi to undergo a hot fire acceptance test. It is the first of five engines to be fully assembled on site to reach the desired number of 15 engines ready for launch at any given time in the Space Shuttle program. A Space Shuttle has three reusable main engines. Each is 14 feet long, weighs about 7,800 pounds, is seven-and-a-half feet in diameter at the end of its nozzle, and generates almost 400,000 pounds of thrust. Historically, SSMEs were assembled in Canoga Park, Calif., with post-flight inspections performed at KSC. Both functions were consolidated in February 2002. The Rocketdyne Propulsi

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility, the overhead crane is lifted away from the Remote Manipulator System (RMS), or Shuttle arm, below, which was just installed in Atlantis payload bay. The RMS includes the electromechanical arm that maneuvers a payload from the payload bay of the orbiter to its deployment position and then releases it. It can also grapple a free-flying payload, maneuver it to the payload bay of the orbiter and berth it in the orbiter. The RMS arm is 50 feet 3 inches long and 15 inches in diameter. It weighs 905 pounds, and the total system weighs 994 pounds. The RMS has six joints that correspond roughly to the joints of the human arm, with shoulder yaw and pitch joints; an elbow pitch joint; and wrist pitch, yaw and roll joints. The end effector is the unit at the end of the wrist that actually grabs, or grapples, the payload. Atlantis is the designated orbiter to fly on mission STS-121. The mission has a launch window of July 12 - July 31

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

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 2 at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians use the Hyster forklift to install replica shuttle main engine RSME number 1 on the space shuttle Endeavour. The orbiter is surrounded by work platforms allowing access to all areas of the spacecraft.The work is part of Transition and Retirement of the remaining space shuttles, Endeavour and Atlantis. Endeavour is being prepared for public display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Its ferry flight to California is targeted for mid-September. Endeavour was the last space shuttle added to NASAs orbiter fleet. Over the course of its 19-year career, Endeavour spent 299 days in space during 25 missions.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, an overhead crane lifts the Experiment Logistics Module Pressurized Section, or ELM-PS, of the Japanese Experiment Module, called Kibo, from its workstand. The module will be placed in a payload canister for eventual transfer to Launch Pad 39A. The ELM-PS is the primary payload for space shuttle Endeavour's STS-123 mission, which is targeted for launch to the International Space Station on March 11.

The Saturn I S-I stages for the SA-8 and SA-10 mission in final assembly phase in a manufacturing building at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Louisiana. The SA-8 mission was launched on May 25, 1965 with the first industry-built booster, and deployed the Pegasus II Micrometeoroid Detection satellite. The SA-10 mission was the last Saturn I mission, launched on July 30, 1965, and carried the Pegasus III Meteoroid Detection satellite.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Twin Solid Rocket Boosters are stacked on a Mobile Launcher Platform inside the Vehicle Assembly Building. The SRBs will be flying on Space Shuttle Discovery for Return to Flight mission STS-114. The launch planning window is May 12 to June 3, 2005.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Solid rocket booster, or SRB, segments from the STS-126 launch are being loaded onto transporters to take to the NASA Railroad yard at NASA's Kennedy Space Center for transfer to a rail car. The segments will be taken to Utah. After a mission, the spent boosters are recovered, cleaned, disassembled, refurbished and reused for another launch. After the segments are hydrolased inside, they are placed on flatbed trucks and transferred to the NASA Railroad yard. The NASA Railroad locomotive backs up the rail cars and the segments will be lowered onto the car. After being covered for the trip, the segments will be moved to Titusville for interchange with Florida East Coast Railway to begin the trip back to Utah.

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

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Space Shuttle Main Engine Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a space shuttle main engine is secured on a Hyster forklift, left, and ready for its move to Orbiter Processing Facility-3. Three main engines, weighing 7,000 pounds each, will be installed in space shuttle Discovery for the STS-133 mission to the International Space Station. Discovery and its STS-133 crew are targeted to deliver the Express Logistics Carrier-4 filled with external payloads and experiments, as well as critical spare components to the station later this year.

In High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the left-hand center center booster segment for Artemis I is lowered onto the center aft booster segment on the mobile launcher for the Space Launch System (SLS) on Jan. 21, 2021. Workers with Exploration Ground Systems and contractor Jacobs teams will stack the twin five-segment boosters on the mobile launcher in High Bay 3 over a number of weeks. When the core stage arrives, it will join the boosters on the mobile launcher, followed by the interim cryogenic propulsion stage and Orion spacecraft. Manufactured by Northrop Grumman in Utah, the twin boosters provide more than 75 percent of the total SLS thrust at launch. The SLS is managed by Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an i

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In Orbiter Processing Facility-1 at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers monitor the progress as an overhead crane is moved into place to begin the process of removing shuttle Endeavours left-hand orbital maneuvering system, or OMS, pod. The work is part of Endeavours transition and retirement processing. The spacecraft is being prepared for public display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Endeavour flew 25 missions, spent 299 days in space, orbited Earth 4,671 times and traveled 122, 883, 151 miles over the course of its 19-year career. Endeavours STS-134 and final mission was completed after landing on June 1, 2011.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Horizontal Integration Facility at Launch Complex 37 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, workers standing beneath a Delta IV rocket have a unique vantage point to support the mating of its first stage, at left, to its second stage.This United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket is slated to launch GOES-P, the latest Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite developed by NASA for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA. Launch is targeted for Feb. 25.

STS-133 DISCOVERY ENGINE-1 INSTALLATION

. Teams completed the welding of the Artemis III core stage liquid oxygen tank dome at the NASAs Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. Crews moved the dome, which is the top of the tank. The dome was moved to an assembly area where it will be loaded into a robotic welder that will join it with the forward barrel to create half of the liquid oxygen tank. Later another barrel and dome will be added to complete the entire tank. The Space Launch System (SLS) core stage liquid oxygen tank holds 196,000 gallons of super-cooled liquid propellant that serves as one of the propellants for the four RS-25 engines. The SLS core stage is made up of five unique elements: the forward skirt, liquid oxygen tank, intertank, liquid hydrogen tank, and the engine section. The liquid oxygen and the liquid hydrogen tank will provide propellant to the four RS-25 engines to produce more than two million pounds of thrust to help launch NASAs Orion spacecraft, astronauts, and supplies beyond Earths orbit to

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In Orbiter Processing Facility bay 3 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, (at left) one of three space shuttle main engines is being prepared for installation in space shuttle Discovery. Each engine is 14 feet long, weighs about 6,700 pounds, and is 7.5 feet in diameter at the end of the nozzle. Discovery is being processed for its next mission, STS-119, targeted for launch on Feb. 12, 2009. Discovery and its crew will deliver integrated truss structure 6 (S6) and solar arrays to the International Space Station.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Technicians carefully remove main engine No. 1 from space shuttle Discovery using a specially designed engine installer, called a Hyster forklift. The work is taking place in Orbiter Processing Facility-2 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The removal is part of Discovery's transition and retirement processing. Work performed on Discovery is expected to help rocket designers build next-generation spacecraft and prepare the shuttle for future public display.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Inside the Operations and Checkout Bldg. (O&C), an overhead crane is centered over the S0 truss segment before lowering. The crane will move it to a workstand in the O&C where it will undergo processing. In the foreground is the protective cover just removed. During the processing, the Canadian Mobile Transporter, power distribution system modules, a heat pipe radiator for cooling, computers, and a pair of rate gyroscopes will be installed. Four Global Positioning System antennas are already installed. A 44by 15-foot structure weighing 30,800 pounds when fully outfitted and ready for launch, the truss will be at the center of the ISS 10-truss, girderlike structure that will ultimately extend the length of a football field. Eventually the S0 truss will be attached to the U.S. Lab, "Destiny," which is scheduled to be added to the ISS in April 2000. Later, other trusses will be attached to the S0 on-orbit. The S0 truss is scheduled to be launched in the first

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

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers observe the movement of space shuttle Atlantis as it is lowered toward the mobile launcher platform. The shuttle will be mated with the external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters on the platform. After additional preparations are made, the shuttle will be rolled out to Launch Pad 39A for a targeted launch on May 12 on the STS-125 mission to service NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility bay 3, technicians on the Hyster forklift maneuver main engine No. 3 into place in Discovery. The main engine configuration is manufactured by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne in Canoga Park, Calif., and includes a Pratt & Whitney high-pressure fuel turbo pump. Each space shuttle main engine is 14 feet long, weighs about 6,700 pounds, and is 7.5 feet in diameter at the end of the nozzle. Discovery is being processed for its next mission, STS-116 (12A.1), to deliver a third truss segment, a SPACEHAB module and other key components to the International Space Station. The launch is currently scheduled no earlier than Dec. 14.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Assembly and Refurbishment Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians keep watch as a crane lowers the Ares I-X forward skirt toward the forward skirt extension for mating. The forward skirt is the initial piece of first-stage hardware in preparation for the August 2009 test flight of NASA's next-generation spacecraft and launch vehicle system. Built entirely of armored steel, the 14,000-pound segment is seven feet tall and 12-1/4 feet wide.

people working in plane manufacturing factory, india Copyright: xJagdishxShinde/DinodiaxPhotox

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, space shuttle Atlantis is suspended vertically above the transfer aisle. Atlantis will be lifted into high bay 3 and 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.

U.S. Marine Gunnery Sgt. Gage Sallier (center) from Sulphur, Louisiana, directs Seaman Caden Gillespie from Fort Worth, Texas, on transporting a line load attenuating mechanical assembly in the well deck of San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship USS San Diego (LPD 22) during Underway Recovery Test 11, Feb. 22, 2024. In preparation for NASAs Artemis II crewed mission, which will send four astronauts in Orion beyond the Moon, NASA and the Department of Defense will conduct a series of tests to demonstrate and evaluate the processes, procedures, and hardware used in recovery operations for crewed lunar missions. The U.S. Navy has many unique capabilities that make it an ideal partner to support NASA, including its amphibious ships with the ability to embark helicopters, launch and recover small boats, three-dimensional air search radar and advanced medical facilities. Navy

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The Ares I-X aft skirt moves inside the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. In the RPSF, the aft skirt will be stacked with the aft motor to form the aft assembly. The complete Ares I-X will be assembled in the Vehicle Assembly Building. The launch of Ares I-X is targeted for August 2009.

Space Launch System Corestage-2 (Artemis-2) Liquid Oxygen tank is under work at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility.

Space Launch System Corestage-2 (Artemis-2) Liquid Oxygen tank is under work at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility.

In the clustering procedure, an initial assembly step for the Saturn IB launch vehicle's S-IB (first) stage, workers at the Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) near New Orleans, Louisiana, place the first of eight outboard fuel tanks atop the central liquid-oxygen tank. Developed by the Marshall Space Flight Center and built by the Chrysler Corporation at Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF), the S-IB utilized eight H-1 engines and each produced 200,000 pounds of thrust, a combined thrust of 1,600,000 pounds.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 1 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, United Space Alliance technicians monitor the removal of one of three main engines from space shuttle Atlantis from their stations on a specially designed Hyster engine lift.Inspection and maintenance of each main engine is standard procedure following a shuttle mission. Atlantis next is slated to deliver an Integrated Cargo Carrier and Russian-built Mini Research Module to the International Space Station on the STS-132 mission. The second in a series of new pressurized components for Russia, the module will be permanently attached to the Zarya module. Three spacewalks are planned to store spare components outside the station, including six spare batteries, a boom assembly for the Ku-band antenna and spares for the Canadian Dextre robotic arm extension. A radiator, airlock and European robotic arm for the Russian Multi-purpose Laboratory Module also are payloads on the flight. La

T&R Endeavour OMS Pod Mate Test for Smithsonian Operations

LVSA AFT CONE MOVE FROM FRAME TO FLOOR PRIOR TO BEING MATED TO FORWARD CONE. FEBRUARY 17, 2016.

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

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Twin cranes hoist the first solid rocket booster segment from a rail car in the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It will then be rotated into a vertical position and placed a work stand. The segments will be used for space shuttle Atlantis on what currently is planned as the 'launch on need,' or potential rescue mission for the final shuttle flight, Endeavour's STS-134 mission.

In Orbiter Processing Facility bay 2, technicians on a Hyster forklift maneuver space shuttle main engine no. 3 into place on Endeavour. Each space shuttle main engine is 14 feet long, weighs about 6,700 pounds, and is 7.5 feet in diameter at the end of the nozzle. The orbiter is scheduled for mission STS-118, targeted for launch on June 28. The mission will be the 22nd flight to the International Space Station, carrying another starboard array, S5, for installation.

STS-133 DISCOVERY - SPACE SHUTTE MAIN ENGINE (SSME) #1 REMOVAL

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

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

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility, workers are attaching an overhead crane to the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) in order to lift it. The module is being moved to a stand where it will be weighed and measured for its center of gravity. The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency developed the laboratory at the Tsukuba Space Center near Tokyo. It is the first element, named "Kibo" (Hope), to be delivered to KSC. The JEM is Japan's primary contribution to the International Space Station. It will enhance the unique research capabilities of the orbiting complex by providing an additional environment for astronauts to conduct science experiments. The JEM is targeted for mission STS-124, to launch in early 2008.

STS-133 DISCOVERY ENGINE-1 INSTALLATION

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In Orbiter Processing Facility-1 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane is attached to the remote manipulator system, or RMS, in space shuttle Endeavour's payload bay.The removal is part of Endeavour's transition and retirement processing. Endeavour is being prepared for public display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Endeavour flew 25 missions, spent 299 days in space, orbited Earth 4,671 times and traveled 122,883,151 miles over the course of its 19-year career.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne technician prepares to install a space shuttle main engine on space shuttle Endeavour in Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 2 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The engine will fly on the shuttle's STS-130 mission to the International Space Station. Even though this engine weighs one-seventh as much as a locomotive engine, its high-pressure fuel pump alone delivers as much horsepower as 28 locomotives, while its high-pressure oxidizer pump delivers the equivalent horsepower of an additional 11 locomotives. The maximum equivalent horsepower developed by the shuttle's three main engines is more than 37 million horsepower. Endeavour is targeted to launch Feb. 4, 2010.

This image highlights the liquid oxygen tank, which will be used on the core stage of NASA Space Launch System rocket for Artemis II, the first crewed mission of NASAs Artemis program, at NASAs Michoud Assembly Facility. The SLS core stage is made up of five unique elements: the forward skirt, liquid oxygen tank, intertank, liquid hydrogen tank, and the engine section. The forward skirt houses flight computers, cameras, and avionics systems. The liquid oxygen tank holds 196,000 gallons of liquid oxygen cooled to minus 297 degrees Fahrenheit. The LOX hardware sits between the core stages forward skirt and the intertank. Along with the liquid hydrogen tank, it will provide fuel to the four RS-25 engines at the bottom of the core stage to produce more than two million pounds of thrust to launch NASAs Artemis missions to the Moon. Together with its four RS-25 engines, the rockets massive 212-foot-tall core stage — the largest stage NASA has ever built — and its twin solid rocket

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

Core components of the J-2X engine being designed for NASA's Constellation Program recently were installed on the A-1 Test Stand at NASA's Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Miss. Tests of the components, known as Powerpack 1A, will be conducted from November 2007 through February 2008. The Powerpack 1A test article consists of a gas generator and engine turbopumps originally developed for the Apollo Program that put Americans on the moon in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Engineers are testing these heritage components to obtain data that will help them modify the turbomachinery to meet the higher performance requirements of the Ares I and Ares V launch vehicles. The upcoming tests will simulate inlet and outlet conditions that would be present on the turbomachinery during a full-up engine hot-fire test.

The length of the P-1 truss is seen as it rests in a workstand in the Operations and Checkout Building. Scheduled to fly in spring of 2002, the P-1 is part of a total 10-truss, girder-like structure that will ultimately extend the length of a football field. Astronauts will attach the 14by 15-foot structure to the port side of the center truss, S0, during the spring assembly flight. The 33,000-pound P-1 will house the thermal radiator rotating joint (TRRJ) that will rotate the International Space Stations radiators away from the sun to increase their maximum cooling efficiency

Seen here is a close-up view of the Space Launch Systems (SLS) RS-25 engines as teams with NASAs Exploration Ground Systems and contractor Jacobs lower the core stage - the largest part of the rocket - onto the mobile launcher, in between the twin solid rocket boosters, inside High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 12, 2021. The 188,000-pound core stage will provide more than 2 million pounds of thrust during launch and ascent, and coupled with the boosters, will provide more than 8.8 million pounds of thrust to send the Artemis I mission to space. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon, as well as establish a sustainable presence on the lunar surface in preparation for human missions to Mars.

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

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In Orbiter Processing Facility bay 2 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the airlock is lowered by an overhead crane into Endeavour's payload bay for installation. The airlock is located in the middeck. The airlock and airlock hatches permit flight crew members to transfer from the middeck crew compartment into the payload bay for extravehicular activities in their space suits without depressurizing the orbiter crew cabin. The airlock is sized to accommodate two fully suited flight crew members simultaneously.

The SLS Stages Intertank Structural Test Assembly (STA) is rolling off the NASA Pegasus Barge at the MSFC Dock enroute to the MSFC 4619 Load Test Annex test facility for qualification testing

The crawler-transporter, driven by engineers, approaches the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 1, 2022. The crawler will go inside the VAB, where it will slide under the Artemis I Space Launch System with the Orion spacecraft atop on the mobile launcher and carry it to Launch Complex 39B for a wet dress rehearsal test ahead of the Artemis I launch. Artemis I will be the first integrated test of the SLS and Orion spacecraft. In later missions, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone on the way to Mars.

STS-133 DISCOVERY - SPACE SHUTTE MAIN ENGINE (SSME) #1 REMOVAL

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 1 at NASA Kennedy Space Center, a crane lifts the remote manipulator system boom out of Atlantis payload bay. The boom will be temporarily stored. The RMS includes the electromechanical arm that maneuvers a payload from the payload bay of the orbiter to its deployment position and then releases it. It can also grapple a free-flying payload, maneuver it to the payload bay of the orbiter and berth it in the orbiter. The RMS arm is 50 feet 3 inches long and 15 inches in diameter. It weighs 905 pounds, and the total system weighs 994 pounds. The RMS has six joints that correspond roughly to the joints of the human arm, with shoulder yaw and pitch joints; an elbow pitch joint; and wrist pitch, yaw and roll joints. The end effector is the unit at the end of the wrist that actually grabs, or grapples, the payload.

Engineers lift the Orion Crew Module Adapter Structural Test Article into the test stand at NASA Glenn Research Center Plum Brook Facility on Sept. 23, 2015. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.

AQUARIUS - Second Stage Erection

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In Orbiter Processing Facility-1 at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians assist as a crane lowers an orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pod for installation on space shuttle Discovery.The OMS pod was returned from White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico where it underwent a complete deservicing and cleaning. The work is part of the Space Shuttle Programs transition and retirement processing of space shuttle Discovery. The shuttle will go to the Smithsonians National Air and Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va., in April 2012.

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