Historic Space Missions

Images of astronauts and scientists during space missions, showcasing activities related to lunar exploration and spacecraft operations.

Laboratory technician Patrick O'Neill wears on oxygen mask for entering one of Thomas Domes during a test. The technician works in the Air Force Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory, Aerospace Medical Division, Air Force Systems Command. Base: Patterson Air Force Base State: Ohio (OH) Country: United States Of America (USA)

At the Shuttle Landing Facility, STS-97 Pilot Michael Bloomfield climbs out of the cockpit of a T-38 jet aircraft he flew from Johnson Space Center. He and the rest of the crew have returned to KSC for the launch, scheduled for Nov. 30 at about 10:06 p.m. EST. Mission STS-97is the sixth construction flight to the International Space Station. Its payload includes the P6 Integrated Truss Structure and a photovoltaic (PV) module, with giant solar arrays that will provide power to the Station. The mission includes two spacewalks to complete the solar array connections. STS-97 is scheduled to launch Nov. 30 at about 10:06 p.m. EST

Chemist Wayne LeGrande inspects different grades of crushed black walnut shells, which are used to remove specific types of paints. Base: Norfolk Naval Shipyard State: Virginia (VA) Country: United States Of America (USA)

STS-106 Mission Commander Terrence W. Wilcutt checks out the windows in Space Shuttle orbiter Atlantis in Orbiter Processing Facility bay 3. He and the other crew members Pilot Scott D. Altman and Mission Specialists Edward T. Lu, Daniel C. Burbank, Yuri I. Malenchenko, Boris V. Morukov and Richard A. Mastracchio are taking part in Crew Equipment Interface Test (CEIT) activities. Malenchenko and Morukov represent the Russian Aviation and Space Agency. On the 11-day mission, the seven-member crew will perform support tasks on orbit, transfer supplies and prepare the living quarters in the newly arrived Zvezda Service Module for the first long-duration crew, dubbed "Expedition One," which is due to arrive at the Station in late fall. STS-106 is scheduled to launch Sept. 8, 2000, at 8:31 a.m. EDT from Launch Pad 39B

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Space Station Processing Facility, STS-116 Mission Specialist Christer Fuglesang, who is with the European Space Agency, looks over equipment for the mission during a Crew Equipment Interface Test activity. Mission STS-116 is the 19th assembly flight to the International Space Station, delivering the third port truss segment, the P5 Truss, that will be attached to the second port truss segment, the P3/P4 Truss. The mission will also deliver the eighth expedition crew to the ISS and return Expedition 7. STS-116 is scheduled for launch July 24, 2003.

S73-36900 (8 Nov. 1973) --- The three members of the Skylab 4 crew undergo spacesuit fit and pressure checks in the suiting building during preflight activity at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. They are astronaut Gerald P. Carr (foreground), commander; scientist-astronaut Edward G. Gibson (center), science pilot; and astronaut William R. Pogue (background), pilot. Skylab 4, the third and last visit to the Skylab space station in Earth orbit, will return additional information on the Earth and sun, as well as provide a favorable location from which to observe the recently discovered Comet Kohoutek.

Date: 11-07-12Location: NBL - Pool TopsideSubject: Expedition 40 crew members (Soyuz 39) Reid Wiseman and ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst during INC-40 ISS EVA ORU PRF 41027.

Laboratory technician Patrick O'Neill wears on oxygen mask for entering one of Thomas Domes during a test. The technician works in the Air Force Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory, Aerospace Medical Division, Air Force Systems Command. Base: Patterson Air Force Base State: Ohio (OH) Country: United States Of America (USA)

STS109-335-020 (1-12 March 2002) --- Astronaut Scott D. Altman, STS-109 mission commander, sleeps on the flight deck of the Space Shuttle Columbia.

The mobile launcher (ML) is reflected in the sunglasses of a construction worker with JP Donovan at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A crane is lifting the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage Umbilical (ICPSU) up for installation on the tower of the ML. The last of the large umbilicals to be installed, the ICPSU will provide super-cooled hydrogen and liquid oxygen to the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket's interim cryogenic propulsion stage, or upper stage, at T-0 for Exploration Mission-1. The umbilical is located at about the 240-foot-level of the mobile launcher and will supply fuel, oxidizer, gaseous helium, hazardous gas leak detection, electrical commodities and environment control systems to the upper stage of the SLS rocket during launch. Exploration Ground Systems is overseeing installation of the umbilicals on the ML.

S96-E-5084 (31 May 1999) --- Cosmonaut Valery I. Tokarev and astronaut Tamara Jernigan are almost obscured by communications gear in this scene recorded in the passageway to the Russian-built Zarya module. Tokarev is a mission specialist representing the Russian Space Agency (RSA). Jernigan is one of two mission specialists that earlier had performed a lengthy space walk to do some exterior work on the International Space Station (ISS). The scene was recorded with an electronic still camera (ESC) at 02:09:00 GMT, May 31, 1999.

A laboratory technician conducts a test during exercise Bright Star '90. Subject Operation/Series: BRIGHT STAR Country: Egypt (EGY)

S89-E-5367 (28 Jan 1998) --- This Electronic Still Camera (ESC) image shows astronaut Terrence W. Wilcutt, commander, minutes after Docking Module (DM) hatch door closure. Wilcutt has a microphone speaker box in his left hand, for communication to NASA ground controllers in Houston, Texas. The closing of the hatch ended the eighth Shuttle/Mir joint docking activities between the Space Shuttle and Russia's Mir Space Station. The STS-89 crew dropped of astronaut Andrew S. W. Thomas, replacing astronaut David A. Wolf as cosmonaut guest researcher. Thomas will be the last American astronaut to serve a tour aboard Mir. Astronaut Wolf is returning aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour, making it's first Mir docking mission. This ESC view was taken on January 28, 1998, at 22:39:32 GMT.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - NASA pilot Rick Hull suits up before a test flight of the WB-57F aircraft that will take photos of Space Shuttle Discovery during its launch on Return to Flight mission STS-114. NASA approved the development and implementation of the aircraft-based imaging system, known as the WB-57 Ascent Video Experiment (WAVE). The WAVE provides both ascent and entry imagery and enables better observation of the Shuttle on days of heavier cloud cover and areas obscured from ground cameras by the launch exhaust plume. WAVE comprises a 32-inch-ball turret system mounted on the nose of two WB-57 aircraft. The turret houses an optical bench, providing installation of both HDTV and infrared cameras. Optics consist of an 11-inch-diameter, 4.2 meter fixed-focal-length lens. The system can be operated in both auto track and manual modes.

Female astronomer searching stars with telescopic Equipment, Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Wºrttemberg, Germany

Expedition 24 Flight Engineer Tracy Caldwell Dyson signs the inside of the Russian helicopter that took her from the Soyuz TMA-18 spacecraft landing site near Arkalyk, Kazakhstan to Karaganda, Kazakhstan on Saturday, Sept. 25, 2010. Russian Cosmonauts Skvortsov and Kornienko and NASA Astronaut Caldwell Dyson returned from six months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 23 and 24 crews.

Weighing a Storm Petrel during a monitoring program

Photograph, from coverage of the transport phase of the visit of Secretary Gale Norton and staff to Devon Energy Corporation facilities in the Gulf of Mexico, selected for use in Interior video on Norton tenure. During visit to region, Norton also spoke at the Louisiana Gulf Coast Oil Exposition in Lafayette

ORLANDO, Fla. - Robotics Engineer Michael Garrett from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., talks about the Mars Science Laboratory mission's Curiosity rover at the "For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology," or FIRST, competition at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. JPL unveiled an inflatable, full-size model of the rover at the competition. The rover is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida aboard an Atlas V later this year. FIRST, founded in 1989, is a non-profit organization that designs accessible, innovative programs to build self-confidence, knowledge and life skills while motivating young people to pursue academic opportunities. The robotics competition challenges teams of high school students and their mentors to solve a common problem in a six-week timeframe using a standard kit of parts and a common set of rules.

Life from other Worlds' with McNair Middle School TROV robot explores under Antarctic ice - image of Eric James, Ron Schutz, and Wade Sisler of the Photographic Technology Branch co-ordinating remote shots from Antarctic to Ames

Crowds of spectators watch from Jetty Park in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on July 2, 2019, as a Northrop Grumman provided booster launches from Launch Pad 46 carrying, a fully functional Launch Abort System with a test version of Orion attached for NASAs Ascent Abort-2 (AA-2). Launch time was 7 a.m. EDT. During AA-2, the booster will send the LAS and Orion to an altitude of 31,000 feet, traveling at Mach 1.15 (more than 1,000 mph). The LAS three motors will work together to pull the crew module away from the booster and prepare it for splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean. The flight test will prove that the abort system can pull crew to safety in the unlikely event of an emergency during ascent.

S69-30251 (27 March 1969) --- Astronaut Eugene A. Cernan, wearing a protective hat, participates in pad egress training at the Kennedy Space Center's Pad 39B during preparations for the scheduled Apollo 10 lunar orbit mission. Cernan is the Apollo 10 lunar module pilot.

STS081-E-5006 (12 Jan. 1997) --- Aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis on its first day in orbit for the mission, astronaut Jerry M. Linenger, mission specialist, has arranged his sleep station to his liking and prepares for his first rest period. Linenger and five crew mates are flying the Spacehab Double Module (DM), replete with supplies for the three-man crew aboard Russia's Mir Space Station with which Atlantis will be docking later in the week. Linenger will trade places with John E. Blaha marking the second such exchange of American astronaut - cosmonaut guest researcher's aboard Mir. Blaha had replaced Shannon W. Lucid in September of 1996. The scene was recorded with an Electronic Still Camera (ESC) and later downlinked to flight controllers in Houston, Texas.

Secretary Gale Norton attending Department of Interior headquarters, Washington, D.C. ceremony marking the naming of Columbia Point, a 13,980-feet peak in Colorado's Sangre de Cristo Mountains, in honor of the Space Shuttle Columbia's last voyage

CEV (Crew Escape Vehicle) Alternative Launch Abort System (ALAS) configuration test in the Ames 11ft wind tunnel. Test-11-0172 with Paul Espinosa

S73-32113 (9 Aug. 1973) --- Scientist-astronaut Owen K. Garriott, Skylab 3 science pilot, serves as test subject for the Skylab Human Vestibular Function M131 Experiment, as seen in this photographic reproduction taken from a television transmission made by a color TV camera aboard the Skylab space station in Earth orbit. The objectives of the Skylab M131 experiment are to obtain data pertinent to establishing the validity of measurements of specific behavioral/physiological responses influenced by vestibular activity under one-g and zero-g conditions; to determine man s adaptability to unusual vestibular conditions and predict habitability of future spacecraft conditions involving reduced gravity and Coriollis forces; and to measure the accuracy and variability in man s judgment of spatial coordinates based on atypical gravity receptor cues and inadequate visual cues.

ISS004-E-10043 (15 April 2002) --- Astronaut Michael J. Bloomfield, STS-110 mission commander, looks through the Earth observation window in the Destiny laboratory on the International Space Station (ISS). Portions of the Space Shuttle Atlantis and the Canadarm2 are visible through the window.

Bob Ballard Exploration

S66-34069 (3 June 1966) --- Gemini-9A prime crew enjoy a breakfast of steak and eggs on the morning of the Gemini-9A launch. Left to right, are astronaut Eugene A. Cernan, pilot; Donald K. Slayton, MSC Director of Flight Crew Operations; Charles Buckley, KSC Security; and astronaut Thomas P. Stafford, command pilot.

A crash test dummy reflected in a side-view mirror

(27 March 1969) --- Astronaut Eugene A. Cernan, wearing a protective hat, participates in pad egress training at the Kennedy Space Center's Pad 39B during preparations for the scheduled Apollo 10 lunar orbit mission.

ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, Crew-4 Mission Specialist, is pictured looking out a window inside the SpaceX Dragon Freedom crew ship during her journey to the International Space Station.

In the Operations and Checkout Building's suitup room, Andre Denard, with United Space Alliance, helps STS-99 Mission Specialist Gerhard Thiele with pre-pack and fit check. Thiele and other crew members Commander Kevin Kregel, Pilot Dominic Gorie, and Mission Specialists Janet Kavandi, Janice Voss, and Mamoru Mohri of Japan are preparing for launch of their mission on Feb. 11 at 12:30 p.m. EST aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour. STS-99 is the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, which will produce unrivaled 3-D images of the Earth's surface. The result of the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission could be close to 1 trillion measurements of the Earth's topography. Landing is expected at KSC on Feb. 22 at 4:36 p.m. EST

The Soyuz TMA-09M spacecraft is seen reflected in the glasses of Expedition 36 backup Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio of NASA at the Baikonur Cosmodrome launch pad, Sunday, May 26, 2013, in Kazakhstan. The launch of the Soyuz rocket to the International Space Station (ISS) with Expedition 36/37 Soyuz Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), Flight Engineers; Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency, and Karen Nyberg of NASA, is scheduled for Wednesday May 29, Kazakh time. Yurchikhin, Nyberg, and, Parmitano, will remain aboard the station until mid-November.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - After exiting space shuttle Atlantis inside Orbiter Processing Facility-2 at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Center Director Bob Cabana watches as United Space Alliance technicians prepare to close and seal Atlantis crew hatch for the final time.The orbiter is undergoing final preparations for its transfer to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor complex targeted for Nov. 2. The work is part of Transition and Retirement of the remaining shuttle. Atlantis is being prepared for public display at the visitor complex. Over the course of its 26-year career, Atlantis spent 293 days in space during 33 missions.

iss068e012594 (Oct. 6, 2022) --- NASA astronaut Frank Rubio peers out of window aboard the SpaceX Dragon Freedom spacecraft docked to the International Space Station. Rubio was observing the SpaceX Dragon Endurance spacecraft, carrying four SpaceX Crew-5 crew members, approach the orbital lab for a docking to the Harmony module's forward port.

S69-30250 (27 March 1969) --- Astronaut John W. Young, wearing a protective hat, participates in pad egress training at the Kennedy Space Center's Pad 39B during preparations for the scheduled Apollo 10 lunar orbit mission. Young is the Apollo 10 command module pilot.

SL3-112-1527 (July-September 1973) --- View of astronaut Alan L. Bean, Skylab 3 commander, in his sleep compartment, reading a book.

S93-45366 (29 Sept 1993) --- Astronaut John E. Blaha, STS-58 mission commander, sits in a training version of the rotating chair test device. Sensors are attached to Blaha's head and face to record responses to the rotation. Blaha was participating with five other NASA astronauts and a payload specialist for data collection and training in preparation for the two week Spacelab Life Sciences (SLS-2) mission.

Researcher using pooter to collect insects during trapping session, insects attracted by light to white sheet. Long-term monitoring has revealed a 50% decline in moths over 25 years. De Kaaistoep Nature Reserve, Tilburg, The Netherlands. May 2018. Model released.

S84-36956 (1 July 1984) --- Astronaut Robert L. Crippen, 41-G crew commander, prepares his SCUBA mask prior to submerging into the weightless environment training facility's 25 ft. deep pool to observe a simulation exercise for two fellow 41-G crewmembers assigned to an extravehicular activity (EVA) in space. Not pictured are Astronauts Kathryn D. Sullivan and David C. Leestma, mission specialists who will perform the EVA during the eight-day mission scheduled for October of this year.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -Former astronauts Jim Lovell (left) and Wally Schirra (right) pose outside of Endeavour in the Orbiter Processing Facility. Lovell and Schirra visited KSC to talk about the space program and their experiences, as well as offer encouragement to workers to help get the space program "back on its feet." They visited several sites around the Center, including the RLV Hangar where Columbia debris is being collected and examined as part of the investigation into the tragedy that claimed the orbiter and lives of seven astronauts returning from mission STS-107.

iss067e075496 (May 5, 2022) --- Crew-3 Mission Specialist Matthias Maurer of ESA (European Space Agency) is pictured journeying back to Earth inside the SpaceX Dragon Endurance spacecraft following its undocking from the International Space Station.

JSC2001-E-23202 (26 July 2001) --- Cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin, Expedition Three flight engineer representing Rosaviakosmos, listens to a question from a news media representative during a joint shuttle-station pre-flight press conference at Johnson Space Center (JSC).

STS076-461-014 (22-31 March 1996) --- Cosmonaut Yury V. Usachev, Mir-21 flight engineer, reflects on his mission duties in his living quarters aboard Russia's Mir Space Station. His temporary out-the-window scenery is provided by the nose of the Space Shuttle Atlantis, which docked with Mir on March 23, 1996.

The STS-102 crew watches a slidewire basket speed down the line to the landing area. At left (backs to camera, back to front) are Commander James Wetherbee, Mission Specialists Susan Helms and Paul Richards. At right are (left to right) Mission Specialists Andrew Thomas and James Voss and Pilot James Kelly. Not seen is Mission Specialist Yury Usachev. The crew is taking part in Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test activities, which include the emergency exit training and a simulated launch countdown. STS-102 is the eighth construction flight to the International Space Station, with Space Shuttle Discovery carrying the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo. Launch on mission STS-102 is scheduled for March 8

Bull Shark Embryo

Crew-3 Commander Raja Chari of NASA is pictured journeying back to Earth inside the SpaceX Dragon Endurance spacecraft following its undocking from the International Space Station.

Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus) researchers, Bruce Mate at right, looking at tracking data, Costa Rica

Expedition Great White crew fastens a satellite transmitter to the dorsal fin of a white shark.

iss067e075559 (May 5, 2022) --- Crew-3 astronauts (from left) Matthias Maurer of ESA (European Space Agency) and Raja Chari and Kayla Barron, both from NASA, are pictured journeying back to Earth inside the SpaceX Dragon Endurance spacecraft following its undocking from the International Space Station.

Botanist Phil Saddler monitors the hydroponic greenhouse set up to provide personnel at McMurdo Station with fresh vegetables. Country: Antarctica (ATA)

S69-30252 (27 March 1969) --- Astronaut Thomas P. Stafford, wearing a protective hat, participates in pad egress training at the Kennedy Space Center's Pad 39B during preparations for the scheduled Apollo 10 lunar orbit mission. Stafford is the Apollo 10 commander.

Secretary Gale Norton attending Department of Interior headquarters, Washington, D.C. ceremony marking the naming of Columbia Point, a 13,980-feet peak in Colorado's Sangre de Cristo Mountains, in honor of the Space Shuttle Columbia's last voyage

$S129-E-008267 (24 Nov. 2009) --- Astronaut Leland Melvin, STS-129 mission specialist, watches a water bubble float between him and the camera, showing his image refracted, on the middeck of space shuttle Atlantis.$

STS-89 Mission Specialist Salizhan Sharipov of the Russian Space Agency gets ready to drive the M-113 armored personnel carrier as part of Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT) activities while George Hoggard, a training officer with KSC Fire Services, sits atop the vehicle. The TCDT is held at KSC prior to each Space Shuttle flight to provide crews with an opportunity to participate in simulated countdown activities. The STS-89 mission will be the eighth docking of the Space Shuttle with the Russian Space Station Mir. After docking, STS-89 Mission Specialist Andrew Thomas, Ph.D., will transfer to the space station, succeeding David Wolf, M.D., who will return to Earth aboard Endeavour. Dr. Thomas will live and work on Mir until June. STS-89 is scheduled for a Jan. 22 liftoff at 9:48 p.m

JSC2009-E-107047 (4 May 2009) --- Astronaut Leland Melvin, STS-129 mission specialist, participates in a food tasting session in the Habitability and Environmental Factors Office at NASA's Johnson Space Center.

S98-08736 (9 April 1998) --- The STS-95 crew members sample space food as part of their training agenda for the scheduled late October/early November mission aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery. From the left are Pedro Duque, mission specialist representing the European Space Agency (ESA); Scott E. Parazynski, mission specialist; Steven W. Lindsey, pilot; Stephen K. Robinson, mission specialist; Chiaki Mukai, payload specialist representing Japan's National Space Development Agency (NASDA); U.S. Sen. John H. Glenn Jr., payload specialist; and Curtis L. Brown Jr., commander. The photo was taken by Joe McNally, National Geographic, for NASA.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Mikhail Tyurin, a member of the Expedition 3 resident crew on the International Space Station, poses for a photo. He and the other crew members Vladimir Dezhurov and Frank Culbertson returned to Earth as passengers aboard the orbiter Endeavour, which landed at KSC at 12:55 p.m. EST (17:55 GMT) Dec. 17, 2001, after completing mission STS-108. The landing is the 57th at KSC in the history of the program STS-108 was the 12th mission to the Space Station. This mission was the 107th flight in the Shuttle program and the 17th flight for the orbiter

Mars Sample Return program manager, JPL, Bobby Braun, left, gives remarks during a NASA Perseverance rover press briefing about the search for ancient life at Mars and about samples to be brought back to Earth on a future mission, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021, at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The Perseverance Mars rover is due to land on Mars Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021. A key objective for Perseverances mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planets geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith.

Angie Jackman, a NASA project manager in microgravity research, demonstrates the enhanced resilience of undercooled metal alloys as compared to conventional alloys. Experiments aboard the Space Shuttle helped scientists refine their understanding of the physical properties of certain metal alloys when undercooled (i.e., kept liquid below their normal solidification temperature). This new knowledge then allowed scientists to modify a terrestrial production method so they can now make limited quantities marketed under the Liquid Metal trademark. The exhibit was a part of the NASA outreach activity at AirVenture 2000 sponsored by the Experimental Aircraft Association in Oshkosh, WI.

Nathan Gelino, a NASA research engineer at Kennedy Space Center in Florida displays a 3-D printed cylinder used for compression testing. Engineers at the centers Swamp Works measured how much force it takes to break the structure before moving on to 3-D printing with a simulated lunar regolith, or dirt, and polymers. Next, Gelino and his group are working on a Zero Launch Mass 3-D printer that can be used for construction projects on the Moon and Mars, even for troops in remote locations here on Earth. Zero launch mass refers to the fact that the printer uses these pellets to prove that space explorers can use resources at their destination instead of taking everything with them, saving them launch mass and money. Gelino and his team are working with Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to develop a system that can 3-D print barracks in remote locations on Earth, using the resources they have where they are.

Technicians at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California inspect the shipping container for the Joint Polar Satellite System-1, or JPSS-1, as it arrives at the Astrotech Processing Facility. JPSS is the first in a series four next-generation environmental satellites in a collaborative program between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA. The satellite is scheduled to liftoff Nov. 10, 2017 atop a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket.

Inside the dome building at Playalinda Beach, Mike Litscher talks to media about the Distant Object Attitude Measurement System (DOAMS), part of the improved tracking cameras and long-range optical tracking systems that will be used to capture ascent imagery during the return to flight of the Space Shuttle. The press opportunity also includes tours of the launch pad perimeter camera site at Launch Complex 39B and the other optical tracking site at the Merritt Island National Refuge.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Media representatives participate in a Now and Future Tour at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Here, they make a stop in Orbiter Processing Facility-2 (OPF-2) to learn about how shuttle Discovery is being prepared for future public display at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va. Leading the OPF-2 tour is Discovery's NASA Flow Director Stephanie Stilson. Other stops along the tour included Launch Pad 39B and the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF). Pad B is being restructured for future use. Its new design will feature a "clean pad" for rockets to come with their own launcher, making it more versatile for a number of vehicles. The SLF's runway could be used for private companies and government agencies to host a diversity of launch systems, including orbital and suborbital flights.

S99-07010 (9 July 1999) --- Astronaut Brent W. Jett, Jr., STS-97 mission commander, looks on as Carlous Gillis, a United Space Alliance suit technician, checks the collar on his launch and entry garment. The five-man STS-97 crew was about to participate in a rehearsal of emergency bailout procedures in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL).

Louisiana Wetlands

iss064e047070 (March 26, 2021) --- Astronaut and Expedition 64 Flight Engineer Michael Hopkins of NASA smells Extra Dwarf Pak Choi plants growing aboard the International Space Station. The plants were grown for the Veggie study which is exploring space agriculture as a way to sustain astronauts on future missions to the Moon or Mars.

Expedition 61 cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka of Roscosmos signs a door in the Cosmonaut Hotel prior to departing for launch on a Soyuz rocket with Expedition 61 astronaut Jessica Meir of NASA, and spaceflight participant Hazzaa Ali Almansoori of the United Arab Emirates Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2019 in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Meir, Skripochka, and Almansoori will launch later in the day on the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome to the International Space Station.

Close-up of a scientist analyzing chemical in a test tube

$ISS014-E-11798 (14 Jan. 2007) --- Cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin, Expedition 14 flight engineer representing Russia's Federal Space Agency, watches a water bubble float between him and the camera, showing his image refracted, in the Zvezda Service Module of the International Space Station.$

Owner and restorer of the Father Josset's telescope

Animal Forensic Lab

JWST Stamp Issuance Ceremony. NASA Associate Administrator and former astronaut Bob Cabana, autographs a piece of mail with the United States Postal Services new stamp celebrating NASAs James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) on it, at the first-day-of-issue event, Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022, at the Smithsonians National Postal Museum in Washington. The stamp, which features an illustration of the observatory, honors Webbs mission to explore the unknown in our universe - solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the structures and origins of our universe and our place in it.

STS-89 Mission Specialist Andrew Thomas, Ph.D. gets ready to drive an M-113 armored personnel carrier as part of Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT) activities. The TCDT is held at KSC prior to each Space Shuttle flight to provide crews with an opportunity to participate in simulated countdown activities. Standing inside the M-113 is Dr. Thomas while George Hoggard, a training officer with KSC Fire Services, sits atop the vehicle. The STS-89 mission will be the eighth docking of the Space Shuttle with the Russian Space Station Mir. After docking, Dr. Thomas will transfer to the space station, succeeding David Wolf, M.D., who will return to Earth aboard Endeavour. Dr. Thomas will live and work on Mir until June. STS-89 is scheduled for a Jan. 22 liftoff at 9:48 p.m

magnified eyes

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - Polar Max Conference

CAPILLARY DRIVEN HEAT TRANSFER EXPERIMENT MSL-1 MICROGRAVITY SCIENCE LABORATORY SHUTTLE FLIGHT STS-83 CREW TRAINING

Researcher showing of an exceptional insect's construction

At his Cosmonaut Hotel crew quarters in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, Expedition 37/38 Flight Engineer Michael Hopkins of NASA conducts a series of chin up exercises Sept. 18. Hopkins, Soyuz Commander Oleg Kotov and Flight Engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy are set to launch Sept. 26, Kazakh time, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on their Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft for a five and a half month mission on the International Space Station.NASA/Victor Zelentsov

NASA Associate Administrator for Education and former astronaut Leland Melvin teaches the ABC's of living and working in space to Sesame Street's Elmo at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Wednesday, July 6, 2011 in Cape Canaveral, FL. The pair discussed nutrition, exercise, hygiene in orbit. They also chatted about the features of the space shuttle and the various suits that astronauts wear.

Team KuuKulgur watches as their robots attempt the level one competition during the 2014 NASA Centennial Challenges Sample Return Robot Challenge, Wednesday, June 11, 2014, at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Worcester, Mass. Eighteen teams are competing for a $1.5 million NASA prize purse. Teams will be required to demonstrate autonomous robots that can locate and collect samples from a wide and varied terrain, operating without human control. The objective of this NASA-WPI Centennial Challenge is to encourage innovations in autonomous navigation and robotics technologies. Innovations stemming from the challenge may improve NASA's capability to explore a variety of destinations in space, as well as enhance the nation's robotic technology for use in industries and applications on Earth.

In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, the aerogel grid is fully deployed from the Stardust Sample Return Capsule (SRC) for final closeout. 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. The collected samples will return to Earth in the SRC to be jettisoned as it swings by Earth in January 2006. Stardust is scheduled to be launched aboard a Boeing Delta 7426 rocket from Complex 17, Cape Canaveral Air Station, on Feb. 6, 1999

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken tours the Quantum Materials Lab at the University of Copenhagen, in Copenhagen, Denmark on May 17, 2021.

UAP Media Briefing. A member of the media asks a question during a media briefing to discuss the findings from an unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) independent study team, Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. The UAP independent study team, commissioned in 2022, is a counsel of 16 community experts across diverse areas on matters relevant to potential methods of study for unidentified anomalous phenomena. NASA published the teams full report online, which aims to inform about what possible data could be collected in the future to shed light on the nature and origin of UAP.

Close-up of ear

Inside the dome building at Playalinda Beach, Bob Fore points to a map of camera sites during a presentation to the media on the improved tracking cameras and long-range optical tracking systems that will be used to capture ascent imagery during the return to flight of the Space Shuttle. The press opportunity also includes tours of the launch pad perimeter camera site at Launch Complex 39B and the other optical tracking site at the Merritt Island National Refuge.

Expedition 70 Preflight. Expedition 70 Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko signs a mural at the Cosmonaut Hotel prior to departing the hotel for launch on a Soyuz rocket with fellow crewmates NASA astronaut Loral O'Hara and Roscosmos cosmonaut Nikolai Chub, Friday, Sept. 15, 2023, in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. The launch will send Expedition 70 NASA astronaut Loral O'Hara and Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub on a mission to the International Space Station.

STS079-355-016 (16-26 Sept. 1996) --- Astronauts Shannon W. Lucid and John E. Blaha reunite soon after the Space Shuttle Atlantis - Russia's Mir Space Station docking. Later, Lucid exchanged the blue Mir suit for an outfit like that Blaha is wearing. And Blaha changed from the red and white to the Mir attire. The two astronauts have shared duty on two previous STS flights. This photograph is one of fifteen 35mm frames (along with four 70mm frames) of still photography documenting the activities of NASA's STS-79 mission, which began with a September 16, 1996, liftoff from Launch Pad 39A the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and ended with a landing at KSC on Sept. 26, 1996. Onboard for the launch were astronauts William F. Readdy, commander; Terrence W. Wilcutt, pilot; Blaha, Jerome (Jay) Apt, Thomas D. Akers and Carl E. Walz, all mission specialists. On flight day 4, the crew docked with Mir. Lucid, who had spent six months aboard Mir, switched cosmonaut guest researcher roles with Blaha

Psyche Launch. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and his son Bill Nelson Jr. watch the launch of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with the Psyche spacecraft onboard from Launch Complex 39A, Friday, Oct. 13, 2023, at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASAs Psyche spacecraft will travel to a metal-rich asteroid by the same name orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter to study its composition. The spacecraft also carries the agency's Deep Space Optical Communications technology demonstration, which will test laser communications beyond the Moon.

Artemis I Orion Post-Flight Payload Processing - Snoopy. Inside the lobby of the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Snoopy, the zero-gravity indicator that flew aboard Orion during the Artemis I mission, is shown on Jan. 5, 2023, after being unpacked from his transport case. Snoopy was secured inside Orion during the Artemis I mission, a journey beyond the Moon and back to prepare for crewed missions to the Moon. Artemis I launched atop the Space Launch System rocket on Nov. 16, 2022 from Kennedys Launch Complex 39B. Orion returned to Earth for a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on Dec. 11, 2022 after traveling more than 1.4 million miles. NASA has held an association with Snoopy since the Apollo Era - the character has contributed to the excitement for NASA human spaceflight missions, helping inspire generations to dream big, and is a symbol of NASAs safety culture and mission success.

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