NASA Rocket Assembly and Processing

Images depict various stages of NASA rocket assembly at Kennedy Space Center, showcasing solid rocket boosters, tanks, and technicians in a high-tech environment.

SPACE X MMRTG Offload and Lift for Insertion

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

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.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A crane is attached to the Ares I-X forward center assembly in NASA Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building. The assembly will be lifted into High Bay 3 for stacking with the aft assembly. Part of the Constellation Program, the Ares I-X is the test vehicle for the Ares I, which is the essential core of a space transportation system that eventually will carry crewed missions back to the moon, on to Mars and out into the solar system . The Ares I-X flight test is targeted for no earlier than Aug. 30.

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

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the external tank is lowered between the solid rocket boosters on the mobile launcher platform below. After mating, the boosters-tank configuration will be used on space shuttle Atlantis for mission STS-122, which is targeted for launch on Dec. 6.

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

SPACE X MMRTG Offload and Lift for Insertion

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In high bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a large overhead crane lowers the Ares I-X service module onto the service adapter. Workers check the precision of the connection. Ares I-X is the test flight for the Ares I. The I-X flight will provide NASA an early opportunity to test and prove hardware, facilities and ground operations associated with Ares I. The launch of the 327-foot-tall, full-scale Ares I-X, targeted for July 2009, will be the first in a series of unpiloted rocket launches from Kennedy.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Assembly and Refurbishment Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Ares I-X frustum is being mated to the forward skirt and forward skirt extension to complete the forward assembly. The assembly will be moved to the Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking operations. Resembling a giant funnel, the frustum's function is to transition the primary flight loads from the rocket's upper stage to the first stage. The frustum is located between the forward skirt extension and the upper stage of the Ares I-X. The launch of Ares I-X is targeted for August 2009.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians watch external fuel tank, ET-122, for space shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 mission as it is being lowered toward the twin solid rocket boosters. When in place the tank will be attached to the boosters on the mobile launcher platform. Endeavour and its crew will deliver the Express Logistics Carrier-3 and the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the International Space Station. Launch is targeted for April 19.

Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers assist as the Space Launch System (SLS) Core Stage pathfinder is suspended by two cranes in the horizontal position above the transfer aisle on Oct. 15, 2019. The 212-foot-long core stage pathfinder arrived on NASA's Pegasus Barge at Kennedys Launch Complex 39 turn basin wharf on Sept. 27, 2019. The Pegasus Barge made its first delivery to Kennedy in support of the agency's Artemis missions. The pathfinder is being used by Exploration Ground Systems and its contractor, Jacobs, to practice offloading, moving and stacking maneuvers, using important ground support equipment to train employees and certify all the equipment works properly. The pathfinder will stay at Kennedy through at least the month of October before trekking back to NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In high bay 1 in the Vehicle Assembly Building, Space Shuttle Atlantis' orbiter cockpit, nose cone and part of the external tank peak through various levels of scaffolding as work continues to repair the external tank. In late February, Atlantis' external tank received hail damage during a severe thunderstorm that passed through the Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39 area. The hail caused visible divots in the giant tank's foam insulation and minor surface damage to about 26 heat shield tiles on the shuttle's left wing. A new target launch date has not been determined, but teams will focus on preparing Atlantis for liftoff in late April on mission STS-117.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In high bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers attach a large overhead crane to the Ares I-X service module, on the floor. The module will be lifted and mated to the service adapter. Ares I-X is the test flight for the Ares I. The I-X flight will provide NASA an early opportunity to test and prove hardware, facilities and ground operations associated with Ares I. The launch of the 327-foot-tall, full-scale Ares I-X, targeted for July 2009, will be the first in a series of unpiloted rocket launches from Kennedy.

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

This image shows technicians and engineers moving the liquid oxygen tank (LOX) into position as they continue 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 a

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

Space Launch System Corestage-2 (Artemis-2) Liquid Oxygen tank is lifted out a of a work cell at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The Ares I-X motor segment is suspended vertically and ready to be moved 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.

During a training exercise, technicians with NASAs Exploration Ground Systems lower a mock-up of the Space Launch System (SLS) aft booster segment, referred to as a pathfinder, onto the mobile launcher in Kennedy Space Centers Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) on Sept. 11, 2020. The rehearsal involved teams preparing the aft pathfinder segment in High Bay 4 of the VAB, lifting and moving it over to High Bay 3, and placing it on the mobile launcher in preparation for Artemis I. Stacking of the actual booster segments will occur later this year, before the SLS core stage arrives at the Florida spaceport. 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.

Interior view of Launch Pad 39A

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

SHELL BUCKLING KNOCKDOWN FACTOR (SBKF) PROJECT - COMPOSITE TEST ARTICLE, (CTA) 8.3 - 12/17/19- VIEW 1 OF 12

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In Hanger AF at Cape Canaveral, Fla., workers prepare the separated segments of one of the retrieved solid rocket boosters from the STS-126 launch for their transport 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.

Preparations are underway to lift the solid rocket motor up from its transporter for mating to the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket in the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-R) will launch aboard the Atlas V rocket this month. GOES-R is the first satellite in a series of next-generation NOAA GOES Satellites.

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

Inside the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the second of four solid rocket boosters (SRB) for the United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket is lifted up by crane on June 3, 2020. The SRB will be mated to the Atlas V booster. NASAs Mars 2020 mission with the Perseverance rover is scheduled to launch on July 20, 2020, atop the Atlas V rocket from Pad 41. The rover is part of NASAs Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. The rovers seven instruments will search for habitable conditions in the ancient past and signs of past microbial life on Mars. The Launch Services Program at Kennedy is responsible for launch management.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In high bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane lowers segment 5 of the Ares I-X upper stage simulator segments onto segment 4, at top of the tall stack below. The upper stage simulator comprises 11 segments, each approximately 18 feet in diameter, that will be used in the test flight known as Ares I-X in 2009. The simulator segments will simulate the mass and the outer mold line. The upper stage accounts for nearly one-quarter of the total height of the Ares I. It will take the Ares I on the second phase of its journey from Earth, providing the guidance, navigation and control needed for the second phase of the Ares I ascent flight.

STS-335 STS-135 ATLANTIS ENGINE-1 MOVE FROM ENGINE SHOP TO OPF-1

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Workers in the Orbiter Processing Facility finish Hurricane preparations on the payload bay doors of Atlantis. Preparing for the expected impact of Hurricane Frances on Saturday, workers also powered down the Space Shuttle orbiters, and stowed the landing gear. They are also taking precautions against flooding by moving spacecraft hardware off the ground and sandbagging facilities. The Orbiter Processing Facility is constructed of concrete and steel and was designed to withstand winds of 105 mph. The Vehicle Assembly Building is constructed of concrete and steel and was designed to withstand winds of 125 mph. Other payload and flight hardware support facilities can endure winds of 110 mph. Launch pads and the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility can withstand 125-mph winds.

JSC2010-E-092273 (12 June 2010) --- At the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Russian technicians prepare to mate the upper stage of the Soyuz TMA-19 spacecraft and its launch escape tower to the remainder of the booster June 12, 2010 as work continues for the launch of the remaining three members of the Expedition 24 crew to the International Space Station. The Soyuz rolled out to its launch pad in Baikonur June 13. Soyuz commander Fyodor Yurchikhin of Russia's Federal Space Agency and NASA astronauts Doug Wheelock and Shannon Walker are set to launch 5:35 p.m. (EDT) on June 15 (or at 3:35 a.m. June 16, Kazakhstan time), on the Soyuz with docking to the station scheduled at 6:25 p.m. (EDT) June 17.

Crane operators and ground support personnel practice lifting and stacking mock-ups of solid rocket booster (SRB) segments in High Bay 4 inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The training will help workers prepare for SRB stacking operations for the agency's Space Launch System SLS) rocket. The SLS will launch the Orion spacecraft on its first integrated flight, Exploration Mission-1.

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

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.

At Space Launch Complex 3 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California a crane lifts a United Launch Alliance Centaur upper stage for mating atop an Atlas V booster. The rocket will launch 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.

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

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In high bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane is attached to segment 5 of the Ares I-X upper stage simulator segments to lift it. Segment 5 will be stacked on to segment 4, at the top of the tall stack at right.The upper stage simulator comprises 11 segments, each approximately 18 feet in diameter, that will be used in the test flight known as Ares I-X in 2009. The simulator segments will simulate the mass and the outer mold line. The upper stage accounts for nearly one-quarter of the total height of the Ares I. It will take the Ares I on the second phase of its journey from Earth, providing the guidance, navigation and control needed for the second phase of the Ares I ascent flight.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Platform C is moved out of Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center to allow refurbishment of the facility for the Constellation Program's Ares 1-X vehicle in high bay 3. The platform will be demolished.

The crawler-transporter 2, driven by engineers and technicians, is now secured beneath the Artemis I Space Launch System (SLS) with the Orion spacecraft atop on the mobile launcher, inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 15, 2022. The crawler will carry the Artemis I stack to Launch Complex 39B for a wet dress rehearsal test ahead of 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.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Vehicle Assembly Building, the suspended external tank No. 117 reaches the level needed to move it over the crossbeam into the checkout cell in high bay 2 for processing. ET-117 arrived aboard the Pegasus barge after its voyage around the Florida Peninsula from the Michoud Assembly Facility near New Orleans. The tank is slated for mission STS-118, which is targeted for launch in early August.

Ares I-X Complete

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In Orbiter Processing Facility bay 2 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers prepare to attach a hoist to the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo in order to remove it from space shuttle Endeavour's payload bay. Leonardo carried 32,000 pounds of supplies to the International Space Station on the STS-126 mission in November. Endeavour returned to Kennedy on a piggyback flight from California Dec. 12.

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

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

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. - On Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers keep watch as the rotating service structure, or RSS, is moved to enclose space shuttle Endeavour. The RSS provides protected access to the shuttle for changeout and servicing of payloads at the pad. The structure is supported by a rotating bridge that pivots about a vertical axis on the west side of the pad's flame trench. The RSS rotates through 120 degrees (one-third of a circle) on a radius of 160 feet. Support for the outer end of the bridge is provided by two eight-wheel, motor-driven trucks that move along circular twin rails installed flush with the pad surface. The track crosses the flame trench on a permanent bridge. Endeavour is targeted to launch June 13 on its STS-127 mission to the International Space Station.

Technicians work on the Soyuz rocket during the assembly at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Saturday, May 25, 2013, in Kazakhstan. The launch of the Soyuz rocket and TMA-09M spacecraft 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.

The Orion Lockheed Martin team continues fabricating and assembling composite structures for the Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) Orion service module and launch abort system at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans on Feb. 5, 2013. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Enclosed in the protective mesh container known as the "gorilla cage," the multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator (MMRTG) for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission is lifted off the ground at the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41. The generator will be hoisted up to the top of the rocket and installed on the MSL spacecraft, encapsulated within the payload fairing.The MMRTG will generate the power needed for the mission from the natural decay of plutonium-238, a non-weapons-grade form of the radioisotope. Heat produced by this natural decay will provide constant power through the day and night during all seasons. MSL's components include a car-sized rover, Curiosity, which has 10 science instruments designed to search for signs of life, including methane, and help determine if the gas is from a biological or geological source. Heat emitted by the MMRTG will be circulated throughout the rover system to keep instruments,

This image shows the Saturn V S-IC-T stage (S-IC static test article) fuel tank being attached to the thrust structure in the vehicle assembly building at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). The S-IC stage utilized five F-1 engines that used liquid oxygen and kerosene as propellant and provided a combined thrust of 7,500,000 pounds.

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 Space Launch System (SLS) core stage is seen in the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 10, 2021. Teams with the agencys Exploration Ground Systems and contractor Jacobs are preparing to lift the 188,000-pound core stage and place it on the mobile launcher in between the two solid rocket boosters in High Bay 3 of the VAB. The core stage alone will provide more than 2 million pounds of thrust at launch, and coupled with the boosters, will provide more than 8.8 million pounds of thrust to launch the Artemis I mission. The first in an increasingly complex series of missions, Artemis I will test SLS and the Orion spacecraft as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne technicians 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.

Technicians ready two NASA Space Launch System (SLS) solid rocket boosters for mating to the rockets two aft skirts on June 16, 2020, inside Kennedy Space Centers Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility. Together, the twin boosters provide more than 75 percent of the total SLS thrust at launch. Manufactured by Northrop Grumman in Promontory, Utah, the boosters arrived at Kennedy via train. The cross-country journey was an important milestone for the agencys Artemis I launch. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system prior to crewed missions to the Moon. Once the boosters are mated with the aft skirts, they will be moved to the Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking on the mobile launcher.

A900780 U12P DISTANT ZENITH FAC DELIVERY GEORGE STALLER (Project Engineer) NOV 16 90 EG&G/NTS PHOTO LAB Publication Date: 11/16/1990 DELIVERING; DISTANT ZENITH; EDGERTON, GERMESHAUSEN & GRIER; EG&G; EQUIPMENT; EQUIPMENT & INSTRUMENTS; FAC DELIVERY; INSTRUMENTS & EQUIPMENT; INSTRUMENTS AND EQUIPMENT; NEVADA; NEVADA TEST SITE; NTS; NUCLEAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGY; P-TUNNEL; TEST SITES; TUNNELS; UGT; UNDERGROUND TESTING; WEAPONS EFFECTS historical images. 1972 - 2012. Department of Energy. National Nuclear Security Administration. Photographs Related to Nuclear Weapons Testing at the Nevada Test Site.

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.

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

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

Water storage vessels for the A-3 Test Stand are delivered to Stennis on Aug. 12.

Technicians with Orbital ATK assist as a crane lifts the left-hand forward skirt for NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) solid rocket boosters away from a flatbed truck inside the Hangar AF facility at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The forward skirt was transported from booster prime contractor Orbital ATK in Promontory, Utah. The forward skirt will be staged in Hangar AF where refurbishment will continue. It will be inspected and prepared for use on the left-hand solid rocket booster for Exploration Mission 1. NASA's Orion spacecraft will fly atop the SLS rocket on its first uncrewed flight test.

Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Space Launch System (SLS) Core Stage pathfinder is lifted horizontally in the transfer aisle on Oct. 15, 2019. The 212-foot-long core stage pathfinder arrived on NASA's Pegasus Barge at Kennedys Launch Complex 39 turn basin wharf on Sept. 27, 2019. The Pegasus Barge made its first delivery to Kennedy in support of the agency's Artemis missions. The pathfinder is being used by Exploration Ground Systems and its contractor, Jacobs, to practice offloading, moving and stacking maneuvers, using important ground support equipment to train employees and certify all the equipment works properly. The pathfinder will stay at Kennedy through at least the month of October before trekking back to NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana.

. Crews at NASAs Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans load alluminum alloy panels into the Vertical Weld Center June 1. The Vertical Weld Center is a friction-stir weld tool for the large structures of the core stage for the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket. Teams load the panels into the VWC using an overhead crane system, then multiple panels are welded together to create entire barrels. The panels in these images are some of the five barrels that will form the SLS liquid hydrogen propellant tank for the SLS rocket that will power NASAs Artemis IV mission, which is also the first flight of SLS in its more powerful Block 1B configuration.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 hydrogen propellant tank holds 537,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen cooled to minus 432 degrees Fahrenheit and sits between the core stages intertank and engine section. The liquid hydrogen

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Inside the Operations and Checkout Building, a strongback lifts the S1 truss from the Guppy cargo carrier that protected it during flight and transfer. Manufactured by the Boeing Co. in Huntington Beach, Calif., this component of the International Space Station is the first starboard (right-side) truss segment, whose main job is providing structural support for the orbiting research facility's radiator panels that cool the Space Station's complex power system. The S1 truss segment also will house communications systems, external experiment positions and other subsystems. Primarily constructed of aluminum, the truss segment is 45 feet long, 15 feet wide and 6 feet tall. When fully outfitted, it will weigh 31,137 pounds. The truss is slated for flight in 2001

Staff Sgt. Dale Rodgers, a 20th Component Maintenance Squadron aerospace propulsion craftsman, examines an afterburner during an F-16CM Fighting Falcon engine check at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., Sept. 26, 2016. An F-16 engine in full afterburn utilizes a thrust of 32,000 pounds to propel the aircraft into flight.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - The first stage of the United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket for NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive mission, or SMAP, hangs in the mobile service tower at Space Launch Complex 2 on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California during operations to erect it on the launch stand.SMAP will provide global measurements of soil moisture and its freeze/thaw state. These measurements will be used to enhance understanding of processes that link the water, energy and carbon cycles, and to extend the capabilities of weather and climate prediction models. SMAP data also will be used to quantify net carbon flux in boreal landscapes and to develop improved flood prediction and drought monitoring capabilities. Launch is scheduled for November 2014.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Inside NASA Kennedy Space Centers Vehicle Assembly Building, External Tank 119 is 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.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) Processing Facility, Boeing-Rocketdyne crane operator Joe Ferrante (left) lowers SSME 2058, the first SSME fully assembled at KSC, onto an engine stand with the assistance of other technicians on his team. The engine is being moved from its vertical work stand 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 2

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Mobile Launcher Platform-3 (MLP), which supported space shuttle Atlantis for its final flight to the International Space Station on the STS-135 mission, is being prepared for its last journey from Launch Pad 39A to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). Here, workers are moving a massive crawler-transporter under the MLP -- the last mobile launcher platform to launch a shuttle. For more than 40 years, the MLPs have traveled between the massive VAB to both launch pads at Launch Complex 39, and then returned to the VAB for future use. MLP-3 was first used to launch Columbia on the STS-32 mission on Jan. 9, 1990.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a new platform is lifted to install on the 16th level in high bay 3. The refurbishment of the facility is for the Constellation Program's Ares vehicles. The Ares I and Ares V rockets will be 325 feet and 360 feet tall, respectively, considerably taller than the space shuttle atop its mobile launcher platform.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, a technician monitors the progress as a crane lifts a solid rocket motor (SRM) for mating to the first stage of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. The Atlas V will carry NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission into space.MSL's components include a compact car-sized rover, Curiosity, which has 10 science instruments designed to search for evidence on whether Mars has had environments favorable to microbial life, including chemical ingredients for life. The unique rover will use a laser to look inside rocks and release its gasses so that the rovers spectrometer can analyze and send the data back to Earth. MSL is scheduled to launch Nov. 25 with a window extending to Dec. 18 and arrival at Mars Aug. 2012.

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

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, workers track the movement of space shuttle Discovery's external tank as it is lowered into high bay 3 between the solid rocket boosters waiting on the mobile launcher platform. The tank and rockets will be mated for the launch of Discovery on the STS-124 mission to the International Space Station, targeted for May 31. On the mission, Discovery will transport the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module - Pressurized Module (JEM-PM) and the Japanese Remote Manipulator System (JEM-RMS) to the space station to add to the Kibo laboratory.

Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, operations are underway to attach a cover, called a spider, to the top of the Space Launch System (SLS) Core Stage pathfinder on Oct. 3, 2019. With the spider secured in place, a crane will be attached to it to lift the pathfinder into the vertical position. The 212-foot-long core stage pathfinder arrived in NASA's Pegasus Barge at Kennedys Launch Complex 39 turn basin wharf on Sept. 27, 2019. The Pegasus Barge made its first delivery to Kennedy in support of the agency's Artemis missions. The upgraded 310-foot-long barge arrived, ferrying the SLS core stage pathfinder, a full-scale mock-up of the rocket's core stage. It will be used by Exploration Ground Systems and its contractor, Jacobs, to practice offloading, moving and stacking maneuvers, using important ground support equipment to train employees and certify all the equipment works properly. The pathfinder will stay at Kennedy for approximately one

Inside the Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF) high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers assist as a crane lifts the Orion Stage Adapter (OSA) up from the flatbed of a transport truck. The OSA is the second flight-hardware section of the agency's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket to arrive at Kennedy. The OSA will connect the Orion spacecraft to the upper part of the SLS, the interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS). Both the OSA and ICPS, at left, are being stored for processing in the center's SSPF in preparation for Exploration Mission-1, the first uncrewed, integrated launch of the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft.

Workers assist as a crane is used to lift up the shipping container cover from the first Northrop Grumman aft exit cone to arrive for the Space Launch Systems solid rocket boosters inside the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Nov. 4, 2019. The aft exit cone was shipped from Promontory, Utah. It will be checked out and prepared for the Artemis I uncrewed test flight. The aft exit cones sit at the bottommost part of the twin boosters. They are attached to the aft skirts, which contain the booster separation motors. The exit cones help to protect the aft skirts during launch.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Roscosmos delegation members tour the Vehicle Assembly Building and view two solid rocket boosters being assembled at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida where space shuttle Atlantis was prepared for its STS-132 mission to the International Space Station. Delegation members included Deputy Director Vitaly Davydov and Chief of Piloted Programs Directorate Alexey Krasnov. The delegation watched Atlantis lift off from Launch Pad 39A on May 14, carrying with it the Russian-built Mini Research Module-1 called Rassvet, meaning 'dawn' in Russian.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - On Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a giant crane is under construction to help finish erecting the lightning towers on the pad. The crane segments arrived on 125 trucks. Lightning towers are being constructed to hold catenary wires as part of the new lightning protection system for the Constellation Program and Ares/Orion launches.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The Ares I-X aft skirt is prepared for a move to the aft skirt test facility behind the Assembly and Refurbishment Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The I-X flight will provide NASA an early opportunity to test and prove hardware, facilities and ground operations associated with Ares I, part of the Constellation Program to return men to the moon and beyond.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Vehicle Assembly Building's transfer aisle at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane lowers the Ares I-X forward assembly onto a stand in preparation for being moved into High Bay 4. Ares I-X is the flight test vehicle for the Ares I, a component of the Constellation Program. Ares I is the essential core of a safe, reliable, cost-effective space transportation system that eventually will carry crewed missions back to the moon, on to Mars and out into the solar system. The launch of the Ares I-X flight test is targeted for August 2009.

T&R Endeavour, Alta Pod Installation/Demo, Enterprise/Smithsonia, Day 2

Soyuz rocket boosters in assembly hall at Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a worker monitors external fuel tank, ET-122, for space shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 mission, as it is lifted from its test cell. When lowered in place, the tank will be attached to the solid rocket boosters on the mobile launcher platform. Endeavour and its crew will deliver the Express Logistics Carrier-3 and the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the International Space Station. Launch is targeted for April 19.

Engineers at the Baikonur Cosmodrome prepare to mate the Soyuz TMA-3 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.

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

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Launch Complex 41, engineers and technicians support preparations for lifting the Centaur second stage of the United Launch Alliance rocket that will be used to boost the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, or TDRS-L, spacecraft to orbit.TDRS-L is the second of three next-generation satellites designed to ensure vital operational continuity for the NASA Space Network. It is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral's Space Launch Complex 41 atop an Atlas V rocket in January 2014. The current Tracking and Data Relay Satellite system consists of eight in-orbit satellites distributed to provide near continuous information relay service to missions such as the Hubble Space Telescope and International Space Station.

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

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Workers at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida move the rotating service structure into place around space shuttle Discovery on Launch Pad 39A. The structure protects the shuttle from the elements and allows access into the spacecraft while on the pad.Targeted to liftoff Nov. 1, Discovery will take the Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM) packed with supplies and critical spare parts, as well as Robonaut 2 (R2) to the International Space Station on the STS-133 mission.

The Space Launch System Core Stage pathfinder is being moved to the north end of the transfer aisle inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 3, 2019. A cover, called a spider, will be attached to the top of the pathfinder. With the spider secured in place, a crane will be attached to it to lift the pathfinder into the vertical position. The 212-foot-long core stage pathfinder arrived in NASA's Pegasus Barge at Kennedys Launch Complex 39 turn basin wharf on Sept. 27, 2019. The Pegasus Barge made its first delivery to Kennedy in support of the agency's Artemis missions. The upgraded 310-foot-long barge arrived, ferrying the SLS core stage pathfinder, a full-scale mock-up of the rocket's core stage. It will be used by Exploration Ground Systems and its contractor, Jacobs, to practice offloading, moving and stacking maneuvers, using important ground support equipment to train employees and certify all the equipment works properly. The pathfind

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- An overhead crane in the Operations and Checkout Building places Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Donatello in a workstand. Donatello is one of three MPLMs built by the Italian Space Agency for ferrying supplies and equipment to the International Space Station. Donatello was transferred from the Space Station Processing Facility to the O&C

The liquid hydrogen tank that will be part of the Space Launch System rockets core stage is being prepared for the Artemis III mission at NASAs Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. Eventually, the tank will be connected to the engine section that will house the four RS-25 engines. Once the aft simulator is attached, the LH2 tank undergoes non-destructive evaluation, which will test weld strength and ensure the tank is structurally sound. 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 tank holds 537,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen cooled to minus 432 degrees Fahrenheit and sits between the core stages intertank and engine section. The liquid hydrogen hardware, along with the liquid oxygen tank, will provide propellant to the four RS-25 engines at the bottom of the core stage to produce more than two million pounds of thrust to help launch the Artemis III mission to the Mo

The second of two Tail Service Mast Umbilicals is lifted by crane for installation on the 0-level deck of the mobile launcher on July 27, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The 35-foot-tall umbilical will connect to NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket core stage aft section and provide liquid hydrogen and electrical cable connections to the core stage engine section to support propellant handling during prelaunch operations. The installation brings Exploration Ground Systems one step closer to supporting prelaunch operations for the agency's SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft on Exploration Mission-1 and deep space destinations.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, cranes are fitted onto space shuttle Endeavour to be lifted into High Bay 1. In the high bay, the shuttle will be attached to the external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters already installed on the mobile launcher platform. Endeavour is scheduled to roll out to Launch Pad 39B on April 17. Endeavour will be prepared on the pad for liftoff in the unlikely event that a rescue mission is necessary following space shuttle Atlantis' launch on the STS-125 mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. After Atlantis is cleared to land, Endeavour will move to Launch Pad 39A for its upcoming STS-127 mission to the International Space Station, targeted to launch in mid-June.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, construction of the tower on the Constellation Program's new mobile launcher, or ML, progresses with placement of the ninth tower segment on the growing structure. When completed, the tower will be approximately 345 feet tall and have multiple platforms for personnel access. Its base is being made lighter than space shuttle mobile launcher platforms so the crawler-transporter can pick up the heavier load of the tower and a taller rocket.

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

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - An external tank is lowered toward a transporter in the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building. The tank is being transferred to the Michoud Space Systems Assembly Facility near New Orleans where redesign of the external tank is underway for Return to Flight.

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.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Vehicle Assembly Building, the redesigned External Tank is being lifted into the 'checkout cell' where the tanks mechanical, electrical and thermal protection systems are inspected. The tank will also undergo new processes resulting from its redesign, including inspection of the bipod heater and External Tank separation camera. The tank will be prepared for 'mating' to the Shuttles Solid Rocket Boosters. When preparations are complete, the tank will be lifted from the checkout cell, moved across the transfer aisle and into High Bay 1. It will be lowered and attached to the boosters, which are sitting on the Mobile Launch Platform. The SRBs and ET will be flying with Shuttle Discovery for the Return to Flight mission STS-114. The launch planning window is May 12 to June 3, 2005.

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.

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. -- External tank No. 124 is lowered between the twin solid rocket boosters in high bay 1 of the Vehicle Assembly Building. The tank will be mated with the SRBs, already in place on the mobile launcher platform, for mission STS-117. The mission is targeted to launch on March 16 aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis.

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