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

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Space shuttle main engine No. 2, which was removed from shuttle Discovery, is moved to a work stand for routine inspections in the Space Shuttle Main Engine Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The removal was part of Discovery's transition and retirement processing. Work performed on Discovery is expected to help rocket designers build next-generation spacecraft and prepare the shuttle for future public display.

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.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - On Pad 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station , Fla., Boeing Delta II interstage adapter reaches the pad after being removed from the center body section. The interstage adapter was found to be faulty during a review of launch vehicle hardware. It will be replaced, and the second stage previously removed will be re-installed within a few days. Launch of Deep Impact is now scheduled no earlier than Jan. 12.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - The lid is removed from the transportation trailer containing the second stage, or upper stage, of a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket in the Building 836 hangar on south Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.The Delta II rocket will be used to deliver NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive mission, or SMAP, into orbit from Vandenberg's Space Launch Complex 2. SMAP will provide global measurements of soil moisture and its freeze/thaw state. These measurements will be used to enhance understanding of processes that link the water, energy and carbon cycles, and to extend the capabilities of weather and climate prediction models. SMAP data 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.

STS-130 PAYLOAD CANISTER XFER TO PAD 39A & LIFT

In this close-up view inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a special cover called the spider and a crane are in view on top of the Space Launch System (SLS) Core Stage pathfinder as it is being 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.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - As part of NASA's Ground Systems Development and Operations Program at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a large space shuttle-era work platform is being removed from high bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB. The work is part of a center-wide modernization and refurbishment initiative to accommodate NASAs Space Launch System and a variety of other spacecraft instead of the whole building supporting one design.The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is developing the necessary ground systems, infrastructure and operational approaches required to safely process, assemble, transport and launch the next generation of rockets and spacecraft in support of NASAs exploration objectives. Future work also will replace the antiquated communications, power and vehicle access resources with modern efficient systems. Some of the utilities and systems slated for replacement have been used since the VAB opened in 1965.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In Vehicle Assembly Building high bay 1, the orbiter Atlantis is being lowered into position for mating to its external tank/solid rocket booster stack.; Space Shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to launch on mission STS-104 in early July

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center, workers are inspecting Solid Rocket Booster segments that will be used to launch Space Shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-121 in July. STS-121 is a Return to Flight Utilities and Logistics Flight (ULF-2) to the International Space Station.

Dome Piet Hein.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the external tank for space shuttle Discovery is being lowered into place in high bay 3 between the solid rocket boosters waiting on the mobile launcher platform. The tank will be mated to the boosters. Discovery is targeted to launch May 31 on the STS-124 mission to the International Space Station. 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.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - On NASA Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39B, hardware known as the stabilizing arm is ready to be lifted and attached to the fixed service structure. The arm will used for the Ares I-X rocket launch, targeted for Oct. 31. Ares I-X is part of NASA's Constellation Program.

The rotating service structure on Launch Pad 39A is being moved for the first time in more than a year due to maintenance and upgrades on the pad. Some of the work included sandblasting the structure to remove rust and repainting. In addition, the RSS was jacked up and a new upper-bearing race assembly installed where the RSS pivots against the fixed service structure and a half-inch steel plate added. Pad 39A is being made ready for its first launch in four years, the upcoming STS-117 on March 15.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane hoists the seventh tower segment of a new mobile launcher, or ML, being constructed to support the Constellation Program, off the ground toward the launcher's growing tower.When completed, the tower will be approximately 345 feet tall and have multiple platforms for personnel access. The construction is under way at the mobile launcher park site area north of Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building. The launcher will provide a base to launch the Ares I rocket, designed to transport the Orion crew exploration vehicle, its crew and cargo to low Earth orbit. 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 taller rocket.

Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane lowers the Space Launch System (SLS) Core Stage pathfinder into High Bay 3 on Oct. 65, 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.

In this close-up view inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a special cover called the spider and a crane are in view on top of the Space Launch System (SLS) Core Stage pathfinder as it is being 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.

GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The Core Observatory will link data from a constellation of current and planned satellites to produce next-generation global measurements of rainfall and snowfall from space.On Feb. 11, the Core Observatory was moved into the spacecraft fairing assembly building and into the Encapsulation Hall. Final inspections and preparations were completed for the installation into the fairing, which began on Feb 13. The fairing is the part of the rocket that will contain the spacecraft at the top of the H-IIA rocket.The encapsulation process for the H-IIA is very different than for most U.S. rockets. For U.S. rockets, the fairing is usually in two pieces that close around the payload like a clamshell. To install the GPM Core Observatory into the fairing of the H-IIA rocket, first the Core Observatory and the Payload Attach Fitting (PAF) are set up in scaffolding in the Encapsulation Hall. Then, the fairing i

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a view from above shows space shuttle Atlantis as it waits to be towed out of the transfer aisle and over to Orbiter Processing Facility-1.The work is part of the Space Shuttle Programs transition and retirement processing of the three space shuttles. Atlantis is being prepared for display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex and is scheduled to rollover to the complex in November.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, work progresses on the construction of the launch mount for a new mobile launcher, or ML, which will support NASA's future human spaceflight program, following the arrival of all eight segments. The base of the launcher's tower is at left. The construction is taking place in Launch Complex 39 in the mobile launcher park site north of Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building. The new launcher is 355 feet tall and has multiple platforms for personnel access. The base of the launcher is 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. - Modifications continue on the Mobile Launcher, or ML, at the Mobile Launcher Park Site at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A section of the metal structure is lowered by crane to the ground near the ML. The ML is being modified and strengthened to accommodate the weight, size and thrust at launch of NASA's Space Launch System, or SLS, and Orion spacecraft.In 2013, the agency awarded a contract to J.P. Donovan Construction Inc. of Rockledge, Fla., to modify the ML, which is one of the key elements of ground support equipment that is being upgraded by the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program office at Kennedy. The existing 24-foot exhaust hole is being enlarged and strengthened for the larger, heavier SLS rocket. The ML will carry the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft to Launch Pad 39B for its first mission, Exploration Mission-1, in 2017.

A colorful sunrise serves as the backdrop for the mobile launcher (ML) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Several launch umbilicals have been installed on the ML tower. Exploration Ground Systems is overseeing installation of umbilicals and launch accessories on the ML to prepare for the first integrated test flight of the Orion spacecraft on the agency's Space Launch System rocket on Exploration Mission-1.

SLS Intertank Test Article, ITA, is attached to crosshead of load test Annex, Bldg. 4619, and removed from bed of KMAG transporter. ITA is slowly raised from bed of KMAG transporter and KMAG is removed.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers check the hoist connections on External Fuel Tank-122 as it is lifted toward a test cell.ET-122, the Space Shuttle Program's last external fuel tank was delivered to Kennedy's Turn Basin from NASAs Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans aboard the Pegasus Barge. After testing, ET-122 eventually will be attached to space shuttle Endeavour for the STS-134 mission to the International Space Station targeted to launch February, 2011.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In high bay 1 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the suspended external tank is lowered between the solid rocket boosters, or SRBs, installed on the mobile launcher platform. The tank will be mated with the boosters for launch. Work to remove and replace the feed-through connector on the external tank will be done in parallel with integrated ET/SRB testing in preparation for space shuttle Endeavour to join the stack later in January. The STS-123 mission is targeted for launch on Endeavour in mid-March. The 25th assembly flight to the International Space Station, Endeavour's payload includes the Japanese Experiment Logistics Module Pressurized Section.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), Space Shuttle Atlantis is positioned horizontally as it is lowered into the transfer aisle. The vehicle was just demated from its External Tank_Solid Rocket Booster stack in one of the VAB's high bays. The orbiter will be rolled back to Orbiter Processing Facility bay 1 where processing will begin for mission STS-115, the 19th flight to the International Space Station. The tank, ET-120, is the first redesigned ET to arrive at KSC and will undergo further testing before Return to Flight mission STS-121 next year.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - A crane hoists the first stage of the United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket for NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive mission, or SMAP, into a vertical position alongside the mobile service tower at Space Launch Complex 2 on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.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.

The Liquid Oxygen (LOX) tank was moved from the Pegasus barge to the west test area for placement in test stand.

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

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. - At NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, construction workers remove a large space shuttle-era work platform from high bay 3 inside the Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB. The platform will be moved to the VAB north parking area for temporary storage.The work is part of a centerwide refurbishment initiative under the Ground Systems Development and Operations, or GSDO, Program. High bay 3 is being refurbished to accommodate NASAs Space Launch System and a variety of other spacecraft.

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

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, an upper rail removed from high bay 3 rests on the floor. The removal is part of the modifications 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.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, external tank number 119 is lowered onto a transporter where technicians will reapply the thermal protection system foam that was removed in order to replace the tank's four liquid hydrogen engine cutoff sensors. The tank is being prepared to launch Space Shuttle Discovery on mission STS-121 in July.

S93-43619 (18 Aug 1993) --- At Launch Pad 39B, work is under way to remove and replace the three main engines on the Space Shuttle Discovery. Here, Rocketdyne workers Jim Tibble (left), John Mooney and Ken Bair are assisting with the removal of the first engine, main engine no. 1, using the engine vertical installer. A failed sensor in main engine no. 2 led to the shutdown of all three engines three seconds before liftoff of mission STS-51 on August 12, 1993. Because it is difficult to perform the necessary inspections, refurbishment, and retesting of a fired engine on a vehicle at the pad, NASA opted to install a fresh set of engines on Discovery.

Senior Airman Daniel San Miguel, an aerospace propulsion journeyman with the 35th Maintenance Squadron, oversees an F110-GE-129 engine being tested during its afterburner phase at Misawa Air Base, Japan, Feb. 4, 2016. Each engine is tested multiple times for consistency and safety to ensure each engine has the capability to reach peak performance.

The Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) played a crucial role in the development of the huge Saturn rockets that delivered humans to the moon in the 1960s. Many unique facilities existed at MSFC for the development and testing of the Saturn rockets. Affectionately nicknamed The Arm Farm”, the Random Motion/ Lift-Off Simulator was one of those unique facilities. This facility was developed to test the swingarm mechanisms that were used to hold the rocket in position until lift-off. The Arm Farm provided the capability of testing the detachment and reconnection of various arms under brutally realistic conditions. The 18-acre facility consisted of more than a half dozen arm test positions and one position for testing access arms used by the Apollo astronauts. Each test position had two elements a vehicle simulator for duplicating motions during countdown and launch; and a section duplicating the launch tower. The vehicle simulator duplicated the portion of the vehicle skin that contained

030415-N-0000X-003. Base: Groton Shipyard State: Connecticut (CT) Country: United States Of America (USA)

A long-exposure view of the mobile launcher at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Cranes and rigging are being used to lift the bracket for the Orion Service Module Umbilical (OSMU) up for installation on the mobile launcher tower. The tower will be equipped with a number of lines, called umbilicals, that will connect to the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft for Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1). The OSMU will be located high on the mobile launcher tower and, prior to launch, will transfer liquid coolant for the electronics and air for the Environmental Control System to the Orion service module that houses these critical systems to support the spacecraft. EM-1 is scheduled to launch in 2018. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing installation of the umbilicals.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - On Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers in the Payload Changeout Room prepare for the removal of the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo (center) and the Lightweight Multi-Purpose Experiment Support Structure Carrier (bottom) from the payload canister. Later, the payload will be installed in Endeavour's payload bay. Endeavour is targeted for launch on Nov. 14.

Exterior view of Mobile Launcher Platform

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the segments of the Ares I-X first stage are fitted with a crane to lift it to the fifth segment simulator for mating, completing Super Stack 1. The super stack comprises the forward skirt, forward skirt extension, interstages 1 and 2 and the fifth segment simulator. Ares I-X is the test vehicle for the Ares I, which is part of the Constellation Program to return men to the moon and beyond. The Ares I-X flight test is targeted no earlier than Aug. 30 from Launch Pad 39B.

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.

Orbital ATK Mechanical Technician Phil Kauthen drives the transporter with the Antares rocket aboard from the Horizontal Integration Facility to launch Pad-0A, Thursday, Nov. 9, 2017 at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Orbital ATKs eighth contracted cargo resupply mission with NASA to the International Space Station will deliver over 7,400 pounds of science and research, crew supplies and vehicle hardware to the orbital laboratory and its crew.

Engineers at the Marshall Space Flight Center install the F-1 engines on the S-IC stage thrust structure at the S-IC static test stand. Engines are installed on the stage after it has been placed in the test stand. This image shows a close-up of an F-1 engine. Five F-1 engines, each weighing 10 tons, gave the booster a total thrust of 7,500,000 pounds, roughly equivalent to 160 million horsepower.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians monitor the progress as a crane lifts an Apollo era diesel engine from crawler-transporter 2 CT-2). New engines will be installed later this month.Work is in progress in high bay 2 to upgrade CT-2 so that it can carry NASAs Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket, which is under design, and new Orion spacecraft to the launch pad. The crawler-transporters were used to carry the mobile launcher platform and space shuttle to Launch Complex 39 for space shuttle launches for 30 years.

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.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians prepare to remove a fuel tank from crawler-transporter 1 CT-1 in high bay 3. 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.

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.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - At Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the first stage of the United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket for launch of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, arrives at the pad.WISE will survey the entire sky at infrared wavelengths, creating a cosmic clearinghouse of hundreds of millions of objects which will be catalogued and provide a vast storehouse of knowledge about the solar system, the Milky Way, and the universe. Launch is scheduled for Dec. 7.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - As part of NASA's Ground Systems Development and Operations Program at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a large space shuttle-era work platform is being lowered and removed from high bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB. The work is part of a center-wide modernization and refurbishment initiative to accommodate NASAs Space Launch System and a variety of other spacecraft instead of the whole building supporting one design.The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is developing the necessary ground systems, infrastructure and operational approaches required to safely process, assemble, transport and launch the next generation of rockets and spacecraft in support of NASAs exploration objectives. Future work also will replace the antiquated communications, power and vehicle access resources with modern efficient systems. Some of the utilities and systems slated for replacement have been used since the VAB opened in 1965.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In high bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building, the external tank designated for Space Shuttle Discovery is lowered into position between the solid rocket boosters on the mobile launcher platform. Discovery is scheduled to launch on mission STS-121 in July.

Cape Canaveral, Fla. -- A large crane dismantles another section of the fixed service structure (FSS) on Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Work to remove the rotating service structure (RSS) also continues at the pad. The FSS and RSS were designed to support the unique needs of the Space Shuttle Program. In 2009, the pad was no longer needed for the shuttle program, so it 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 new lightning protection system, which was in place for the October 2009 launch of Ares I-X, will remain.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Modifications continue on the Mobile Launcher, or ML, at the Mobile Launcher Park Site at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A crane is in place to lift a new steel beam for installation on the ML structure. The ML is being modified and strengthened to accommodate the weight, size and thrust at launch of NASA's Space Launch System, or SLS, and Orion spacecraft.In 2013, the agency awarded a contract to J.P. Donovan Construction Inc. of Rockledge, Fla., to modify the ML, which is one of the key elements of ground support equipment that is being upgraded by the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program at Kennedy. The existing 24-foot exhaust hole is being enlarged and strengthened for the larger, heavier SLS rocket. The ML will carry the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft to Launch Pad 39B for its first uncrewed mission, Exploration Mission-1, in 2018.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In Vehicle Assembly Building high bay 4, cables lift ballast that will be installed in segment 7 for the Ares I-X rocket. These ballast assemblies are being installed in the upper stage segments 1 and 7 and will mimic the mass of the fuel. Their total weight is approximately 160,000 pounds. Ares I-X is the test vehicle for the Ares I, which is part of the Constellation Program to return men to the moon and beyond. Ares I is the essential core of a safe, reliable, cost-effective space transportation system that eventually will carry crewed missions back to the moon, on to Mars and out into the solar system. The Ares I-X is targeted for launch in July 2009.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- A crane lowers a jacking, equalization and leveling (JEL) cylinder and bearing from Crawler-Transporter No. 2 to a position on the ground. During routine maintenance inspections last week, technicians removed two of the 16 JEL cylinders on the crawler to gain access to the bearings and found three of the four bearings cracked. Further eddy current inspections indicated that cracks are present on 15 of the bearings. There are 16 cylinders and 32 bearings per crawler. Engineers are evaluating the situation to determine the cause of the cracks and an appropriate solution to the problem.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, an overhead crane is moved into position above the Integrated Cargo Carrier-VLD (Vertical Light Deployment), part of the payload for the STS-127 mission. The ICC-VLD will be transferred to the payload canister, behind it. The canister will deliver the ICC-VLD and other elements to Launch Pad 39A for installation in space shuttle Endeavour's payload bay. Launch is targeted for June 13.

The Soyuz rocket is raised vertical, Tuesday, April 6, 2021, at the Site 31 launch pad of the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Expedition 65 NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei, Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Oleg Novitskiy are scheduled to launch aboard their Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft on April 9.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the external tank for space shuttle Atlantis' STS-132 mission, ET-136, is lowered beside the twin solid rocket boosters already stacked on a mobile launcher platform. The external tank arrived at Kennedy from NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility on March 1 aboard the Pegasus barge. The six-member STS-132 crew will deliver an Integrated Cargo Carrier and a Russian-built Mini-Research Module, or MRM-1, to the International Space Station. Launch is targeted for May 14.

ML roll is half way to Pad 39B

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The tail fin of space shuttle Atlantis emerges through the open door of Orbiter Processing Facility-2 on its move to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.Atlantis will be stored temporarily in the VAB while transition and retirement processing resumes on shuttle Endeavour in the processing hangar. Endeavour is being prepared for public display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. A groundbreaking was held Jan. 18 for Atlantis' future home -- a 65,000-square-foot exhibit in Shuttle Plaza at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. For additional information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Vehicle Assembly Building's High Bay 4 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane lifts Super Stack 2, part of the Ares I-X upper stage, into the upper levels. The stack is being moved across the transfer aisle for attachment to Super Stack 1 in High Bay 3. The upper stage comprises five super stacks, which are integrated with the four-segment solid rocket booster first stage on the mobile launch platform. Ares I-X is the test vehicle for the Ares I, which is part of the Constellation Program to return men to the moon and beyond. The Ares I-X flight test is targeted for Oct. 31, pending formal NASA Headquarters approval.

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.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, crawler-transporter No. 2 moves a space shuttle era mobile launcher platform at Launch Pad 39A. The activity was part of testing to check out recently completed modifications to ensure its ability to carry launch vehicles such as the space agency's Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket to the pad.NASA's Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is leading the 20-year life-extension project for the crawler. A pair of behemoth machines called crawler-transporters has carried the load of taking rockets and spacecraft to the launch pad for more than 40 years at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Each weighing six and a half million pounds and larger in size than a professional baseball infield, the crawler-transporters are powered by locomotive and large electrical power generator engines. The crawler-transporters will stand ready to keep up the work for the next generation of launch vehicles to lift astronauts

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Endeavour, attached to the yellow framework of a sling, is lifted from its transporter.Next, Endeavour will be hoisted over a transom and lowered into High Bay 1, where it will be attached to its external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters. Rollout of the shuttle stack to Kennedys Launch Pad 39A, a significant milestone in launch processing activities, is planned for early January 2010. The Italian-built Tranquility module, the primary payload for Endeavour's STS-130 mission, will be installed in the payload bay after the shuttle arrives at the pad. Launch is targeted for early February.

STS-133 Discovery ET-137 Tanking Test Preps

Photographic documentation of Expedition One crew in Russia with Service Module. Views include: The three crew members for ISS Expedition One train with computers on the trainer / mockup for the Zvezda Service Module. From the left are cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko, Soyuz commander; and Sergei Krikalev, flight engineer; and astronaut William Shepherd, mission commander. The session took place at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Russia (18628). View looking toward the hatch inside the Zvezda Service Module trainer / mockup at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Russia (18629). A wide shot of the Zvezda Service Module trainer / mockup, with the transfer compartment in the foreground (18630). Side view of the Zvezda Service Module (18631). An interior shot of the Zarya / Functional Cargo Bay (FGB) trainer / mockup (18632). Astronaut Scott Kelly, director of operations - Russia, walks through a full scale trainer / mockup for the Zvezda Service Module at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Train

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The final Jacking, Equalization and Leveling (JEL) cylinder is moved to Crawler Transporter No. 2 (CT-2) for installation. During recent routine maintenance inspections, cracks were found on four bearings in two JEL cylinders. Further eddy current inspections indicated that cracks were present on 15 bearings. There are 16 cylinders and 32 bearings per crawler. CT-2 was repaired in order to enable Atlantis' rollout for mission STS-112, scheduled for launch no earlier than Oct. 2.

In this view from the flame trench at Kennedy Space Centers Launch Complex 39B in Florida, Exploration Ground Systems mobile launcher can be seen on the pad surface on June 28, 2019. The mobile launcher began its final solo trek - atop crawler-transporter 2 - to the pad at midnight on June 27, departing from NASAs Vehicle Assembly Building and continuing up to the pad surface on June 28. The mobile launcher will remain at the pad over the summer, undergoing final testing and checkouts. Its next roll to the pad will be with the agencys Space Launch System rocket and Orion in preparation for the launch of Artemis 1.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In NASA Kennedy Space Centers Vehicle Assembly Building, an external tank is lifted into the upper levels of the high bay after being demated from the solid rocket boosters originally scheduled to fly on mission STS-121 with Space Shuttle Atlantis. It will temporarily be stored in a checkout cell in the VAB and await assignment to a future mission.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - As part of NASA's Ground Systems Development and Operations Program at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a large work platform is being removed from the Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB. As part of a modernization effort, flexible settings are being designed for multiple launch vehicles instead of the whole building supporting one design.The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is developing the necessary ground systems, infrastructure and operational approaches required to safely process, assemble, transport and launch the next generation of rockets and spacecraft in support of NASAs exploration objectives. Future work also will replace the antiquated communications, power and vehicle access resources with modern efficient systems. Some of the utilities and systems slated for replacement have been used since the VAB opened in 1965.

Exterior view of Launch Complex 39A

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building, external tank No. 125 is raised off its transporter. The tank will be raised to a vertical position and then lifted into a checkout cell in high bay 4 to allow for processing. The tank will be part of the space shuttle stack for mission STS-122 targeted to launch Dec. 6.

Maintenance work of Air India plane at Sahar airport Chatrapati Shivaji International airport in Bombay Copyright: xAkellaxSrinivas/DinodiaxPhotox

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- On NASA Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A, two workers keep watch as the second payload bay door closes on space shuttle Endeavour. Still seen, at the bottom of the payload bay, is the first section of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory, the Experiment Logistics Module Pressurized Section, or ELM-PS. Endeavour is targeted to launch March 11 at 2:28 a.m. EDT on the 16-day STS-123 mission to the International Space Station. Endeavour and its crew will deliver the ELM-PS and the Canadian Space Agency's two-armed robotic system, Dextre.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The orbiter Discovery is lowered via a crane and sling into high bay 3 of NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building. Discovery will be mated with its external tank and twin solid rocket boosters waiting below on the mobile launcher platform. Space Shuttle Discovery is expected to roll out to Launch Pad 39B later this week via the crawler-transporter. Launch of Discovery on mission STS-121 is scheduled to take place in a window extending July 1 to July 19.

Three S-IB stages near completion at the NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) near New Orleans, Louisiana, in November 1967. Developed by the Marshall Space Flight Center and built by the Chrysler Corporation at MAF, the 90,000-pound booster utilized eight H-1 engines and each produced 200,000 pounds of thrust for the Saturn IB launch vehicle's first stage.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, crawler-transporter No. 2 moves under a space shuttle era mobile launcher platform on Launch Pad 39A. The activity was part of testing to check out recently completed modifications to ensure its ability to carry launch vehicles such as the space agency's Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket to the pad.NASA's Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is leading the 20-year life-extension project for the crawler. A pair of behemoth machines called crawler-transporters has carried the load of taking rockets and spacecraft to the launch pad for more than 40 years at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Each weighing six and a half million pounds and larger in size than a professional baseball infield, the crawler-transporters are powered by locomotive and large electrical power generator engines. The crawler-transporters will stand ready to keep up the work for the next generation of launch vehicles to lift a

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the 175-ton crane has been lowered by crane onto steel stands on the transfer aisle floor. The crane was lowered from Level 16. Upgrades to the crane's 45-year-old controls will be performed in order to improve reliability, precision and safety. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to the VAB. The crane will be upgraded so that it can support lifting needs for NASA and other exploration vehicles, including the agency's Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- On Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a load test is conducted on a giant crane. The crane will aid in construction of lightning towers that will hold catenary wires as part of the new lightning protection system for the Constellation Program and Ares/Orion launches. One of the towers under construction is at center. Pad 39B will be the site of the first Ares vehicle launch, including the Ares I-X test flight that is targeted for July 2009.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A spent shuttle solid rocket booster is moved into Hangar AF at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, where it will be cleaned. The booster was used during space shuttle Discovery's STS-133 launch from NASA Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A on Feb. 24. The shuttles two solid rocket booster casings and associated flight hardware were recovered in the Atlantic Ocean by retrieval ships Liberty Star and Freedom Star.The boosters impact the Atlantic about seven minutes after liftoff and the retrieval ships are stationed about 10 miles from the impact area at the time of splashdown. After the spent segments are processed, they will be transported to Utah, where they will be refurbished and stored, if needed.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Vehicle Assembly Building at KSC, a crane moves laterally to carry external tank No. 120 into a checkout cell. The tank will be prepared for stacking with solid rocket boosters to launch Space Shuttle Discovery on mission STS-120 in October. The mission is the 23rd to the International Space Station and will launch an Italian-built, U.S. multi-port module known as Harmony for the station. Christened after a school contest, Harmony will provide attachment points for European and Japanese laboratory modules. NASA/George Shelton

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA Kennedy Space Center, the orbiter Atlantis is being raised to a vertical position. It will be lifted up and over the cross-beam into high bay 1 and mated with the Solid Rocket Boosters and External Tank already stacked there on the Mobile Launcher Platform. Atlantis is the designated orbiter for Return to Flight mission STS-121. The lighted planning window for launch extends from Sept. 9 to Sept. 25.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - On NASA Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39B, the stabilizing arm is lifted toward the fixed service structure where it will be attached. The arm will be used in the Ares I-X rocket launch, targeted for Oct. 31. Ares I-X is part of NASA's Constellation Program.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Workers in the Payload Changeout Room, Launch Pad 39A, ride a platform toward the forward cargo bay area of Space Shuttle Endeavour to search for an oxygen leak. The launch of Endeavour on mission STS-113 was postponed Nov. 10, following the completion of tanking operations, due to higher than allowable oxygen levels in the orbiter's midbody. Workers will investigate the exact location and possible cause of the leak, and effect repairs. Launch has been tentatively set for no earlier than Nov. 18, between 7 and 11 p.m. EST.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In NASA Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building High Bay 3, a crane moves the Ares I-X Super Stack 3 across the transfer aisle to High Bay 4. There it will be integrated with Super Stack 2. The upper stage comprises five super stacks, which are integrated with the four-segment solid rocket booster first stage on the mobile launch platform. Ares I-X is the test vehicle for the Ares I, which is part of the Constellation Program to return men to the moon and beyond. The Ares I-X flight test is targeted for Oct. 31, pending formal NASA Headquarters approval.

Artemis I Rollout. NASAs Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen atop the mobile launcher as Crawler Transporter-2 (CT-2) begins to climb the ramp at Launch Pad 39B, Friday, Nov. 4, 2022, at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASAs Artemis I mission is the first integrated test of the agencys deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, SLS rocket, and supporting ground systems. Launch of the uncrewed flight test is targeted for Nov. 14 at 12:07 a.m. EST.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Technician latch the doors closed over the nose gear during a landing gear functional test on space shuttle Atlantis in Orbiter Processing Facility-2, where the shuttle is undergoing transition and retirement processing.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians prepare to attach a bridge crane to the Orion ground test vehicle for heat shield removal inside the Vehicle Assembly Building. The ground test vehicle is being prepared for its move to Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., for a water test. The test vehicle is being used by the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program for path finding operations, including simulated manufacturing, assembly and stacking procedures. Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to destinations not yet explored by humans. It will have emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. The first unpiloted test flight of Orion is scheduled to launch in 2014 atop a Delta IV Heavy rocket and in 2017 on NASAs Space Launch System rocket.

BATH , Maine (Dec. 14, 2012) The 1,000-ton deckhouse of the future destroyer USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000) is craned toward the deck of the ship to be integrated with the ship's hull at General Dynamics Bath Iron Works. The ship launch and christening are planned in 2013.

Jerry Preston, a senior supervisor for McDonnell Douglas, makes a last minute check on a boom assembly before it is transferred for installation on a KC-10 Extender aircraft. Base: Long Beach State: California (CA) Country: United States Of America (USA)

Waste gases outlet from boiler complex of oil-fired power station

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building, workers are securing the sling attachment of the overhead crane that will lift the orbiter Atlantis into high bay 3. After Atlantis is lifted and moved into the high bay, the orbiter will be lowered and mated with the external tank and solid rocket boosters already stacked on the mobile launcher platform. Atlantis' launch window begins Aug. 28. During its 11-day mission to the International Space Station, the STS-115 crew of six astronauts will install the Port 3/4 truss segment with its two large solar arrays.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - On Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the payload canister has been lifted up to the payload changeout room for transfer of its cargo. Inside the canister are the Japanese Experiment Module - Pressurized Module and the Japanese Remote Manipulator System, or RMS, for the STS-124 mission. The changeout room is the enclosed, environmentally controlled portion of the service structure that supports cargo delivery to the pad and subsequent vertical installation into an orbiter's payload bay. From the payload changeout room, the pressurized module and RMS then will be transferred into space shuttle Discoverys payload bay. Launch is targeted for May 31.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - As part of NASA's Ground Systems Development and Operations Program at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a large space shuttle-era work platform is being removed from high bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB. The work is part of a center-wide modernization and refurbishment initiative to accommodate NASAs Space Launch System and a variety of other spacecraft instead of the whole building supporting one design.The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is developing the necessary ground systems, infrastructure and operational approaches required to safely process, assemble, transport and launch the next generation of rockets and spacecraft in support of NASAs exploration objectives. Future work also will replace the antiquated communications, power and vehicle access resources with modern efficient systems. Some of the utilities and systems slated for replacement have been used since the VAB opened in 1965.

jsc2017e101955 (July 22, 2017) --- In the Integration Facility at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Soyuz MS-05 spacecraft is lowered to a horizontal position to be encapsulated in the upper stage of a Soyuz booster July 21 in preparation for its launch. Expedition 52-53 crewmembers Sergey Ryazanskiy of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), Randy Bresnik of NASA and Paolo Nespoli of the European Space Agency will launch July 28 on the Soyuz MS-05 for a five-month mission on the International Space Station.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, preparations are under way to lift the interstage of the United Launch Alliance Delta II that will carry NASA's National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project (NPP) satellite into space at NASA's Space Launch Complex-2.The interstage provides an interface between the launch vehicle's first and second stages. 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.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the eighth tower segment of a new mobile launcher, or ML, being constructed to support the Constellation Program, begins its ascent to the top of the growing tower.When completed, the tower will be approximately 345 feet tall and have multiple platforms for personnel access. The construction is under way at the mobile launcher park site area north of Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building. The launcher will provide a base to launch the Ares I rocket, designed to transport the Orion crew exploration vehicle, its crew and cargo to low Earth orbit. 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 taller rocket.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In NASA Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building High Bay 3, a crane moves the Ares I-X Super Stack 3 across the transfer aisle to High Bay 4. There it will be integrated with Super Stack 2. The upper stage comprises five super stacks, which are integrated with the four-segment solid rocket booster first stage on the mobile launch platform. Ares I-X is the test vehicle for the Ares I, which is part of the Constellation Program to return men to the moon and beyond. The Ares I-X flight test is targeted for Oct. 31, pending formal NASA Headquarters approval.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - As part of NASA's Ground Systems Development and Operations Program at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle-era work platforms have been removed from high bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB. The work is part of a center-wide modernization and refurbishment initiative to accommodate NASAs Space Launch System and a variety of other spacecraft instead of the whole building supporting one design.The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is developing the necessary ground systems, infrastructure and operational approaches required to safely process, assemble, transport and launch the next generation of rockets and spacecraft in support of NASAs exploration objectives. Future work also will replace the antiquated communications, power and vehicle access resources with modern efficient systems. Some of the utilities and systems slated for replacement have been used since the VAB opened in 1965.

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