NASA Space Exploration Events

Images of NASA officials discussing spacecraft developments, robot operations, and future missions in various NASA facilities.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and Congressional Delegation Visit to Lewis Field and Plum Brook Station

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside the Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, agency Administrator Charles Bolden speaks to members of the news media about ongoing preparations of the Orion spacecraft for its first unpiloted launch, Exploration Test Flight 1. Standing behind Bolden are John Grunsfeld, NASA associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, left and center Director Bob Cabana.Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry crews to space beyond low Earth orbit. It will provide emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during the space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. Orions first unpiloted test launch is scheduled for liftoff during 2014 atop a Delta IV rocket. A second unpiloted flight test is scheduled for 2017 on NASAs Space Launch System rocket.

Sen. Barbara Mikulski participated in a ribbon cutting at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center on January 6th, 2016, to officially open the new Robotic Operations Center (ROC) developed by the Satellite Servicing Capabilities Office (SSCO). In this image, she is joined by Chris Scolese, Goddard Center Director (right) and Frank Cepollina, Associate Director of the SSCO (left). Within the ROC's black walls, NASA is testing technologies and operational procedures for science and exploration missions, including the Restore-L satellite servicing mission and also the Asteroid Redirect Mission. During her tour of the ROC, Sen. Mikulski saw first-hand an early version of the NASA Servicing Arm, a 2-meter-class robot with the dexterity to grasp and refuel a satellite on orbit. She also heard a description of Raven, a payload launching to the International Space Station that will demonstrate real-time, relative space navigation technology. The robotic technologies that NASA is developing within t

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Astronauts Mike Fossum and Cady Coleman, both in blue flight suits, look over the model capsule fit with rotor blades ahead of tests inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA's Johnson Space Center Aerospace Engineer Jeff Hagen, right, fields questions about the project. The design would give a capsule the stability and control of a helicopter, but would not be powered. Instead, the wind passing over the rotors as the capsule descends would make the blades turn, a process called auto-rotation. The intent is to give real spacecraft a soft landing with enough control that they could touch down anywhere in the world, whether it be a runway or parking lot. In other words, wherever a helicopter could land, a spacecraft could land, too.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and Congressional Delegation Visit to Lewis Field and Plum Brook Station

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine speaks to NASA workers across the nation and members of the news media, during a Moon to Mars event in the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay on March 11, 2019. The event followed the delivery of President Trumps fiscal year 2020 budget proposal to U.S. Congress, which includes funding for the agencys Moon to Mars initiative and Gateway lunar outpost. Bridenstine presented a closer look at Americas work to return astronauts to the Moon in a sustainable way and continue exploration to Mars.

Kelvin Manning, left, associate director, technical, of NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, speaks to White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Kelvin Droegemeier, center, and NASA Associate Administrator for STEM Engagement Mike Kincade, right, inside the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building on July 10, 2019, at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Droegemeier visited the iconic rocket-assembly facility in the heart of Kennedys Launch Complex 39 Area during a tour of the multi-user spaceport.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and Congressional Delegation Visit to Lewis Field and Plum Brook Station

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and Congressional Delegation Visit to Lewis Field and Plum Brook Station

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Kennedy Director Bob Cabana addresses the invited guests at a ceremony transferring the ownership of node 3 for the International Space Station, looming in the background, from the European Space Agency, or ESA, to NASA. Seated, from left, are William Dowdell, deputy for Operations, International Space Station and Spacecraft Processing, Kennedy; Bernardo Patti, head of International Space Station, Program Department, ESA; and Secondino Brondolo, head of the Space Infrastructure, Thales Alenia Space Italy.Node 3 is named "Tranquility" after the Sea of Tranquility, the lunar landing site of Apollo 11. The payload for the STS-130 mission, Tranquility is a pressurized module that will provide room for many of the International Space Station's life support systems. The module was built for ESA by Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy. Attached to one end of Tranquility is a cupola, a

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and Congressional Delegation Visit to Lewis Field and Plum Brook Station

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, in the center, tours the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Aug. 28, 2020, with Russell Vought, in front at right, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget. Accompanying them is Kennedy Director Bob Cabana, second from left. Behind Vought is Kennedy Deputy Director Janet Petro. At right, next to Petro, is Brian McCormack, associate director of the White House Office of Management and Budget. The VAB is critical to the assembly of the Space Launch System rocket for NASAs Artemis program. The Office of Management and Budget is working with the U.S. Congress to line up the necessary resources to land the first woman and the next man on the Moon in 2024.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine speaks to NASA workers across the nation and members of the news media, during a Moon to Mars event in the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay on March 11, 2019. Behind him is the Orion crew module for Exploration Mission-2. The event followed the delivery of President Trumps fiscal year 2020 budget proposal to U.S. Congress, which includes funding for the agencys Moon to Mars initiative and Gateway lunar outpost. Bridenstine presented a closer look at Americas work to return astronauts to the Moon in a sustainable way and continue exploration to Mars.

Robert Lightfoot visited the facility housing the seven-axis milling tool as it performs work on the Spacecraft and Payload Integration adapters for the Space Launch System Program at MSFC. After a short tour, he took a few moment to address the media and answer questions, including how ISERV is examining the damage done by the recent tornado outbreak in Oklahoma, and more information on NASA's asteroid mission.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and Richard Gilbrech, Director of NASA's Stennis Space Center, speak with members of the media following State of NASA address to discuss the fiscal year 2021 budget request, Monday, Feb. 10, 2020, at Aerojet Rocketdynes facility at NASAs Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.

The 2017 class of astronaut candidates are inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay during a familiarization tour of facilities at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The candidates toured center facilities, including the Launch Control Center, Launch Pad 39B, the Vehicle Assembly Building and the Space Station Processing Facility. They also toured Boeing's Commercial Crew and Cargo Facility, United Launch Alliance's Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and SpaceX's Launch Pad 39A at Kennedy. The candidates will spend about two years getting to know the space station systems and learning how to spacewalk, speak Russian, control the International Space Station's robotic arm and fly T-38s, before they're eligible to be assigned to a mission.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and Congressional Delegation Visit to Lewis Field and Plum Brook Station

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a technician, left, talks about the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2 (AMS) with STS-134 Pilot Gregory H. Johnson, Commander Mark Kelly and the experiment's principal investigator, Prof. Samuel Ting. The six-member STS-134 crew is at Kennedy participating in the Crew Equipment Interface Test (CEIT), which gives them an opportunity for hands-on training with tools they'll be using in space and familiarization of the payload they'll be delivering to the International Space Station. Space shuttle Endeavour is targeted to launch on the STS-134 mission Feb. 27, 2011.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Class of 2009 Astronaut Candidates, also called ASCANs, tour the Vehicle Assembly Building. The new astronaut candidates for NASA are Serena M. Aunon, Jeanette J. Epps, Air Force Maj. Jack D. Fischer, Air Force Lt. Col. Michael S. Hopkins, Kjell N. Lindgren, Kathleen 'Kate' Rubins, Navy Cmdr. Scott D. Tingle, Army Lt. Col. Mark T. Vande, and Navy Lt. Cmdr. Gregory R. 'Reid' Wiseman. The new astronaut candidates for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, are Norishige Kanai, Takuya Onishi and Kimiya Yui. The new astronaut candidates for the Canadian Space Agency, or CSA, are Jeremy Hansen and David Saint-Jacques.

Pilot of the first space shuttle mission, STS-1, Bob Crippen speaks at an event where NASA Administrator Charles Bolden announced where four space shuttle orbiters will be permanently displayed at the conclusion of the Space Shuttle Program, Tuesday, April 12, 2011, at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. The four orbiters, Enterprise, which currently is on display at the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington Dulles International Airport, will move to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York, Discovery will move to Udvar-Hazy, Endeavour will be displayed at the California Science Center in Los Angeles and Atlantis, in background, will be displayed at the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and Congressional Delegation Visit to Lewis Field and Plum Brook Station

NASA Acting Administrator Robert Lightfoot delivers the "State of NASA", February 12, 2018, at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. In his address, Lightfoot discussed what the President's Fiscal Year 2019 budget request means for America's space agency. According to Lightfoot, it "reflects the administration's confidence that America will lead the way back to the Moon and take the next giant leap". Lightfoot delivered the "State of NASA" address in Marshall's Center for Advanced Manufacturing where engineers are pushing boundaries in the fields of additive manufacturing, 3D printing, and more. Hardware for NASA's Space Launch System and a model of the agency's Orion spacecraft served as a backdrop for the annual event. SLS, which is managed by Marshall, will enable a new era of exploration beyond Earth's orbit by launching astronauts on missions to deep-space destinations including the Moon and Mars.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility, Russ Romanella (left), director of International Space Station and Spacecraft Processing, presides over a ceremony to unveil the new name of NASA's Node 2 module, Harmony. With him are Mission STS-120 Commander Pam Melroy and Pilot George Zamka. The name, Harmony, was chosen from an academic competition involving thousands of students in kindergarten through high school. The Node 2 Challenge required students to learn about the International Space Station, build a scale model of the module, and write an essay explaining their proposed name. This will be the first U.S. piece of the space station named by someone other than a NASA official. Node 2 is a pressurized module that will act as a connecting port and passageway to additional international science labs and supply spacecraft. It also will be a work platform for the station's robotic arm. The module is scheduled to fly on mission STS-120 aboard Space Shuttle

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine gives remarks during an event were Neil Armstrong's Apollo 11 spacesuit was unveiled for the first time in 13 years, Tuesday, July 16, 2019 at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington. The unveiling of the crowd funded spacesuit conservation marks the 50th anniversary of the launch of the Apollo 11 mission.

Senator Barbara Mikulski visits NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

Vice President Mike Pence delivers opening remarks during the sixth meeting of the National Space Council, Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2019 at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va. Chaired by the Vice President, the council's role is to advise the President regarding national space policy and strategy, and review the nation's long-range goals for space activities.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, third from left, is seen as he is escorted on a tour of the Space Shuttle Trainer Crew Compartment in the Charles Simonyi Space Gallery at the Museum of Flight, Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2013 in Seattle, Washington. Bolden is joined by Washington Aerospace Scholars Alec Lindsey, far left, Brenna Tuller-Ross and Doug King, far right, president and CEO of the museum.

MARSHALL CENTER DIRECTOR PATRICK SCHEUERMANN, RIGHT, TALKS WITH FORMER ASTRONAUT OWEN GARRIOTT BENEATH THE SATURN V ROCKET SUSPENDED IN THE DAVIDSON CENTER FOR SPACE EXPLORATION AT THE U.S. SPACE & ROCKET CENTER

In the Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF), Jim Pope (background), Logistics Flight 1 (LF1) mission manager, International Space Station and Payload Processing, discusses the Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules (MPLMs) with members of the media. MPLMs are pressurized modules that serve as the International Space Station's "moving vans," carrying laboratory racks filled with equipment, experiments and supplies to and from the Station aboard the Space Shuttle. Reporters were invited to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the launch of the first element of the Station with a tour of the facility and had the opportunity to see Space Station hardware that is being processed for deployment once the Space Shuttles return to flight. NASA and Boeing mission managers were on hand to talk about the various hardware elements currently being processed for flight.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, at right, tours the high bay inside the Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF), on Aug. 7, 2018, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. From left, Carlos Calle, lead scientist in the Electrostatic and Surface Physics Laboratory, and Dr. Robert Youngquist, lead, Applied Physics Laboratory, explain electrostatic dust shield technology. Bridenstine also received updates on research and technology accomplishments during his visit to the SSPF.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, at the podium up front, speaks to NASA workers across the nation and members of the news media, during a Moon to Mars event in the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay on March 11, 2019. Behind him is the Orion crew module for Exploration Mission-2. The event followed the delivery of President Trumps fiscal year 2020 budget proposal to U.S. Congress, which includes funding for the agencys Moon to Mars initiative and Gateway lunar outpost. Bridenstine presented a closer look at Americas work to return astronauts to the Moon in a sustainable way and continue exploration to Mars.

Artemis Departure Media Event

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, from left, Michael Suffredini, program manager, International Space Station, NASA; Secondino Brondolo, head of the Space Infrastructure, Thales Alenia Space Italy; and Bernardo Patti, head of International Space Station, Program Department, ESA, are photographed in front of node 3 for the International Space Station following a ceremony transferring the ownership of the node from the European Space Agency, or ESA, to NASA.Node 3 is named "Tranquility" after the Sea of Tranquility, the lunar landing site of Apollo 11. The payload for the STS-130 mission, Tranquility is a pressurized module that will provide room for many of the International Space Station's life support systems. The module was built for ESA by Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy. Attached to one end of Tranquility is a cupola, a unique work station with six windows on its sides and one on top. The cupola resemb

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In Orbiter Processing Facility-1 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, former NASA astronaut Neil Armstrong left, who in July 1969 became the first man to set foot on the moon as commander of the Apollo 11 mission, views space shuttle Atlantis with Bob Crippen, the first space shuttle pilot. Crippen piloted space shuttle Columbia on STS-1 in April 1981.Atlantis is being prepared for display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex and is scheduled to rollover to the complex in November. The visitor complex is targeting a July 2012 grand opening for Atlantis new home.

jsc2017e067186 (06/07/2017) --- United States Vice President Mike Pence delivers remarks during an event where 12 new NASA astronaut candidates were introduced; Kayla Barron, Zena Cardman, Raja Chari, Matthew Dominick, Robert Hines, Warren Hoburg, Jonathan Kim, Robb Kulin, Jasmin Moghbeli, Loral OHara, Francisco Rubio and Jessica Watkins at NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. After completing two years of training, the new astronaut candidates could be assigned to missions performing research on the International Space Station, launching from American soil on spacecraft built by commercial companies, and launching on deep space missions on NASAs new Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System rocket.

Vice President Kamala Harris meets with NASA astronauts Shannon Walker and Joe Acaba and learned about the Artemis II flight crew module as Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and Scott Wilson, NASA Kennedy Space Center, Manager of Production, during a tour, Monday, Aug. 29, 2022, at the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Regions - Images Relating to the Discover-AQ Program - images and video clips relating to the Discover-AQ Program. Discover-AQ stands for Deriving Information on Surface conditions from COlumn and VERtically resolved observations relevant to Air Quality , Environmental Protection Agency

Lockheed Martin Chariwoman, President and CEO Marilyn Hewson addresses invited guests, elected officials and NASA, Lockheed Martin and other industry leaders at Kennedy Space Centers Neil Armstrong Operations & Checkout Building on July 20, 2019. Vice President Mike Pence visited the Florida spaceport in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, and also spoke about NASAs progress and future plans to return to the Moon and on to Mars.

Maryland's Sen. Barbara Mikulski greeted employees at NASA's Goddard SpaceFlight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, during a packed town hall meetingJan. 6. She discussed her history with Goddard and appropriations for NASAin 2016.Read more: http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mikulski-visits-nasa-goddard

At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, members of the news media are briefed on the agency's Space Launch System SLS Program by Todd May, program manager for Space Launch Systems SLS at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The briefing took place in the spaceport's Booster Fabrication Facility BFF. During the Space Shuttle Program, the facility was used for processing forward segments and aft skirts for the solid rocket boosters. The BFF will serve a similar role for the SLS. Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to destinations not yet explored by humans, including an asteroid and Mars. 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 flight test of Orion is scheduled to launch Dec. 4, 2014 atop a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket, and in 2018 on NASAs Space Launch System rocket.

JSC2011-E-060459 (30 June 2011) --- STS-135 crew members are pictured following a preflight press conference at NASA's Johnson Space Center. From the right are NASA astronauts Chris Ferguson, commander; Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim, both mission specialists; and Doug Hurley, pilot.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - United Space Alliance employee Terry White checks out Space Shuttle Atlantis in the Orbiter Processing Facility following Hurricane Frances. The storm's path over Florida took it through Cape Canaveral and KSC property during Labor Day weekend. There was no damage to the Space Shuttle orbiters or to any other flight hardware.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- After opening ceremonies for the 40th anniversary celebration of American spaceflight, space pioneer John Glenn Jr., who made that historic flight orbiting the Earth, signs a commemorative painting. The site is the Rocket Garden in the KSC Visitor Complex. Other Mercury astronauts who attended the celebration were Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper and Wally Schirra. The event was capped with a dinner held at the KSC Apollo_Saturn V Center.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine speaks toNASA workers across the nation and members of the news media, during a Moon to Mars event in the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay on March 11, 2019. Behind him is the Orion crew module for Exploration Mission-2. The event followed the delivery of President Trumps fiscal year 2020 budget proposal to U.S. Congress, which includes funding for the agencys Moon to Mars initiative and Gateway lunar outpost. Bridenstine presented a closer look at Americas work to return astronauts to the Moon in a sustainable way and continue exploration to Mars.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -In the Orbiter Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, a technician shows a reinforced carbon-carbon panel to STS-125 Mission Specialists Mike Massimino (left) and Mike Good. The RCC panels are part of the thermal protection system used on space shuttles. The crew is at Kennedy for a crew equipment interface test, which provides hands-on experience with hardware and equipment for the mission. Atlantis is targeted to launch on the STS-125 Hubble Servicing Mission 4 on Oct. 8.

Vice President Mike Pence addresses invited guests, elected officials and NASA, Lockheed Martin and other industry leaders at Kennedy Space Centers Neil Armstrong Operations & Checkout Building on July 20, 2019. Pence, who visited the Florida spaceport in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, also spoke about NASAs progress and future plans to return to the Moon and on to Mars.

Bill Dowdell, International Space Station technical director, speaks to guests during a ribbon cutting ceremony in the high bay of the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida spaceport. Joining him is Kennedy's director, Bob Cabana. The event celebrated completion of facility modifications to improve processing and free up zones tailored to a variety of needs supporting a robust assortment of space-bound hardware including NASA programs and commercial space companies.

Vice President Mike Pence delivers opening remarks during the National Space Council's first meeting, Thursday, Oct. 5, 2017 at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va. The National Space Council, chaired by Vice President Mike Pence heard testimony from representatives from civil space, commercial space, and national security space industry representatives.

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11, NASA Astronaut Neil Armstrong's spacesuit was unveiled today in The Wright Brothers and The Invention of the Aerial Age Gallery of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, in Washington, DC, July 16, 2019. Unveiling the spacesuit, from left, Rick Armstrong, son of Neil Armstrong, Vice President Mike Pence, Dr. Ellen Stofan, The John and Adrienne Mars Director of the National Air and Space Museum, and James Bridenstine, Administrator of NASA. (Smithsonian Air and Space photo by Jim Preston)

jsc2017e043845 (April 14, 2017) --- In the Integration Facility at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Expedition 51 backup crewmember Randy Bresnik of NASA enters the Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft April 14 during a final training session. Bresnik and Sergey Ryazanskiy of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) are serving as backups to Fyodor Yurchikhin of Roscosmos and Jack Fischer of NASA, who will launch April 20 on the Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft for a four and a half month mission on the International Space Station.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At NASAs Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida, space shuttle astronauts, from the left, Bonnie Dunbar, Curt Brown and Eileen Collins stand together after being inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame. They are standing under the space shuttle Atlantis in the facility where it will be displayed beginning June 29. The shuttle is currently protected by plastic wrap as constitution contuse. This induction is the twelfth group of space shuttle astronauts named to the AHOF, and the first time two women are inducted at the same time. The years inductees were selected by a committee of current Hall of Fame astronauts, former NASA officials, historians and journalists. The selection process is administered by the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation.

STS121-S-066 (17 July 2006) --- Dr. Michael Griffin (left), NASA administrator, and Rex Geveden (right), associate administrator, talk with STS-121 crew members Michael E. Fossum (left), mission specialist; and Steven W. Lindsey, commander, after the landing of the Space Shuttle Discovery and conclusion of mission STS-121. The crew of seven tested new equipment and procedures to improve shuttle safety, as well as deliver supplies and make repairs to the International Space Station.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Members of the STS-116 crew are congratulated by NASA Administrator Mike Griffin following the landing of Discovery on Runway 15 at NASA Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility. From left are Mission Specialists Joan Higginbotham, Commander Mark Polansky and Griffin, facing them. Other astronauts aboard Discovery not shown are Pilot William Oefelein; Mission Specialists Robert Curbeam, Nicholas Patrick, and Christer Fuglesang, who represents the European Space Agency; and European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Reiter, who is returning from a 6-month stay on the International Space Station. During the mission, three spacewalks attached the P5 integrated truss structure to the station, and completed the rewiring of the orbiting laboratory's power system. A fourth spacewalk retracted a stubborn solar array. Main gear touchdown was at 5:32 p.m. EST. Nose gear touchdown was at 5:32:12 p.m. and wheel stop was at 5:32:52 p.m. At touchdown -- nominally

Cliff Lanham, at left, ground operations manager with Exploration Ground Systems, passes the baton to Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, Artemis I launch director, inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 16, 2022. Behind them is the Artemis I Space Launch System (SLS) with the Orion spacecraft atop on the mobile launcher. The SLS and Orion will make the trek to Launch Complex 39B for a wet dress rehearsal ahead of launch atop the crawler-transporter 2. 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.

JSC2011-E-070374 (22 July 2011) --- U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R.-Texas), NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) director Michael L. Coats and STS-135 crew members are pictured in Ellington Fields Hangar 990 near JSC during the STS-135 crew return ceremonies. Crew members (seated from the left) are NASA astronauts Chris Ferguson, commander; Doug Hurley, pilot; Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim, both mission specialists. A large crowd of supporters is visible in the foreground.

Visitors prepare to view the Orion crew module flown on NASAs Pad Abort-1 (PA-1) flight test, which is on display at an event at the Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin, Texas on June 20, 2011. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.

Visit by Dr. Harrison H. Schmitt, Apollo 17 Astronaut

VISIT BY VICE PRESIDENT AL GORE

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- After signing a framework agreement establishing the terms for future cooperation between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization, Chairman G. Madhavan Nair (center) and other members are given a tour of the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The agreement establishes the terms for future cooperation between the two agencies in the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes. According to the framework agreement, the two agencies will identify areas of mutual interest and seek to develop cooperative programs or projects in Earth and space science, exploration, human space flight and other activities. In addition to a long history of cooperation in Earth science, NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization also are cooperating on India's first, mission to the moon, Chandrayaan-1, which will be launched later this year. NASA is providing two of the 11 instruments on the spacecraft: the moon mineralo

Secretary Gale Norton with Arizona Congressman Rick Renzi, right, speaking to reporters about forest management issues during tour of the Mount Graham International Observatory, near Safford, Arizona. Area, in Coronado National Forest, was affected by the summer's massive Nuttall and Gibson forest fires

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Hall of Fame astronauts (from left) Gordon Fullerton, Henry W. "Hank" Hartsfield Jr., Rick Hauk, Dan Brandenstein, Brewster Shaw, Robert "Hoot" Gibson, Bruce McCandless, Steven Hawley, Loren Shriver, Jeff Hoffman, Fred Gregory, John Blaha and Bob Cabana watch the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame induction ceremony at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. Cabana is the Kennedy Space Center director. The ceremony took place May 2. More than 20 hall of fame astronauts attended, including Scott Carpenter, Walt Cunningham, Jim Lovell and Bob Crippen.

Vice President Mike Pence addresses a meeting of the National Space Council in the high bay of the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on Feb. 21, 2018. Chaired by the Vice President, the council's role is to advise the president regarding national space policy and strategy, and review the nation's long-range goals for space activities.

Vice President Mike Pence addresses invited guests, elected officials and NASA, Lockheed Martin and other industry leaders at Kennedy Space Centers Neil Armstrong Operations & Checkout Building on July 20, 2019. Pence, who visited the Florida spaceport in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, also spoke about NASAs progress and future plans to return to the Moon and on to Mars.

STS-134 Payload Media Event at Pad 39A

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- House Of Representatives Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, from California's 8th District, left, and United Space Alliance worker Brian Elleman pose for a photo at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Pelosi is at the space center to witness space shuttle Discovery make history as it lifts off on its final scheduled mission from Launch Pad 39A. While at the center, Pelosi attended a presentation in the Operations Support Building II and toured Orbiter Processing Facilities 1 and 2 where shuttles Atlantis and Endeavour are being prepared for their final missions respectively.Discovery and its six-member STS-133 crew will deliver the Permanent Multipurpose Module, packed with supplies and critical spare parts, as well as Robonaut 2, the dexterous humanoid astronaut helper, to the International Space Station. Discovery will make its 39th mission and is scheduled to be retired following STS-133. This will be the 133rd Space Shuttle Program mission and the 35th sh

Artemis II Crew with EGS. Artemis II astronauts visit NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Aug. 7, 2023. In front, from left, are NASA astronauts Reid Weisman and Christina Koch, CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hanson, and NASA astronaut Victor Glover in the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building. Behind them are Exploration Ground Systems team members. The approximately 10-day Artemis II flight will test NASAs foundational human deep space exploration capabilities, the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft, for the first time with astronauts and will pave the way for lunar surface missions, including landing the first woman and the first person of color on the Moon.

jsc2018e076664 (Aug. 23, 2018) --- Vice President Mike Pence and NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine visit the Sonny Carter Training Center (Neutral Buoyancy Lab) at NASAs Johnson Space Center on Aug. 23, 2018. Pence and Bridenstine spoke with astronaut Suni Williams, and astronaut candidates Jonny Kim, Woody Hoburg and Loral OHara poolside. While in the Test Control Room, they joined Flight Operations Director Brian Kelly and talked with astronauts Victor Glover and Nicole Mann as they practiced spacewalk tasks underwater.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- John Glenn stands in the middeck of space shuttle Discovery in Orbiter Processing Facility-1 OPF-1 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Glenn is at the space center to mark the 50th anniversary of being the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth inside the NASA Mercury Project's Friendship 7 capsule on Feb. 20, 1962. Glenn later returned to space in October 1998 as a payload specialist aboard Discovery's STS-95 mission. Glenn's launch aboard an Atlas rocket took with it the hopes of an entire nation and ushered in a new era of space travel that eventually led to Americans walking on the moon by the end of the 1960s. Glenn soon was followed into orbit by Scott Carpenter, Walter Schirra and Gordon Cooper. Their fellow Mercury astronauts Alan Shepard and Virgil "Gus" Grissom flew earlier suborbital flights. Deke Slayton, a member of NASA's original Mercury 7 astronauts, was grounded by a medical condition until the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in 1975. Sh

S86-28888 (14 Feb. 1986) --- NASA astronaut Robert Crippen points out Discovery tile work in the Vehicle Assembly Building to the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident. The commission was taken to the facility on Feb. 14, 1986 as part of their investigation.

Vice President Harris and President Yoon at GSFC. Dr. Lesley Ott, research meteorologist and climate scientist at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center, left, briefs Vice President Kamala Harris, President Yoon Suk Yeol of the Republic of Korea, and NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, on U.S. and Korean partnerships to improve the way scientists observe air quality and the use of space in addressing the climate crisis, Tuesday, April 25, 2023, during a tour of NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

NASA Orion Exhibit at the USA Science and Engineering Festival taking place April 26 and 27, 2014 at the Washington Convention Center.

Associate Administrator for NASAs Science Mission Directorate Thomas Zurbuchen speaks to family members of Dr. Michael Freilich, for whom the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite is named, at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Nov. 20, 2020, the day before the spacecrafts planned launch atop a Falcon 9 rocket. Freilich served as director of NASAs Earth Science Division in the Science Mission Directorate at the agencys Headquarters from 2006 until his retirement in 2019. A tireless advocate for advancing satellite measurements of the ocean, he was instrumental in advancing ocean altimetry and helped drive the evolution of NASA Earth science from a program that launched an Earth-observing space mission every few years to one that launches several missions each year. Freilich died Aug. 5, 2020, of pancreatic cancer. Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich launched Nov. 21, 2020, at 9:17 a.m. PST (12:17 p.m. EST). NASAs Launch Services Program at Kennedy Space Center was responsible for

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - At the Apollo V_Saturn Center, First Lady Laura Bush and Florida Gov. Jeb Bush stroll under the massive rocket suspended above. At left is KSC Deputy Director Woodrow Whitlow Jr. Mrs. Bush and the governor are attending the historic launch of Space Shuttle Discovery on Return to Flight mission STS-114, scheduled to lift off at 10 39 a.m. EDT from Launch Pad 39B with a crew of seven. Mrs. Bush is only the third First Lady to witness a Space Shuttle launch at KSC. On this mission to the International Space Station the crew will perform inspections on-orbit for the first time of all of the Reinforced Carbon-Carbon (RCC) panels on the leading edge of the wings and the Thermal Protection System tiles using the new Canadian-built Orbiter Boom Sensor System and the data from 176 impact and temperature sensors. Mission Specialists will also practice repair techniques on RCC and tile samples during a spacewalk in the payload bay. During two additional spacewalks, th

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- John Glenn and his wife, Annie, and NASA astronaut Stephen Robinson stand under space shuttle Discovery in Orbiter Processing Facility-1 OPF-1 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Glenn is at the space center to mark the 50th anniversary of being the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth inside the NASA Mercury Project's Friendship 7 capsule on Feb. 20, 1962. Glenn later returned to space in October 1998 as a payload specialist aboard Discovery's STS-95 mission. Robinson was the payload commander of STS-95.Glenn's launch aboard an Atlas rocket took with it the hopes of an entire nation and ushered in a new era of space travel that eventually led to Americans walking on the moon by the end of the 1960s. Glenn soon was followed into orbit by Scott Carpenter, Walter Schirra and Gordon Cooper. Their fellow Mercury astronauts Alan Shepard and Virgil "Gus" Grissom flew earlier suborbital flights. Deke Slayton, a member of NASA's original Mercury 7 astro

Vice President Mike Pence examines the VIPER engineering test unit during his vist to NASA Ames Research Center, in Californias Silicon Valley.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Apollo/Saturn V Center Gala Grand Openin

13-11-08-2:In the history museum at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Expedition 40/41 backup crewmembers Anton Shkaplerov of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos, center) and Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency (right) learn about the now-defunct Russian Buran space shuttle during a tour of the facility May 17. Shkaplerov, Cristoforetti and Terry Virts of NASA are backing up the prime crew, Flight Engineer Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency, Soyuz Commander Max Suraev of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) and NASA Flight Engineer Reid Wiseman, who will launch from Baikonur on May 29, Kazakh time, for a 5 ½ month mission on the International Space Station.NASA/Victor Zelentsov

Inspection tour of NASA installations: Houston, Texas, NASA Rich Building, departure, 11:10AM. President John F. Kennedy views a mock-up of a Gemini capsule with paraglider, during a tour of spacecraft displays inside a hangar at the Rich Building of the Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston, Texas; Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson (back to camera) stands left of President Kennedy. Also pictured: Director of Defense Research and Engineering for the Department of Defense, Dr. Harold Brown; Naval Aide to the President, Captain Tazewell T. Shepard, Jr.; Representative George P. Miller (California). The President visited the Center as part of a two-day inspection tour of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) field installations.

Vice President Harris and President Yoon at GSFC. Vice President Kamala Harris, right, speaks with NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, left, MSIT Minister Jong-Ho Lee, Dr. Makenzie Lystrup, Director of NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center, and NASA Astronaut Jonny Kim prior to the arrival of President Yoon Suk Yeol of the Republic of Korea, Tuesday, April 25, 2023, during a tour of NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

NASA Advisory Council members visited Stennis Space Center April 15 and 16, touring facilities and participating in various presentations. They also viewed a space shuttle main engine test on the A-2 Test Stand. The council of accomplished citizens advises NASA on major policy and program issues. The council includes former Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Hagan Schmitt as chair, as well as former astronaut Eileen Collins, the first woman to command a space shuttle mission.

Legislators from across Mississippi visited Stennis Space Center on May 7, 2012, touring various facilities, including the A-1 Test Stand, and learning about work under way at the facility. The legislators also toured the INFINITY at NASA Stennis Space Center facility and met with Apollo 13 astronaut Fred Haise.

Secretary Gale Norton with Arizona Congressman Rick Renzi, right, speaking to reporters about forest management issues during tour of the Mount Graham International Observatory, near Safford, Arizona. Area, in Coronado National Forest, was affected by the summer's massive Nuttall and Gibson forest fires

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Florida Gov. Jeb Bush addresses the audience at a ceremony to launch the new Florida quarter, held at the KSC Visitor Complex. The Solid Rocket Booster/External Tank exhibit towers over a map of the United States set up on stage, illustrating the state quarters issued to date. Sharing the stage with him are, from left, U.S. Mint Director Henrietta Holsman Fore, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Samuel W. Bodman, NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe, and KSC Director James W. Kennedy. The quarter celebrates Florida as the gateway to discovery -- a destination for explorers in the past, a launch site for space explorers of the future, and an inviting place for visitors today.

MARSHALL WELD ENGINEER JUSTIN LITTELL POSES WITH LAUNCH VEHICLE STAGE ADAPTER

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Rocket Garden at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida, United States Postal Service official Steve Massey and Mercury Astronaut Scott Carpenter have the honor of unveiling the two new stamps that commemorate the 50th anniversary of human spaceflight. Applauding the unveiling is NASA Administrator, Charlie Bolden.One stamp commemorates NASA's Project Mercury and Alan Shepard's historic launch on May 5, 1961, aboard the spacecraft Freedom 7. The second stamp honors NASA's MESSENGER, which reached Mercury in March to become the first spacecraft to orbit the planet. The two missions frame a remarkable 50-year period in which America advanced space exploration through more than 1,500 crewed and uncrewed flights.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and Congressional Delegation Visit to Lewis Field and Plum Brook Station

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA associate administrator for Space Operations; Sigmar Wittig, head of the DLR, the German Space Agency; Mike Griffin, NASA administrator; and Michel Tognini, head of the European Astronaut Center, examine the thermal protection system tiles beneath Space Shuttle Discovery following the landing of mission STS-116 on Runway 15 at NASA Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility. During the STS-116 mission, three spacewalks attached the P5 integrated truss structure to the station, and completed the rewiring of the orbiting laboratory's power system. A fourth spacewalk retracted a stubborn solar array. Main gear touchdown was at 5:32 p.m. EST. Nose gear touchdown was at 5:32:12 p.m. and wheel stop was at 5:32:52 p.m. At touchdown -- nominally about 2,500 ft. beyond the runway threshold -- the orbiter is traveling at a speed ranging from 213 to 226 mph. Discovery traveled 5,330,000 miles, landing on orbit 204. Mission elapsed time

Catherine Koerner, in the center, NASA Orion Program manager, along with senior managers from Orion and Lockheed Martin, tour the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 6, 2020. Accompanying her, from left are Mike Hawes, Lockheed Martin vice president and Orion Program manager; Scott Wilson, NASA Kennedy Orion Production Operations manager; Annette Hasbrook, Orion Program assistant manager; and Kelly DeFazio, Lockheed Martin vehicle production director on the Orion Production Operations Contract. Koerner viewed Orion spacecraft for the Artemis I and II missions. In view in the background, at right, is one of three Spacecraft Adapter Jettison fairing panels to be installed on the spacecraft. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman

STS117-S-040 (8 June 2007) --- NASA Associate Administrator Rex Geveden watches the launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-117) from the Launch Control Center at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Atlantis lifted off from launch pad 39A at 7:38 p.m. (EDT) on Friday, June 8, 2007.

Representative Steny Hoyer visits Goddard Space Flight Center and participates in a Town Hall and visits the imprint of dinosaur tracks found on the grounds of the Center.

JWST Stamp Issuance Ceremony. NASA Associate Administrator and former astronaut, Bob Cabana, second from left, and Smithsonian Institution Under Secretary for Service and Research, Ellen Stofan, third from left, are seen during the singing of the national anthem at the first-day-of-issue event for the United States Postal Services new stamp celebrating NASAs James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022, at the Smithsonians National Postal Museum in Washington. The stamp, which features an illustration of the observatory, honors Webbs mission to explore the unknown in our universe - solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the structures and origins of our universe and our place in it.

Secretary Gale Norton with Arizona Congressman Rick Renzi, right, speaking to reporters about forest management issues during tour of the Mount Graham International Observatory, near Safford, Arizona. Area, in Coronado National Forest, was affected by the summer's massive Nuttall and Gibson forest fires

The winner of the high school portion of the Exploration Design Challenge is announced at the USA Science and Engineering Festival in Washington on April 25, 2014. Group photo of students. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.

(10 Nov 1992) --- Russian cosmonauts Sergei Krikalev (left), and Vladimir Titov (right) share a team handshake with Kenneth Reightler, STS-60 pilot..

Members of the SOFIA infrared observatory support team gather around Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin (in red shirt) during Aldrin's tour of NASA Dryden.

Flight Engineer and Soyuz Commander Salizhan Sharipov, right, Expedition 10 Commander and NASA Science Officer Leroy Chiao and Russian Space Forces cosmonaut Yuri Shargin, left, toured a museum bearing the name of historic Russian rocket designer Sergei Korolev, Saturday, October 9, 2004, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan prior to their liftoff to the International Space Station October 14. The traditional visit included the signing of their names in commemorative books and a wall at the museum, and touring the cottages nearby where Korolev and Yuri Gagarin slept on the eve of Gagarin's launch April 12, 1961 to become the first human in space. The tour guide points out a piece of art made entirely of painted grains of rice depicting Yuri Gargarin and Korolev.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility, Scott Higginbotham, payload manager for the International Space Station, stands in front of the Experiment Logistics Module Pressurized Section for the Japanese Experiment Module. The module will be delivered to the space station on mission STS-123. Earlier, NASA and Japanese Aerospace and Exploration Agency (JAXA) officials welcomed the arrival of the logistics module. The module will serve as an on-orbit storage area for materials, tools and supplies. It can hold up to eight experiment racks and will attach to the top of another larger pressurized module.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- More than 200 workers from the original Mercury program pose for a group photo in front of a replica of a Mercury-Redstone rocket during a celebration at Complex 5/6 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The celebration was held at the launch site of the first U.S. manned spaceflight May 5, 1961, to mark the 50th anniversary of the flight. Fifty years ago, astronaut Alan Shepard lifted off inside the Mercury capsule, "Freedom 7," atop an 82-foot-tall Mercury-Redstone rocket at 9:34 a.m. EST, sending him on a remarkably successful, 15-minute suborbital flight. The event was attended by more than 200 workers from the original Mercury program and included a re-creation of Shepard's flight and recovery, as well as a tribute to his contributions as a moonwalker on the Apollo 14 lunar mission.

STS121-S-064 (17 July 2006) --- Dr. Michael Griffin (right), NASA administrator; and William H. Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations, inspect the Space Shuttle Discovery after the landing and conclusion of mission STS-121. The crew of seven tested new equipment and procedures to improve shuttle safety, as well as deliver supplies and make repairs to the International Space Station.

Catherine Koerner, second from right, NASA Orion Program manager, along with senior managers from Orion, and Exploration Ground Systems (EGS), tours the Multi-Payload Processing Facility (MPPF) at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 5, 2020. Accompanying her, from left are Jeremy Parsons, EGS deputy manager; Annette Hasbrook, Orion Program assistant manager; Scott Wilson, Orion Production Operations manager; and Mike Bolger, EGS manager. At far right is Skip Williams, operations manager for the MPPF spacecraft offline element integration team. Koerner viewed spacecraft hardware and processing facilities for the Artemis I and II missions. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon in 2024.

Dignitaries, including members of the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame, have just cut a ceremonial ribbon opening the Heroes and Legends attraction at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. The new facility includes the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame and looks back to the pioneering efforts of Mercury, Gemini and Apollo. It sets the stage by providing the background and context for space exploration and the legendary men and women who pioneered the nation's journey into space.

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