Rocket Launch Moments

Dramatic images of rocket launches against clear skies, capturing the excitement of space exploration with smoke and flames.

Large gantry mechanisms on either side of the Soyuz TMA-22 spacecraft are raised into position to secure the rocket at the launch pad on Friday, Nov. 11, 2011 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Large gantry mechanisms on either side of the Soyuz TMA-22 spacecraft are raised into position to secure the rocket at the launch pad on Friday, Nov. 11, 2011 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
51 assets in this story
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The Soyuz rocket with Expedition 33/34 crew members, Soyuz Commander Oleg Novitskiy, Flight Engineer Kevin Ford of NASA, and Flight Engineer Evgeny Tarelkin of ROSCOSMOS onboard the TMA-06M spacecraft launches to the International Space Station on Tuesday, October 23, 2012, in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Ford, Novitskiy and Tarelkin will be on a five-month mission aboard the International Space Station.
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The Soyuz MS-18 rocket is launched with Expedition 65 NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei, Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Oleg Novitskiy, Friday, April 9, 2021, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
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The gantry arms close around the Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft to secure the rocket at the launch pad on Monday, April 17, 2017 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Launch of the Soyuz rocket is scheduled for April 20 Baikonur time and will carry Expedition 51 Soyuz Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin of Roscosmos and Flight Engineer Jack Fischer of NASA into orbit to begin their four and a half month mission on the International Space Station.
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The Soyuz TMA-3 vehicle launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Saturday, Oct. 18, 2003, carrying Expedition 8 Commander and NASA Science Officer Michael Foale, Expedition 8 Soyuz Commander Alexander Kaleri and European Space Agency astronaut Pedro Duque of Spain to the International Space Station. The trio will arrive at the ISS Oct. 20, as Foale and Kaleri take over command of Station operations for the next 6-1/2 months. Duque will return to Earth Oct. 28 with Expedition 7 Commander Yuri Malenchenko and NASA Science Officer Ed Lu in another Soyuz capsule already docked to the ISS.
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The Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft is seen at the launch pad after being raised into vertical position on Monday, Dec. 19, 2011 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The launch of the Soyuz spacecraft with Expedition 30 Soyuz Commander Oleg Kononenko of Russia, NASA Flight Engineer Don Pettit and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut and Flight Engineer Andre Kuipers is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2011.
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Large gantry mechanisms on either side of the Soyuz TMA-02M spacecraft are raised into position to secure the rocket at the launch pad on Sunday, June 5, 2011 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
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Expedition 68 Launch. The Soyuz MS-22 rocket is launched to the International Space Station with Expedition 68 astronaut Frank Rubio of NASA, and cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin of Roscosmos onboard, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Rubio, Prokopyev, and Petelin will spend approximately six months on the orbital complex, returning to Earth in March 2023.
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Large gantry mechanisms on either side of the Soyuz TMA-22 spacecraft are raised into position to secure the rocket at the launch pad on Friday, Nov. 11, 2011 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
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The Soyuz TMA-05M rocket launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Sunday, July 15, 2012 carrying Expedition 32 Soyuz Commander Yuri Malenchenko, NASA Flight Engineer Sunita Williams and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) Flight Engineer Akihiko Hoshide to the International Space Station.
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The Soyuz rocket is see on the launch pad as the service structure arms are closed around it, Thursday, July 18, 2019 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Expedition 60 Soyuz Commander Alexander Skvortsov of Roscosmos, flight engineer Andrew Morgan of NASA, and flight engineer Luca Parmitano of ESA (European Space Agency) are scheduled to launch aboard their Soyuz MS-13 spacecraft at 12:28 p.m. Eastern time (9:28 p.m. Baikonur time) , on Saturday, July 20.
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The Soyuz rocket with Expedition 33/34 crew members, Soyuz Commander Oleg Novitskiy, Flight Engineer Kevin Ford of NASA, and Flight Engineer Evgeny Tarelkin of ROSCOSMOS onboard the TMA-06M spacecraft launches to the International Space Station on Tuesday, October 23, 2012, in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Ford, Novitskiy and Tarelkin will be on a five-month mission aboard the International Space Station.
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The Soyuz rocket is raised into vertical position on the launch pad, Tuesday, March 12, 2019 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Expedition 59 crewmembers Nick Hague and Christina Koch of NASA, along with Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos, will launch March 14, U.S. time, on the Soyuz MS-12 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome for a six-and-a-half month mission on the International Space Station.
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The Soyuz MS-04 rocket launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Thursday, April 20, 2017 Baikonur time carrying Expedition 51 Soyuz Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin of Roscosmos and Flight Engineer Jack Fischer of NASA into orbit to begin their four and a half month mission on the International Space Station. (
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The Soyuz rocket with Soyuz MS-13 spacecraft onboard is seen on the launch pad after the arrival of Expedition 60 flight engineer Luca Parmitano of ESA (European Space Agency), flight engineer Andrew Morgan of NASA, and Soyuz Commander Alexander Skvortsov of Roscosmos, Saturday, July 20, 2019 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Parmitano, Morgan, and Skvortsov are scheduled to launch at 12:28 p.m. Eastern time (9:28 p.m. Baikonur time) on July 20.
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The Soyuz MS-04 rocket launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Thursday, April 20, 2017 Baikonur time carrying Expedition 51 Soyuz Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin of Roscosmos and Flight Engineer Jack Fischer of NASA into orbit to begin their four and a half month mission on the International Space Station. (
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A Delta IV Heavy rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida carrying NASA's Orion spacecraft on an unpiloted flight test to Earth orbit. Liftoff was at 7:05 a.m. EST. During the two-orbit, four-and-a-half hour mission, engineers will evaluate the systems critical to crew safety, the launch abort system, the heat shield and the parachute system.
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The Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft is launched with Expedition 57 Flight Engineer Nick Hague of NASA and Flight Engineer Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. During the Soyuz spacecraft's climb to orbit, an anomaly occurred, resulting in an abort downrange. The crew was quickly recovered and is in good condition.
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The Soyuz MS-12 spacecraft is launched with Expedition 59 crewmembers Nick Hague and Christina Koch of NASA, along with Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos, Friday March 15, 2019, Kazakh time (March 14 Eastern time) at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Hague, Koch, and Ovchinin will spend six-and-a-half months living and working aboard the International Space Station.
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The Soyuz TMA-13M rocket is seen as the service structure arms are raised into position at the launch pad on Monday, May 26, 2014, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Launch of the Soyuz rocket is scheduled for May 29 and will send Expedition 40 Soyuz Commander Maxim Suraev, of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, Flight Engineer Alexander Gerst, of the European Space Agency, ESA, and Flight Engineer Reid Wiseman of NASA on a five and a half month mission aboard the International Space Station.
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The Soyuz MS-17 rocket is launched with Expedition 64 Russian cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of Roscosmos and NASA astronaut Kate Rubins, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Ryzhikov, Kud-Sverchkov, and Rubins launched at 1:45 a.m. EDT to begin a six-month mission onboard the International Space Station.
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KAZAKHASTAN - 200912180012HQ - The Soyuz TMA-17 spacecraft is raised into vertical position at the launch pad of the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Friday, Dec. 18, 2009. The launch of the Soyuz spacecraft, with Expedition 22 NASA Flight Engineer Timothy J. Creamer of the United States, Soyuz Commander Oleg Kotov of Russia, and Flight Engineer Soichi Noguchi of Japan, is scheduled for Monday, Dec. 21, 2009, at 3:52 a.m. Kazakhstan time.
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The Soyuz TMA-13M rocket is launched with Expedition 40 Soyuz Commander Maxim Suraev, of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, Flight Engineer Alexander Gerst, of the European Space Agency, ESA, and Flight Engineer Reid Wiseman of NASA, Thursday, May 29, 2014 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Suraev, Gerst, and Wiseman will spend the next five and a half months aboard the International Space Station.
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The Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft arrives at the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Friday, Oct. 10, 2008. The Soyuz is scheduled to launch to the International Space Station Oct. 12 with Expedition 18 Commander Michael Fincke, Flight Engineer Yuri V. Lonchakov and American spaceflight participant Richard Garriott. The three crew members will dock their Soyuz to the International Space Station on Oct. 14. Fincke and Lonchakov will spend six months on the station, while Garriott will return to Earth Oct. 24 with two of the Expedition 17 crew members currently on the International Space Station.
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The Soyuz TMA-04M rocket launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Tuesday, May 15, 2012 carrying Expedition 31 Soyuz Commander Gennady Padalka, NASA Flight Engineer Joseph Acaba and Flight Engineer Sergei Revin to the International Space Station.
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The Service arms are raised into position around the Soyuz rocket, with the TMA-09M spacecraft, after arriving at the Baikonur Cosmodrome launch pad by train, Sunday, May 26, 2013, in Kazakhstan. The launch of the Soyuz rocket to the International Space Station (ISS) with Expedition 36/37 Soyuz Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), Flight Engineers; Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency, and Karen Nyberg of NASA, is scheduled for Wednesday May 29, Kazakh time. Yurchikhin, Nyberg, and, Parmitano, will remain aboard the station until mid-November.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The towering 327-foot-tall Ares I-X rocket slowly approaches the fixed service structure on Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a 4.2-mile trip that began seven hours earlier.The test rocket left the Vehicle Assembly Building at 1:39 a.m. EDT on its 4.2-mile trek to the pad and was "hard down" on the pads pedestals at 9:17 a.m. The transfer of the pad from the Space Shuttle Program to the Constellation Program took place May 31. Modifications made to the pad include the removal of shuttle unique subsystems, such as the orbiter access arm and a section of the gaseous oxygen vent arm, along with the installation of three 600-foot lightning towers, access platforms, environmental control systems and a vehicle stabilization system. Part of the Constellation Program, the Ares I-X is the test vehicle for the Ares I. The Ares I-X flight test is targeted for Oct. 27.
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The Soyuz TMA-20 spacecraft is raised into vertical position at the launch pad of the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Monday, Dec. 13, 2010 in Kazakhstan. The launch of the Soyuz spacecraft with Expedition 26 Soyuz Commander Dmitry Kondratyev, NASA Flight Engineer Catherine Coleman, and Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli is scheduled for Thursday, Dec., 16, 2010 at 1:09 a.m. local time.
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A Japanese H-IIA rocket carrying the NASA-Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory is seen as it rolls out to launch pad 1 of the Tanegashima Space Center, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2014, Tanegashima, Japan. Once launched, the GPM spacecraft will collect information that unifies data from an international network of existing and future satellites to map global rainfall and snowfall every three hours.
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The Soyuz rocket with Expedition 33/34 crew members, Russian Cosmonaut and Soyuz Commander Oleg Novitskiy, NASA Astronaut and Flight Engineer Kevin Ford, and Russian Cosmonaut and Flight Engineer Evgeny Tarelkin onboard the TMA-06M spacecraft launches to the International Space Station on Tuesday, October 23, 2012, in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Ford, Novitskiy and Tarelkin will be on a five-month mission aboard the International Space Station.
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VANDENBERG AFB, CALIF. -- The partially assembled Delta II rocket (right) and the gantry (left) wait for the rocket's second stage to be transported to the launch pad. The Delta II rocket will launch the Aqua-EOS satellite. Aqua is one of a series of spacebased platforms that are central to NASA's Earth Science Enterprise (ESE), a long-term study of the scope, dynamics and implications of global change. The Aqua program is composed of Aqua and other spacecraft (including Terra and Aura) and a data distribution system (ESDIS, and Mission Operations Center Implementation Team). Flying in an orbit that covers the globe every 16 days, Aqua will provide a six-year chronology of the planet and its processes. Comprehensive measurements taken by its onboard instruments will allow multidisciplinary teams of scientists and researchers from North and South America, Asia, Australia and Europe to assess long-term change, identify its human and natural causes and advance the development of mod
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The Soyuz TMA-04M spacecraft is raised into position at launch pad ne, Sunday, May 13, 2012. at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The launch of the Soyuz spacecraft with Expedition 31 Soyuz Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Sergei Revin of Russia, and prime NASA Flight Engineer Joe Acaba is scheduled for 9:01 a.m. local time on Tuesday, May 15.
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The Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft is raised into position on the launch pad Monday, April 17, 2017 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Launch of the Soyuz rocket is scheduled for April 20 Baikonur time and will carry Expedition 51 Soyuz Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin of Roscosmos and Flight Engineer Jack Fischer of NASA into orbit to begin their four and a half month mission on the International Space Station.
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The Soyuz TMA-16M spacecraft is seen as it launches to the International Space Station with Expedition 43 NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly, Russian Cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko, and Gennady Padalka of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) onboard Saturday, March 28, 2015, Kazakh time (March 27 Eastern time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. As the one-year crew, Kelly and Kornienko will return to Earth on Soyuz TMA-18M in March 2016.
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The Soyuz MS-04 rocket launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Thursday, April 20, 2017 Baikonur time carrying Expedition 51 Soyuz Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin of Roscosmos and Flight Engineer Jack Fischer of NASA into orbit to begin their four and a half month mission on the International Space Station. (
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The Soyuz MS-09 rocket is launched with Expedition 56 Soyuz Commander Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos, flight engineer Serena Auñón-Chancellor of NASA, and flight engineer Alexander Gerst of ESA (European Space Agency), Wednesday, June 6, 2018 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Prokopyev, Auñón-Chancellor, and Gerst will spend the next six months living and working aboard the International Space Station.
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Expedition 11 Commander Sergei Krikalev, Flight Engineer and NASA Science Officer John Phillips and European Space Agency astronaut Roberto Vittori, of Italy, blast off aboard the Soyuz TMA-6 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Friday, April 15, 2005 for a two-day trip to the International Space Station.
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The Soyuz MS-12 spacecraft is launched with Expedition 59 crewmembers Nick Hague and Christina Koch of NASA, along with Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos, Friday March 15, 2019, Kazakh time (March 14 Eastern time) at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Hague, Koch, and Ovchinin will spend six-and-a-half months living and working aboard the International Space Station.
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The Soyuz MS-08 rocket is launched with Expedition 55 Soyuz Commander Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos and flight engineers Ricky Arnold and Drew Feustel of NASA, Wednesday, March 21, 2018 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Artemyev, Arnold, and Feustel will spend the next five months living and working aboard the International Space Station.
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jsc2020e016998 - At the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft and its booster stand at their vertical position at the Site 31 launch pad April 6 after the closing of gantry arms following rollout for final preparations for launch. Expedition 63 crewmembers Chris Cassidy of NASA and Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner of Roscosmos are set to launch aboard the Soyuz MS-16 April 9 for a six-and-a-half month mission on the International Space Station...NASA/Victor Zelentsov.
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The Soyuz MS-07 rocket is launched with Expedition 54 Soyuz Commander Anton Shkaplerov of Roscosmos, flight engineer Scott Tingle of NASA, and flight engineer Norishige Kanai of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), (iptcdow, Dec. 17, 2017 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Shkaplerov, Tingle, and Kanai will spend the next five months living and working aboard the International Space Station.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida media take advantage of the beautiful sunrise to snap photos of space shuttle Atlantis on Launch Pad 39A after the payload canister carrying the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module (MPLM) was lifted into the payload changeout room on the rotating service structure.Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley and Mission Specialists Sandra Magnus and Rex Walheim are targeted to lift off on space shuttle Atlantis July 8, taking with them the MPLM packed with supplies, logistics and spare parts to the International Space Station. The STS-135 mission also will fly a system to investigate the potential for robotically refueling existing satellites and return a failed ammonia pump module to help NASA better understand the failure mechanism and improve pump designs for future systems. STS-135 will be the 33rd flight of Atlantis, the 37th shuttle mission to the space station, and the 135th and final mission of NASA's Space S
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The Soyuz TMA-14M rocket launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Friday, Sept. 26, 2014 carrying Expedition 41 Soyuz Commander Alexander Samokutyaev of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), Flight Engineer Barry Wilmore of NASA, and Flight Engineer Elena Serova of Roscosmos into orbit to begin their five and a half month mission on the International Space Station. (
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At the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Soyuz TMA-04M spacecraft (background) and its Soyuz booster upper stage (foreground) stand poised in their integration facility May 8, 2012 to be joined together as preparations continue to launch it and three new crewmembers to the International Space Station. The Soyuz will carry Soyuz Commander Gennady Padalka, NASA Flight Engineer Joe Acaba and Flight Engineer Sergei Revin to the orbital complex on May 15 for a four-month mission. The Soyuz will rollout to its launch pad in Baikonur on May 13.NASA/Victor Zelentsov
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VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- At NASA's Launch Complex-2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California the United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket with the Aquarius/SAC-D spacecraft atop is prepared for launch.Liftoff is slated for 7:20 PDT/10:20 EDT today. Aquarius, the NASA-built instrument on the SAC-D spacecraft will provide new insights into how variations in ocean surface salinity relate to fundamental climate processes on its three-year mission.
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NASAs Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft, standing atop the mobile launcher, arrive at Launch Pad 39B at the agencys Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 18, 2022, for a wet dress rehearsal ahead of the uncrewed Artemis I launch. In view is the crawler-transporter 2, which carried the Artemis I stack from the Vehicle Assembly Building to the pad - a 4.2-mile journey that took nearly 11 hours to complete. Artemis I will test SLS and Orion as an integrated system prior to crewed flights to the Moon. Through Artemis, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the lunar surface, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone on the way to Mars.
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The Soyuz rocket and Soyuz TMA-14M spacecraft is assembled at Building 112 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Monday, Sept. 22, 2014, in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Launch of the Soyuz is scheduled for Sept. 26 and will send Expedition 41 Soyuz Commander Alexander Samokutyaev of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), Flight Engineer Barry Wilmore of NASA, and Flight Engineer Elena Serova of Roscosmos to the International Space Station for a five and a half month stay.
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The Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft is seen at the launch pad after being raised into vertical position on Monday, Dec. 19, 2011 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The launch of the Soyuz spacecraft with Expedition 30 Soyuz Commander Oleg Kononenko of Russia, NASA Flight Engineer Don Pettit and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut and Flight Engineer Andre Kuipers is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2011.
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The Soyuz MS-08 rocket is launched with Expedition 55 Soyuz Commander Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos and flight engineers Ricky Arnold and Drew Feustel of NASA, Wednesday, March 21, 2018 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Artemyev, Arnold, and Feustel will spend the next five months living and working aboard the International Space Station.
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(9 Dec. 2010) --- At the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Soyuz TMA-20 spacecraft (right) is shown before the its encapsulation into its payload fairing (left) on Dec. 9, 2010. The vehicle is set to launch Dec. 16 (Kazakhstan time) to deliver NASA astronaut Catherine (Cady) Coleman, Expedition 26 flight engineer; Soyuz commander Dmitry Kondratyev of Russia's Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) and European Space Agency astronaut Paolo Nespoli, flight engineer, to the International Space Station.
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jsc2017e040347 (April 7, 2017) --- In Baikonur, Kazakhstan, Expedition 51 backup crewmembers Randy Bresnik of NASA (left) and Sergey Ryazanskiy of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos, right) are shown a model of a Soyuz rocket at a local museum April 7 during pre-launch activities. They 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 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome for a four and a half month mission on the International Space Station. NASA/Victor Zelentsov
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Indian spacecraft