Rocket Testing and Assembly

Images of NASA engineers working on rocket components, including structural test stands and assembly of rocket stages in high-tech environments.

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

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Vehicle Assembly Building's High Bay 3 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane lowers Super Stack 2, part of the Ares I-X upper stage, for attachment with Super Stack 1 below. 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. - In the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, an overhead crane lifts the external fuel tank for space shuttle Atlantis' STS-132 mission, ET-136, from its test cell. 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.

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

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Space shuttle Discovery sports two replica shuttle main engines (RSMEs) in Orbiter Processing Facility-1 at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Three RSMEs will be installed on Discovery during Space Shuttle Program transition and retirement activities. The replicas are being built in the Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne engine shop at Kennedy to replace the shuttle engines which will be placed in storage to support NASA's Space Launch System, under development. Discovery is being prepared for display at the Smithsonians National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va.

This image shows technicians and engineers beginning the process of the forward join on the core stage of NASAs Space Launch System rocket for Artemis II, the first crewed mission of NASAs Artemis program at NASAs Michoud Assembly Facility. The forward join connects the forward skirt, the liquid oxygen tank (LOX) and the intertank structures to form the top part of the SLS rockets core stage. Now, NASA and Boeing, the SLS prime contractor, will continue to integrate various systems inside the forward part of the core stage and prepare for structural joining of the liquid hydrogen tank and engine section to form the bottom of the stage. Together with its four RS-25 engines, the rockets massive 212-foot-tall core stage — the largest stage NASA has ever built — and its twin solid rocket boosters will produce 8.8 million pounds of thrust to send NASAs Orion spacecraft, astronauts and supplies beyond Earths orbit to the Moon and, ultimately, Mars. Offering more payload mass, volume

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. --- Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the external tank for space shuttle Discovery is suspended over the transfer aisle as it is lifted up into a checkout cell for processing. The tank will be stacked with solid rocket boosters for Discovery's launch on the STS-124 mission. On the mission, the shuttle will transport the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module - Pressurized Module and the Japanese Remote Manipulator System. Launch is targeted for May 25.

U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Wallace Winkler, 18th Component Maintenance Squadron test cell craftsman, inspects components of an F-15C Eagle engine inside the test cell at Kadena Air Base, Japan, Aug. 25, 2022. The engine test cell enables maintenance personnel to safely test uninstalled aircraft engines under actual load conditions.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Assembly and Refurbishment Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, a crane is lowered over the aft skirt for the Ares 1-X rocket. The segment is being lifted into a machine shop work stand for drilling modifications. The modifications will prepare it for the installation of the auxiliary power unit controller, the reduced-rate gyro unit, the booster decelerator motors and the booster tumble motors. Ares I is an in-line, two-stage rocket that will transport the Orion crew exploration vehicle to low-Earth orbit. Ares I-X is a test rocket. The Ares I first stage will be a five-segment solid rocket booster based on the four-segment design used for the shuttle. Ares Is fifth booster segment allows the launch vehicle to lift more weight and reach a higher altitude before the first stage separates from the upper stage, which ignites in midflight to propel the Orion spacecraft to Earth orbit.

A distinguished group look at the solid rocket booster in the Vehicle Assembly Building. Starting second from left are Gen. Ralph Everhart, Commander, Space Command; Center Director Roy Bridges, Dave King, director of Shuttle Processing, and Brig. Gen. Donald Pettit, Commander of the 45th Space Wing, Cape Canaveral

Launch Vehicle Stage Adapter (LVSA) Aft Cone Post Weld #7

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - Technicians assist in offloading the first stage of a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket following its arrival at NASA hangar 836 on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The launch vehicle will be used to deliver NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive mission, or SMAP, into orbit.SMAP will provide global measurements of soil moisture and its freeze/thaw state. These measurements will be used to enhance understanding of processes that link the water, energy and carbon cycles, and to extend the capabilities of weather and climate prediction models. SMAP data also will be used to quantify net carbon flux in boreal landscapes and to develop improved flood prediction and drought monitoring capabilities. Launch is scheduled for November 2014.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Inside NASA Kennedy Space Centers Vehicle Assembly Building, External Tank 119 is lowered to a horizontal position. Then it will be placed on a transporter in the transfer aisle to be moved to the barge at the Turn Basin. The tank will embark on a voyage around the Florida peninsula to the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. Delivered to KSC in June, ET-119 is the third newly redesigned tank.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - Workers attach the canister containing the interstage adapter, or ISA, for NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive mission, or SMAP, to a lifting device in the high bay of the Building 836 hangar on south Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.A United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket will loft SMAP into orbit from Vandenberg's Space Launch Complex 2. The ISA connects the Delta II first and second stages and encloses the second stage engine and thrust section. The spacecraft 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. The data returned 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.

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

Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers watch as two cranes are used to lift the Space Launch System (SLS) Core Stage pathfinder high up in the transfer aisle on Oct. 16, 2019. The pathfinder will be lifted up to the 16th level and lowered into High Bay 3. 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. - 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. The stack is being moved across the transfer aisle for attachment to Super Stack 1 in High Bay 3. Beneath is seen Super Stack 3 and at left is the crew module-launch abort system, or CM-LAS, and simulator service module-service adapter stack. 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.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility, workers watch while an overhead crane lowers the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Raffaello onto a weight and balance stand (foreground). Raffaello is the second MPLM built by the Italian Space Agency, and serves as a reusable logistics carrier and primary delivery system used to resupply and return station cargo requiring a pressurized environment. Weighing nearly 4.5 tons, the Raffaello measures 21 feet long and 15 feet in diameter. The MPLM will fly on mission STS-100, scheduled to launch aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour on April 19

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

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building, a stand is ready for workers to refoam the cover, called the "manhole," on the bottom of external tank number 119. The manhole was removed to access the area where the tank's four liquid hydrogen engine cutoff sensors were replaced. The tank is being prepared to launch Space Shuttle Discovery on mission STS-121 in July.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, external tank number 119 is being lowered toward the floor of the transfer aisle. It will be placed horizontally on 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.

VANDENBERG AFB, California - Technicians and engineers place a transportation canister around NASA's SMAP spacecraft so it can be taken from the Astrotech processing facility to Space Launch Complex-2 for placement atop a Delta II rocket for launch. For more, go to www.nasa.gov/smap

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - Workers attach a crane onto half of the fairing for NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 mission, or OCO-2, newly arrived at Space Launch Complex 2 on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Operations are underway to hoist this section of the fairing into the Delta II launcher's environmental enclosure, or clean room, at the top of the tower where the other half already is in position. The fairing will protect OCO-2 during launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket from Space Launch Complex 2 in July. The observatory will collect precise global measurements of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere and provide scientists with a better idea of the chemical compound's impacts on climate change. Scientists will analyze this data to improve our understanding of the natural processes and human activities that regulate the abundance and distribution of this important atmospheric gas.

The Saturn 1B S-IB (first) stage being prepared for shipment at Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF), near New Orleans, Louisiana. Developed by the Marshall Space Flight Center and built by the Chrysler Corporation at MAF, the S-IB stage utilized the eight H-1 engines and each produced 200,000 pounds of thrust, a combined thrust of 1,600,000 pounds.

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

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

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Vehicle Assembly Building's High Bay 4, assembly of the Ares I-X rocket nears completion. The yellow framework, nicknamed the "birdcage," lifts Super Stack 5. The stack will be positioned on top of the segments already in place on the mobile launcher platform in High Bay 3, completing assembly of the 327-foot-tall rocket. Five super stacks make up the rocket's upper stage that is integrated with the four-segment solid rocket booster first stage. 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.

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

The fuel tank assembly for the Saturn V S-IC (first) stage arrived at the Marshall Space Flight Center, building 4707, for mating to the liquid oxygen tank. The fuel tank carried kerosene as its fuel. The S-IC stage used five F-1 engines, that used kerosene and liquid oxygen as propellant and each engine provided 1,500,000 pounds of thrust. This stage lifted the entire vehicle and Apollo spacecraft from the launch pad.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The Space Shuttle Program's last external fuel tank, ET-122, has been moved inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The tank traveled 900 miles by sea from NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans to Kennedy's Turn Basin aboard the Pegasus Barge. The tank eventually will be attached to space shuttle Endeavour for the STS-134 mission to the International Space Station. STS-134, targeted to launch in Feb. 2011, currently is scheduled to be the last mission in the shuttle program. The tank, which is the largest element of the space shuttle stack, was damaged during Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 and restored to flight configuration by Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company employees.

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.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The second stage of the Delta II rocket is raised to a vertical position for its lift up the launch tower on Pad 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. It will be mated to the first stage in preparation for the launch of the Mars Exploration Rover 2 (MER-A). The MER Mission consists of two identical rovers designed to cover roughly 110 yards each Martian day over various terrain. Each rover will carry five scientific instruments that will allow it to search for evidence of liquid water that may have been present in the planet's past. Identical to each other, the rovers will land at different regions of Mars. Launch date for this first of NASA's two Mars Exploration Rover missions is scheduled June 5.

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

In the Vertical Processing Facility (VPF), workers guide the final stages as the overhead crane lifts the shrouded Chandra X-ray Observatory to a vertical position. The telescope will undergo final installation of associated electronic components; it will also be tested, fueled and mated with the Inertial Upper Stage booster. A set of integrated tests will follow. Chandra is scheduled for launch July 9 aboard Space Shuttle Columbia, on mission STS-93 . Formerly called the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility, Chandra comprises three major elements: the spacecraft, the science instrument module (SIM), and the world's most powerful X-ray telescope. Chandra will allow scientists from around the world to see previously invisible black holes and high-temperature gas clouds, giving the observatory the potential to rewrite the books on the structure and evolution of our universe

A860793 U12N MIDDLE NOTE FAC DELIVERY STALLER (Project Engineer) MAR 12 86 EG&G/NTS PHOTO LAB Publication Date: 3/12/1986 ASSEMBLY FLOOR; EDGERTON, GERMESHAUSEN & GRIER; EG&G; EQUIPMENT & INSTRUMENTS; FAC DELIVERY; FAC LOADING; FLAT CAR; HANGARS; HEAVY EQUIPMENT; MALE; MEN (ADD MALE MODIFIER); MIDDLE NOTE; MIDDLE NOTE NUCLEAR TEST; MIDDLE NOTE TEST; NEVADA; NEVADA TEST SITE; NTS; NUCLEAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGY; NUCLEAR TESTING; NUCLEAR TESTS; STALLER, GEORGE; TEST SITES; TUNNELS; U12N; U12N MIDDLE NOTE; UNDERGROUND; WEAPONS RELATED; WORKERS historical images. 1972 - 2012. Department of Energy. National Nuclear Security Administration. Photographs Related to Nuclear Weapons Testing at the Nevada Test Site.

Airmen perform F-15 Eagle aircraft engine maintenance. Base: Wright-Patterson Air Force Base State: Ohio (OH) Country: United States Of America (USA)

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - An overhead crane carries the multi-purpose logistics module Raffaello toward a waiting payload canister in the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The module is being moved to the Operations and Checkout Building to make room in the SSPF for the arrival of elements from other ISS partners for future flights.

JSC2003-E-34752 (16 April 2003) --- Workers at Japan's Tsukuba Space Center are shown removing support structures from the Pressurized Module of the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM), Kibo, before it was packaged into an environmentally controlled shipping container and loaded onto a barge bound for Yokohama Harbor, where it was then loaded on a container ship bound for Port Canaveral, Florida. The Kibo module, built by the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA), is expected to arrive at the Kennedy Space Center for module integration tests with Node 2 and pre-launch processing in early June.

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

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The second stage of the Delta II rocket is prepared for lifting up the launch tower on Pad 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. It will be mated to the first stage in preparation for the launch of the Mars Exploration Rover 2 (MER-A). The MER Mission consists of two identical rovers designed to cover roughly 110 yards each Martian day over various terrain. Each rover will carry five scientific instruments that will allow it to search for evidence of liquid water that may have been present in the planet's past. Identical to each other, the rovers will land at different regions of Mars. Launch date for this first of NASA's two Mars Exploration Rover missions is scheduled June 5.

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

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility, or RSPF, workers begin to remove the cover on a solid rocket booster segment for propellant grain inspection required as part of safety analysis. The booster segment will be stacked with others to be used on Space Shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-122 targeted for December. The mission will continue assembly of the International Space Station, delivering and installing the Columbus Laboratory.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Workers begin to lift the second stage of a Delta II rocket up the launch tower on Pad 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. It will be mated to the Delta first stage already at the pad in preparation for the launch of the Mars Exploration Rover-1 (MER-B) on June 25. NASAs twin Mars Exploration Rovers are designed to study the history of water on Mars. These robotic geologists are equipped with a robotic arm, a drilling tool, three spectrometers, and four pairs of cameras that allow them to have a human-like, 3D view of the terrain. Each rover could travel as far as 100 meters in one day to act as Mars scientists' eyes and hands, exploring an environment where humans are not yet able to go. The launch of MER-2 (MER-A) is tentatively set for June 8.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Above the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building, external tank No. 125 has been raised to a nearly vertical position. It will next be 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.

Technicians check out the mounting structure of the 20-metric-ton infrared telescope installed in NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA).

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, an overhead crane begins to lower the Experiment Logistics Module Pressurized Section, or ELM-PS, of the Japanese Experiment Module, called Kibo, into a payload canister for eventual transfer to Launch Pad 39A. The ELM-PS is the primary payload for space shuttle Endeavour's STS-123 mission, which is targeted for launch to the International Space Station on March 11.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. --- Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, an overhead crane raises the external tank for space shuttle Discovery to a vertical position. The tank will be lifted up into a checkout cell for processing before being stacked with solid rocket boosters for Discovery's launch on the STS-124 mission. On the mission, the shuttle will transport the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module - Pressurized Module and the Japanese Remote Manipulator System. Launch is targeted for May 25.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - The first, second and third stages of the Taurus XL rocket come together in the east high bay of Building 1555 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The rocket and NASA's Glory satellite are being prepared for a launch to low Earth orbit from Vandenberg's Space Launch Complex 576-E.Once Glory reaches orbit, it will collect data on the properties of aerosols and black carbon. It also will help scientists understand how the sun's irradiance affects Earth's climate.

The Soyuz rocket and Soyuz TMA-13M spacecraft is assembled at Building 112 on the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Sunday, May 25, 2014 in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Launch of the Soyuz 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 to the International Space Station for a five and a half month stay.

Boeing Subsonic Ultra Green Aircraft Research (SUGAR) Subsonic Fixed Wing in the (TDT) 16 Foot Transonic Dynamics Tunnel facility 648

This image illustrates technicians working on a full scale engineering mock-up of a Saturn V S-IC stage thrust structure nearing completion at the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory at Marshall Space Flight Center. The booster, 33 feet in diameter and 138 feet long, was powered by five F-1 engines that provided 7,500,000 pounds of thrust to start the monstrous vehicle on its journey into space.

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

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The aft segment of a Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) is ready to roll out of the Rotation Processing and Surge Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center. The segment is being moved to the Vehicle Assembly Building where it will be mated with other segments for use on the launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis on the second Return to Flight mission, STS-121. SRBs are used as matched pairs and each is made up of four solid rocket motor segments. Two SRBs provide the main thrust to lift the Space Shuttle off the pad to an altitude of about 150,000 feet. In addition, the two SRBs carry the entire weight of the External Tank and orbiter and transmit the weight load through their structure to the Mobile Launcher Platform. Each booster has a thrust (sea level) of approximately 3,300,000 pounds at launch, and provide 71.4 percent of the thrust at liftoff and during first-stage ascent.

The right hand aft skirt for NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket has been refurbished and painted and is ready for the assembly process in the Booster Fabrication Facility at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The aft skirt was refurbished and painted in support facilities at the Hangar AF facility at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The space shuttle-era aft skirt will be used on the right hand booster of the SLS for Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1). NASA is preparing for EM-1, deep space missions, and the Journey to Mars.

Pegasus/Nustar, Arival for the Aft Skirt & Fins, Installation of the Aft Skirt to the Aft End of Stage 1

In High Bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane lowers Space Launch System (SLS) solid rocket booster pathfinder segments onto a platform during a training exercise on Jan. 8, 2020. A team of engineers with Exploration Ground Systems and crane operators and technicians with contractor Jacobs are practicing lifting, moving and stacking maneuvers, using important ground support equipment to train employees and certify all the equipment works properly. The booster pathfinders are inert, full-scale replicas of the actual booster hardware that will be attached to the SLS rocket for Artemis missions. The five-segment, 17-story-tall twin boosters will provide 3.6 million pounds of thrust each at liftoff to help launch Orion on Artemis I, its first uncrewed mission beyond the Moon.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In NASA Kennedy Space Centers Vehicle Assembly Building, an external tank is 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.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Before dawn, the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) is attached to an overhead crane that will lift it up the mobile service tower on Launch Pad 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. SIRTF will be attached to the Delta II rocket and encapsulated in its fairing before launch. Consisting of three cryogenically cooled science instruments and an 0.85-meter telescope, SIRTF is one of NASAs largest infrared telescopes to be launched. It is the fourth and final element in NASAs family of orbiting “Great Observatories.” SIRTF will obtain images and spectra by detecting the infrared energy, or heat, radiated by objects in space. Most of this infrared radiation is blocked by the Earth's atmosphere and cannot be observed from the ground.

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

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Orbiter Processing Facility-3 engine shop at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a space shuttle main engine, or SSME, enters a transportation canister under the watchful eyes of Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne's Jeff Huie. The engine is the last to be packed for shipment to NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. The first two groups of engines were shipped from Kennedy to Stennis in November 2011 and January 2012, and the remaining engines are scheduled to depart on April 9. Altogether, 15 shuttle-era engines will be stored at Stennis for reuse on NASAs Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket, under development.

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

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The equipment is in place to remove Main Engine No. 1 from Space Shuttle Atlantis in the Vehicle Assembly Building. An inventory review concerning defective main engine fuel pump tip seals indicated that defective seals may be present on the fuel pump for the engine. The decision was made to replace the suspect engine with one originally slated for Discovery. The main engine nozzles, visible in the photo, are 7.8 feet across and 9.4 feet high. Space Shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to launch no earlier than April 17, 2000, on mission STS-101 to resupply the International Space Station for the arrival of the next pressurized module, the Russian-built Zvezda

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

These images show the first core stage for NASAs Space Launch System rocket inside NASAs Pegasus barge on Jan. 8 ahead of its forthcoming journey to NASAs Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Teams rolled out, or moved, the completed core stage from NASAs Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans to the barge in preparation for the SLS rockets core stage Green Run test series at Stennis. Pegasus, which was modified to ferry SLS rocket hardware, will transport the core stage more than 40 miles from Michoud to Stennis for the comprehensive core stage Green Run test series. Green Run, named for its testing of new, or green, hardware progressively is the final test campaign ahead of the first Artemis launch.Assembly and integration of the core stage and its four RS-25 engines has been a collaborative, multistep process for NASA and its partners Boeing, the core stage lead contractor, and Aerojet Rocketdyne, the RS-25 engines lead contractor. Together with four RS-25

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Workers in the Payload Changeout Room (PCR) at Launch Pad 39A check out the SPACEHAB Double Module before moving into the PCR. Part of the Rotating Service Structure, the PCR is an environmentally controlled facility supporting cargo delivery to the pad and vertical installation in the orbiter cargo bay. The primary payloads on mission STS-101, the module and ICC contain internal logistics and resupply cargo for restoring full redundancy to the International Space Station power system in preparation for the arrival of the next pressurized module, the Russian-built Zvezda. The payloads will be transferred to Space Shuttle Atlantis after Atlantis rolls out to the pad. Launch of Atlantis on mission STS-101 is scheduled no earlier than April 17, 2000

ARES HARDWARE MOVE IN BUILDING 4755 OF A Y-RING INTO THE ROBOTIC WELD TOOL & THE COMMON BULKHEAD DOME MANUFACTURING DEMONSTRATION ARTICLE ONTO THE WOODEN TOOLING STANDS ON FEBRUARY 19, 2010

In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHSF), a crane lifts equipment for mission STS-103 out of its shipping container. The equipment is the first part of payload flight hardware for the third Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission (SM-3A). The hardware will undergo final testing and integration of payload elements in the PHSF. Mission STS-103 is a "call-up" mission which is being planned due to the need to replace portions of the Hubble's pointing system, the gyros, which have begun to fail. Although Hubble is operating normally and conducting its scientific observations, only three of its six gyroscopes are working properly. The gyroscopes allow the telescope to point at stars, galaxies and planets. The STS-103 crew will not only replace gyroscopes, it will also replace a Fine Guidance Sensor and an older computer with a new enhanced model, an older data tape recorder with a solid state digital recorder, a failed spare transmitter with a new one, and degraded insulation on t

Launch Vehicle Stage Adapter being loaded on the KMag for transportation to building 4707 for further testing.

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

Old Control Room Cable & Old Racks Removal

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.

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Workers prepare the Orion boilerplate test vehicle to be offloaded from the well deck of the USS Anchorage at Naval Base San Diego following completion of Underway Recovery Test 3 in the Pacific Ocean.NASA, Lockheed Martin and U.S. Navy personnel conducted the recovery test using the test vehicle to prepare for recovery of the Orion crew module on its return from a deep space mission. The test allowed the teams to demonstrate and evaluate the recovery processes, procedures, hardware and personnel in open waters. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program conducted the underway recovery tests. 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 test flight of Orion is scheduled to launch in 2014 atop a United L

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The second stage of a Delta II rocket is lowered into positioned above a first stage at Pad 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Next, it will be mated to the first stage in preparation for the launch of the Mars Exploration Rover-1 (MER-B) on June 25. NASAs twin Mars Exploration Rovers are designed to study the history of water on Mars. These robotic geologists are equipped with a robotic arm, a drilling tool, three spectrometers, and four pairs of cameras that allow them to have a human-like, 3D view of the terrain. Each rover could travel as far as 100 meters in one day to act as Mars scientists' eyes and hands, exploring an environment where humans are not yet able to go. The launch of MER-2 (MER-A) is tentatively set for June 8.

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, testing of the Tilt-Up Umbilical Arm (TUUA) prototype's Environmental Control System Quick Disconnect takes place in the Launch Equipment Test Facility's 6,000-square-foot high bay. The prototype is used to demonstrate the safe disconnect and retraction of ground umbilical plates and associated hardware of a launch vehicle's upper stage and service module. The Environmental Control System consists of regulated air, which would be used to purge an inner tank and crew module. Since 1977, the facility has supported NASAs Launch Services, shuttle, International Space Station, and Constellation programs, as well as commercial providers. The facility recently underwent a major upgrade to support even more programs, projects and customers. It houses a cable fabrication and molding shop, pneumatics shop, machine and weld shop and full-scale control room. Outside, the facility features a water flow test loop, vehicle motion

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - Workers attach half of the fairing for NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 mission, or OCO-2, to a crane at Space Launch Complex 2 on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Operations have begun to hoist the sections of the fairing into the Delta II launcher's environmental enclosure, or clean room, at the top of the pad's mobile service tower. The fairing will protect OCO-2 during launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket from Space Launch Complex 2 in July. The observatory will collect precise global measurements of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere and provide scientists with a better idea of the chemical compound's impacts on climate change. Scientists will analyze this data to improve our understanding of the natural processes and human activities that regulate the abundance and distribution of this important atmospheric gas.

Workmen secure a J-2 engine onto the S-IVB (second) stage thrust structure. As part of Marshall Space Center's building block approach to the Saturn development, the S-IVB was utilized in the Saturn IBC launch vehicle as a second stage and the Saturn V launch vehicle as a third stage. The booster, built for NASA by McDornell Douglas Corporation, was powered by a single J-2 engine, initially capable of 200,000 pounds of thrust.

Technicians ready two NASA Space Launch System (SLS) solid rocket boosters for mating to the rockets two aft skirts on June 19, 2020, inside Kennedy Space Centers Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility. Together, the twin boosters provide more than 75 percent of the total SLS thrust at launch. Manufactured by Northrop Grumman in Promontory, Utah, the boosters arrived at Kennedy via train. The cross-country journey was an important milestone for the agencys Artemis I launch. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system prior to crewed missions to the Moon. Once the boosters are mated with the aft skirts, they will be moved to the Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking on the mobile launcher.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, workers using an overhead crane lift a solid rocket motor into the Vertical Integration Facility at Launch Complex 41. It then will be attached to the United Launch Alliance Atlas V booster stage, already at the pad.NASA's Juno spacecraft is scheduled to launch aboard an Atlas V from Cape Canaveral, Fla. Aug. 5.The solar-powered spacecraft will orbit Jupiter's poles 33 times to find out more about the gas giant's origins, structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere and investigate the existence of a solid planetary core.

Pratt & Whitney Advanced Ducted Propulsor (ADP) Engine Test-590 in the NASA Ames 40x80ft Subsonic Wind Tunnel. The Pratt & Whitney Advanced Ducted Prop (ADP) demonstrator undergoing acoustic and fan performance testing. ADP technology could lead to decreased fuel consumption and noise.

GOES-P MOVE TO FUELING STAND & MEDIA DAY

The forward skirt for one of the Space Launch Systems (SLS) two solid boosters is inside the Booster Fabrication Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 16, 2019. Segments of the boosters are being inspected and prepared for Artemis I, the agencys first uncrewed flight of Orion atop the SLS. The forward skirt houses booster avionics that communicate with the SLS avionics to monitor booster conditions and steer the booster exhaust nozzle.

The interior of the Soyuz Integration Facility at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Baikonur, Kazakhstan is seen, Thursday, April 10, 2003. The Soyuz module is in the yellow work stand with its payload fairing ready in the foreground. Expedition 7 NASA International Space Station Science Officer and Flight Engineer Edward T. Lu and Expedition 7 Commander Yuri I. Malenchenko (both out of view) are in the Soyuz TMA-2 capsule for an inspection and seat liner check.

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - (ED09-0253-75) Space shuttle Discovery, mounted on leveling jacks, is surrounded by work platforms while undergoing servicing and preparations at NASAs Dryden Flight Research Center for its ferry flight to NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (NASA photo / Tony Landis)

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.

A850760 U12N DIAMOND BEECH FAC H.E. WRAP & ASSEMBLY HAROLD WALLING (Project Engineer) MAY 1 85 EG&G/NTS PHOTO LAB Publication Date: 5/1/1985 DIAMOND BEECH; EDGERTON, GERMESHAUSEN & GRIER; EG&G; EQUIPMENT; EQUIPMENT & INSTRUMENTS; FAC H. E.; FAST ACTION CLOSURE; HIGH-ENERGY; INSTRUMENTS & EQUIPMENT; INSTRUMENTS AND EQUIPMENT; N-TUNNEL; NEVADA; NEVADA TEST SITE; NTS; NUCLEAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGY; TEST SITES; TUNNELS; UGT; UNDERGROUND TESTING; WEAPONS EFFECTS; WRAP & ASSEMBLY; FAC H.E. WRAP & ASSEMBLY historical images. 1972 - 2012. Department of Energy. National Nuclear Security Administration. Photographs Related to Nuclear Weapons Testing at the Nevada Test Site.

ORION Project-(SPLASH) Structural Passive Landing Attenuation for Survivability of Human Crew (BTA) Boiler Plate Test Article Water Impact Test-Pot Phase"0" Test Tested at the Hydro Impact Basin at the Landing and Impact Research Facility (Gantry)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside the Assembly and Refurbishment Facility, or ARF, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers lift the padding away from the Ares I-X forward skirt transferred from the Astrotech facility in Titusville, Fla. The forward skirt is the initial piece of first-stage hardware in preparation for the July 2009 test flight of the agency's next-generation spacecraft and launch vehicle system. Built entirely of armored steel, the 14,000-pound segment is seven feet tall and 12-1/4 feet wide. United Space Alliance, under a subcontract to ATK, will complete the integration and assembly of the forward skirt components in the ARF. It will then be moved to the Vehicle Assembly Building high bay 3 for stacking operations.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The Apollo 7 spacecraft - Spacecraft 101 - is lifted out of the vacuum chamber today following successful manned test runs in the spaceport's Manned Spacecraft Operations Building. The spacecraft, which will be the first Apollo to be flown with a crew, was moved to a work stand in the MSOB for further fitting out before being taken to Launch Pad 34 on Cape Kennedy. There it will be mated to its Saturn 1B launch vehicle.

The Liquid Oxygen Test Article was lifted onto the Kmag. Various electronic components will be installed then the article will be moved into test stand 4697.

Technicians watch as an LGM-118A Peacekeeper missile launch canister is lowered into a cradle in the missile assembly building. Base: Vandenberg Air Force Base State: California (CA) Country: United States Of America (USA)

Work continues on the Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) Orion crew module in the Operations and Checkout Building (O&C) at Kennedy Space Center on March 21, 2013. Astronaut Don Pettit is visible talking to workmen. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.

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.

At the Integration Facility at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Soyuz TMA-08M spacecraft is lowered into place March 22 for its encapsulation into the third stage of a Soyuz booster rocket. The operation was part of the preparation for the Soyuz launch March 29, Kazakh time, to carry Expedition 35/36 Flight Engineer Chris Cassidy of NASA, Soyuz Commander Pavel Vinogradov and Flight Engineer Alexander Misurkin to the International Space Station for a 5 ½ month mission.NASA/Victor Zelentsov

VANDENBERG AFB, California - Technicians and engineers place a transportation canister around NASA's SMAP spacecraft so it can be taken from the Astrotech processing facility to Space Launch Complex-2 for placement atop a Delta II rocket for launch. For more, go to www.nasa.gov/smap

An engineer assists in maneuvering the Soyuz TMA-14 spacecraft and third stage for final assembly to the first and second stages Monday, March 23, 2009 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Soyuz is scheduled to launch the crew of Expedition 19 and a spaceflight participant on March 26, 2009.

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.

An LGM-118A Peacekeeper missile launch canister is positioned over a cradle inside the missile assembly building. Base: Vandenberg Air Force Base State: California (CA) Country: United States Of America (USA)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Vehicle Assembly Building's High Bay 1 at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers supervise space shuttle Atlantis as it is positioned next to an external fuel tank, at left, and pair of solid rocket boosters secured to a mobile launcher platform. Next, Atlantis will be attached, completing the stacking operation.Rollout of the completed shuttle stack to Kennedys Launch Pad 39A, a significant milestone in launch processing activities, is planned for Oct. 13. Liftoff of Atlantis on its STS-129 mission to the International Space Station is targeted for 4:04 p.m. EST Nov. 12 during a 10-minute launch window.

Internal view of the Vehicle Assembly Building

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