Satellite and Spacecraft Assembly

Photos of clean room environments with technicians assembling satellites and spacecraft components, highlighting meticulous work in space technology.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. In the Orbital Sciences Building 836 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, workers guide one of three micro-satellites onto a payload support structure. The three satellites that make up the Space Technology 5 spacecraft, called ST5, will be launched by a Pegasus XL rocket. The satellites contain miniaturized redundant components and technologies. Each will validate New Millennium Program selected technologies, such as the Cold Gas Micro-Thruster and X-Band Transponder Communication System. After deployment from the Pegasus, the micro-satellites will be positioned in a “string of pearls” constellation that demonstrates the ability to position them to perform simultaneous multi-point measurements of the magnetic field using highly sensitive magnetometers. The data will help scientists understand and map the intensity and direction of the Earth’s magnetic field, its relation to space weather events, and affects on our planet. With such m

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. In the Orbital Sciences Building 836 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, workers guide one of three micro-satellites onto a payload support structure. The three satellites that make up the Space Technology 5 spacecraft, called ST5, will be launched by a Pegasus XL rocket. The satellites contain miniaturized redundant components and technologies. Each will validate New Millennium Program selected technologies, such as the Cold Gas Micro-Thruster and X-Band Transponder Communication System. After deployment from the Pegasus, the micro-satellites will be positioned in a “string of pearls” constellation that demonstrates the ability to position them to perform simultaneous multi-point measurements of the magnetic field using highly sensitive magnetometers. The data will help scientists understand and map the intensity and direction of the Earth’s magnetic field, its relation to space weather events, and affects on our planet. With such m

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In a clean room at Astrotech, workers prepare the Dawn spacecraft for installation of its solar array panels. Dawn's mission is to explore two of the asteroid belt's most intriguing and dissimilar occupants: asteroid Vesta and the dwarf planet Ceres. Dawn is scheduled to launch June 30 aboard a Delta II rocket from Launch Complex 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Technicians prepare to move a cargo package from a forklift into the Orbital ATK CRS-6 pressurized cargo module during late stowage inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida.The spacecraft is scheduled for the upcoming Orbital ATK Commercial Resupply Services-6 mission to deliver hardware and supplies to the International Space Station. The Cygnus is scheduled to lift off atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on March 22.

STS-132 MINI RESEARCH MODULE-1 INSTALL TO CANISTER

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. --- In the Astrotech payload processing facility, NASA's Gamma-Ray Large Area Space Telescope, or GLAST, completes the test of the deployment mechanism on its solar arrays. The telescope will launch aboard a Delta II rocket May 16 from Launch Pad 17-B on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. A powerful space observatory, the GLAST will explore the most extreme environments in the universe, and answer questions about supermassive black hole systems, pulsars and the origin of cosmic rays. It also will study the mystery of powerful explosions known as gamma-ray bursts.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Technicians in the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville, Fla. install thermal insulation on NASA's Juno magnetometer boom. The boom structure is attached to Juno's solar array #1 that will help power the NASA spacecraft on its mission to Jupiter.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. Juno is scheduled to launch aboard an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, Fla. Aug. 5.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - At Launch Pad 39B, STS-114 Commander Eileen Collins (leaning forward) discusses the payloads in Space Shuttle Discovery's cargo bay with Mission Specialist Wendy Lawrence (right) looking on behind her. The STS-114 crew is conducting a final inspection of their mission payloads before launch. During its 12-day mission, Discoverys seven-person crew will test new hardware and techniques to improve Shuttle safety, as well as deliver supplies to the International Space Station. Discoverys payloads include the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Raffaello, the Lightweight Multi-Purpose Experiment Support Structure Carrier (LMC), and the External Stowage Platform-2 (ESP-2). Raffaello will deliver supplies to the International Space Station including food, clothing and research equipment. The LMC will carry a replacement Control Moment Gyroscope and a tile repair sample box. The ESP-2 is outfitted with replacement parts. Launch of Discovery on its Return to Flight missi

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, a technician prepares the solar arrays for the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) for an electromagnetic interference verification test. If no interference is found during the test, the Shallow Radar Antenna (SHARAD) will be installed on the spacecraft. The spacecraft is undergoing multiple mechanical assembly operations and electrical tests to verify its readiness for launch. The MRO was built by Lockheed Martin for NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. It is the next major step in Mars exploration and scheduled for launch from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in a window opening Aug. 10. The MRO is an important next step in fulfilling NASAs vision of space exploration and ultimately sending human explorers to Mars and beyond.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - After its shipping cover was removed, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo Exposed Facility, or EF, is moved to a high bay in the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. When it is installed on the Kibo laboratory, the EF will provide a multipurpose platform where science experiments can be deployed and operated in the exposed environment. The payloads attached to the EF can be exchanged or retrieved by Kibo's robotic arm, the JEM Remote Manipulator System. The EF, along with the Experiment Logistics Module Exposed Section, will be carried aboard space shuttle Endeavour on the STS-127 mission targeted for launch May 15, 2009.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Members of the crew for mission STS-121 look at the trailing umbilical system reel assembly that will be installed on the International Space Station during the mission. Seen here are Mission Specialists Stephanie Wilson and Lisa Nowak (background) and Michael Fossum (center front). The crew is taking part in a Crew Equipment Interface Test (CEIT) inside the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. A CEIT provides hands-on experiences with equipment used on-orbit. Mission STS-121 is the second in the Return to Flight sequence and will carry on improvements that debuted during last year's STS-114 mission and build upon those tests. Launch is scheduled in July.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Inside the Space Station Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center, workers attach the Remote Manipulator System, or robotic arm, to the Japanese Experiment Module for testing. The RMS is one of the payloads scheduled to be delivered to the station on a future mission tentatively scheduled for 2008. The RMS is similar to the robotic arm already installed on the station's mobile base system.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF), workers from the Italian aerospace company Alenia Aerospazio begin removing the protective cover from the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) called Raffaello. The Italian aerospace company will provide engineering support for Raffaello, along with NASA, Boeing and the Italian Space Agency. One of Italy's major contributions to the ISS program, the MPLM is a reusable logistics carrier and the 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. Raffaello will undergo testing. joining the first Italian-built MPLM, Leonardo, also in the SSPF. Raffaello is scheduled to be launched on mission STS-100 on July 27, 2000

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers prepare to lift the Express Logistics Carrier-1, or ELC-1, from its work stand. Next, the payload will be secured in a transportation canister for its trip to Launch Pad 39A where it will be installed in space shuttle Atlantis' payload bay.The carrier is part of the payload for Atlantis' STS-129 mission to the International Space Station. The STS-129 crew will deliver two spare gyroscopes, two nitrogen tank assemblies, two pump modules, an ammonia tank assembly and a spare latching end effector for the station's robotic arm. Launch is targeted for Nov. 16.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians attach the overhead crane to the pump module orbital replacement unit. The crane will lift and move the equipment to the Express Logistics Carrier 1, or ELC-1. The carrier is part of the STS-129 payload on space shuttle Atlantis, which will deliver to the International Space Station two spare gyroscopes, two nitrogen tank assemblies, two pump modules, an ammonia tank assembly and a spare latching end effector for the station's robotic arm. STS-129 is targeted to launch Nov. 12.

Cape Canaveral, Fla. - At the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, John Grotzinger, project scientist for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover known as Curiosity, points out components of the rover to NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver, to his right. A United Launch Alliance Atlas V-541 configuration will be used to loft MSL into space. Curiositys 10 science instruments are designed to search for evidence on whether Mars has had environments favorable to microbial life, including chemical ingredients for life. The unique rover will use a laser to look inside rocks and release its gasses so that the rovers spectrometer can analyze and send the data back to Earth. MSL is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida Nov. 25 with a window extending to Dec. 18 and arrival at Mars Aug. 2012.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In NASA Kennedy Space Center's Space Station Processing Facility, STS-129 Mission Specialist Michael Foreman gets a close look at hardware installed on the Express Logistics Carrier, or ELC. The crew is at Kennedy for a Crew Equipment Interface Test, which provides hands-on training and observation of shuttle and flight hardware. The carrier is part of the STS-129 payload on space shuttle Atlantis, which will deliver to the International Space Station two spare gyroscopes, two nitrogen tank assemblies, two pump modules, an ammonia tank assembly and a spare latching end effector for the station's robotic arm. STS-129 is targeted to launch Nov. 12.

STS-131 CREW CEIT - DISCOVERY

The Lower Equipment Module of the Cassini spacecraft is lifted into a workstand in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHSF). Cassini will explore the Saturnian system, including the planets rings and its moon, Titan. Launch of the Cassini mission to Saturn is scheduled for Oct. 6 from Launch Complex 40, Cape Canaveral Air Station, aboard a Titan IVB unmanned vehicle

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In Orbiter Processing Facility bay 3, STS-120 crew members get a close look at hardware in Discovery's payload bay. In the bucket at left is Mission Specialist Paolo A. Nespoli, who is a European Space Agency astronaut from Italy. The object with the shiny gold surface is a payload bay bulkhead camera. The STS-120 crew is at Kennedy for a crew equipment interface test, or CEIT, which includes harness training, inspection of the thermal protection system and camera operation for planned extravehicular activities, or EVAs. The STS-120 mission will deliver the Harmony module, christened after a school contest, which will provide attachment points for European and Japanese laboratory modules on the International Space Station. Known in technical circles as Node 2, it is similar to the six-sided Unity module that links the U.S. and Russian sections of the station. Built in Italy for the United States, Harmony will be the first new U.S. pressurized component

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville, Fla., workers help guide the movement of the SV1 spacecraft as it is moved toward the SV2 behind it. The two spacecraft are part of the Space Tracking and Surveillance System - Demonstrators, or STSS Demo, Program. The STSS Demo is a space-based sensor component of a layered Ballistic Missile Defense System designed for the overall mission of detecting, tracking and discriminating ballistic missiles. STSS is capable of tracking objects after boost phase and provides trajectory information to other sensors. It will be launched by NASA for the Missile Defense Agency between 8 and 8:58 a.m. EDT Sept. 18. Approved for Public Release 09-MDA-04886 (10 SEPT 09)

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Technicians at the Space Station Processing Facility perform a fit check of the Thermal Protection System Sample Box on the Lightweight Multi-Purpose Experiment Support Structure Carrier (LMC). The box is the actual flight hardware scheduled to fly on the Space Shuttle Return to Flight mission STS-114. The fit check is performed to ensure the hardware mates properly with the newly modified LMC and will be returned to NASAs Johnson Space Center for installation of tile samples in support of the STS-114 mission. The Thermal Protection Detailed Test Objective will enable astronauts to test new on-orbit Thermal Protection System repair techniques. Mission STS-114 is scheduled to launch in May 2005.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Space Station Processing Facility, the lower deck solar array wing scheduled to launch on International Space Station mission 12A, STS-115, is moved via an overhead crane to a work stand. The solar array is being removed in preparation for replacement of aging flight batteries. The currently installed batteries have an expected on-orbit lifetime of approximately four years. New batteries are being installed to ensure that the batteries do not exceed their lifetime expectancy prior to their planned logistics resupply on-orbit. The new batteries will have a lifetime expectancy of approximately 7 years.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians check the nitrogen tank assembly before lifting and moving it to the Express Logistics Carrier 1, or ELC-1. The carrier is part of the STS-129 payload on space shuttle Atlantis, which will deliver to the International Space Station two spare gyroscopes, two nitrogen tank assemblies, two pump modules, an ammonia tank assembly and a spare latching end effector for the station's robotic arm. STS-129 is targeted to launch Nov. 12.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, STS-134 crew members inspect the Express Logistics Carrier-3 with the carrier's technicians. The six-member 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. - In NASA Kennedy Space Center's Orbiter Processing Facility 1, technicians prepare to test the orbital docking system on space shuttle Atlantis. The STS-129 mission will deliver to the International Space Station two spare gyroscopes, two nitrogen tank assemblies, two pump modules, an ammonia tank assembly and a spare latching end effector for the station's robotic arm. STS-129 is targeted to launch Nov. 12.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Fla., technicians prepare solar array #1 with its magnetometer boom for installation to NASA's Juno spacecraft.Juno is scheduled to launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket 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.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- STS-111 Mission Specialist Franklin Chang-Diaz (left) tries another maneuver on the replacement pitch roll joint for the SSRMS (Canadarm 2). The joint will be installed during the mission to the International Space Station. Part of the payload on mission STS-111 is the Mobile Base System (MBS), which will be installed on the Mobile Transporter to complete the Canadian Mobile Servicing System, or MSS. The mechanical arm will then have the capability to "inchworm" from the U.S. Lab Destiny to the MSS and travel along the truss to work sites. STS-111 is the second utilization flight (UF-2) to the Space Station and will also carry the Expedition 5 crew to replace Expedition 4. Launch is scheduled for May 30, 2002

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - STS-121 Mission Specialist Piers Sellers (left) and Commander Steven Lindsey (right) are practicing removing the cover and strap on the trailing umbilical assembly at the SPACEHAB facility in Cape Canaveral during a Crew Equipment Interface Test. This test allows the astronauts to become familiar with equipment they will be using on their upcoming mission. STS-121 is scheduled to launch in July aboard Space Shuttle Discovery.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - At the Astrotech Payload Processing Facility on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, workers help guide the CloudSat spacecraft with an attachment ring as it is lowered toward the workstand on the floor. CloudSat will undergo electrical and spacecraft transmitter testing. In combination with the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO), the spacecraft will provide never-before-seen 3-D perspectives of how clouds and aerosols form, evolve, and affect weather and climate. CALIPSO and CloudSat will fly in formation with three other satellites to enhance understanding of climate systems. The launch date for CloudSat_CALIPSO is no earlier than Aug. 22.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, members of the STS-127 crew look over equipment on the Japanese Experiment Module's Experiment Logistics Module-Exposed Section, or ELM-ES, part of the payload on the mission. The crew is Commander Mark Polansky, Pilot Doug Hurley and Mission Specialists Christopher Cassidy, Tom Marshburn, Dave Wolf, Julie Payette and Tim Kopra. They are at Kennedy for Crew Equipment Interface Test activities, or CEIT, which provides experience handling tools, equipment and hardware for the mission. The payload will be launched to the International Space Station aboard space shuttle Endeavour on the STS-127 mission, targeted for launch on May 15.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Workers secure the installation of the fairing around NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory, or OCO. The work is being done in Building 1032 of Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The fairing is a molded structure that fits flush with the outside surface of the rocket and forms an aerodynamically smooth nose cone, protecting the spacecraft during launch and ascent. The spacecraft is scheduled for launch aboard Orbital Sciences' Taurus XL rocket on Feb. 23 from Vandenberg. The spacecraft will collect precise global measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth's atmosphere. Scientists will analyze OCO data to improve our understanding of the natural processes and human activities that regulate the abundance and distribution of this important greenhouse gas. This improved understanding will enable more reliable forecasts of future changes in the abundance and distribution of CO2 in the atmosphere and the effect that these changes may have on t

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, astronaut Peggy Whitson (right) is familiarizing herself with the U.S. Laboratory Node 2, which is the payload for mission STS-120 targeted for launch in September.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility, STS-120 Mission Specialist Scott Parazynski becomes familiar with the Node 2, another element to be added to the International Space Station. He and other crew members are at KSC for equipment familiarization. Node 2 will provide a passageway between three station science experiment facilities: the U.S. Destiny Laboratory, the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module, and the European Columbus Laboratory. STS-120 is targeted for launch on October 20.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Engineers prepare to uncrate NASA's TDRS-L satellite inside the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville for launch processing. The TDRS is the latest spacecraft destined for the agency's constellation of communications satellites that allows nearly continuous contact with orbiting spacecraft ranging from the International Space Station and Hubble Space Telescope to the array of scientific observatories.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Technicians in the Space Station Processing Facility attach an overhead crane to the U.S. Node 2 module, known as Harmony. The crane will lift the module and transfer it to the payload canister in another area of the facility. The canister will deliver Harmony to Launch Pad 39A for installation into space shuttle Discovery's payload bay. The Italian-built module is about 21 feet long and 14 feet in diameter. The pressurized module will act as an internal connecting port and passageway to additional international science labs and cargo spacecraft. In addition to increasing the living and working space inside the station, it also will serve as a work platform outside for the station's robotic arm. Harmony will be installed on the station during mission STS-120, targeted to launch Oct. 23.

A Nanoracks technician works on the Nanoracks Bishop Airlock inside the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sept. 29, 2020. The next-generation Nanoracks payload facility is being prepared for its flight to the International Space Station on SpaceXs 21st commercial resupply services mission (CRS-21) to the International Space Station. The Bishop Airlock is the first commercially funded airlock for the space station. It will provide payload hosting, robotics testing, satellite deployment, and serve as an outside toolbox for station crew spacewalks, and more. CRS-21 is scheduled to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket no earlier than November from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, technicians monitor the movement of the Wide Field Camera 3, or WFC3, as the overhead crane transfers it to a work stand. As Hubble enters the last stage of its life, WFC3 will be Hubble's next evolutionary step, allowing Hubble to peer ever further into the mysteries of the cosmos. WFC3 will study a diverse range of objects and phenomena, from young and extremely distant galaxies, to much more nearby stellar systems, to objects within our very own solar system. WFC3 will take the place of Wide Field Planetary Camera 2, which astronauts will bring back to Earth aboard the shuttle. WFC3 is part of the payload on the fifth and final Hubble servicing mission, STS-125, targeted for launch Oct. 8.

In Building 1555 on North Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians lower the AIM spacecraft onto a moveable stand. AIM, which stands for Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere, is being prepared for integrated testing and a flight simulation. The AIM spacecraft will fly three instruments designed to study polar mesospheric clouds located at the edge of space, 50 miles above the Earth's surface in the coldest part of the planet's atmosphere. The mission's primary goal is to explain why these clouds form and what has caused them to become brighter and more numerous and appear at lower latitudes in recent years. AIM's results will provide the basis for the study of long-term variability in the mesospheric climate and its relationship to global climate change. AIM is scheduled to be mated to its launch vehicle, Orbital Sciences' Pegasus XL, during the second week of April, after which final inspections will be conducted. Launch is scheduled for April 25.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- A worker in the Multi-Payload Processing Facility prepares a GetAway Special canister (GAS can) for a move to the Hitchhiker Bridge. The bridge is a carrier for the Fast Reaction Experiments Enabling Science, Technology, Applications and Research (FREESTAR) that incorporates eight high priority secondary attached shuttle experiments on mission STS-107. A research mission, the primary payload is the first flight of the SHI Research Double Module (SHI_RDM), also known as SPACEHAB. The experiments range from material sciences to life sciences (many rats). STS-107 is scheduled to launch July 11, 2002

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, an overhead crane lifts the SEDA-AP (Space Environment Data Acquisition Equipment-Attached Payload). The payload will be installed on the Japanese Experiment Module's Experiment Logistics Module-Exposed Section, or ELM-ES. The SEDA-AP and ELM-ES are part of space shuttle Endeavour's payload for the STS-127 mission. SEDA-AP will measure space environment in ISS orbit and environmental effects on materials and electronic devices to investigate the interaction with and from the environment at the Kibo exposed facility. Endeavour is targeted to launch May 15.

The Lower Equipment Module of the Cassini spacecraft is lifted into a workstand in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHSF). Cassini will explore the Saturnian system, including the planets rings and its moon, Titan. Launch of the Cassini mission to Saturn is scheduled for Oct. 6 from Launch Complex 40, Cape Canaveral Air Station, aboard a Titan IVB unmanned vehicle

Technicians unpack and inspect a Nitrogen/Oxygen Recharge System (NORS) tank inside the Space Station Processing Facility high bay at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 16, 2020. The NORS tanks and their support fixtures are designed to connect to the International Space Stations existing air supply network to refill the previous generation of tanks installed during construction of the space station. These reusable tanks measure 3 feet long and 21 inches in diameter, and weigh about 200 pounds when filled. Once onboard, the tanks will be used to fill the oxygen and nitrogen tanks that supply the needed gases to the space stations airlock for spacewalks. They could also be used to replenish the atmosphere inside the station. The NORS tanks will launch to the station later in the year on a commercial resupply mission.

VANDENBERG AFB, Calif. - Technicians move NASA's IRIS spacecraft at Vandenberg where the spacecraft will be readied for launch aboard an Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL rocket. IRIS is short for Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph and the spacecraft's mission will improve our understanding of how heat and energy move through the deepest levels of the suns atmosphere, thereby increasing our ability to forecast space weather.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- At Vandenberg Air Force Base's Astrotech processing facility in California, technicians help guide NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, spacecraft to the flight conical adapter and test stand, at far left. The satellite will survey the entire sky at infrared wavelengths, creating a cosmic clearinghouse of hundreds of millions of objects, which will be catalogued, providing a vast storehouse of knowledge about the solar system, the Milky Way, and the universe. Launch is scheduled no earlier than Dec. 7.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The SciSat-1 spacecraft is uncrated at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. SciSat-1 weighs approximately 330 pounds and will be placed in a 400-mile-high polar orbit to investigate processes that control the distribution of ozone in the upper atmosphere. The scientific mission of SciSat-1 is to measure and understand the chemical processes that control the distribution of ozone in the Earths atmosphere, particularly at high altitudes. The data from the satellite will provide Canadian and international scientists with improved measurements relating to global ozone processes and help policymakers assess existing environmental policy and develop protective measures for improving the health of our atmosphere, preventing further ozone depletion. The mission is designed to last two years.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility, the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo is lowered onto a workstand. The MPLM joins two others, Raffaello and Donatello, in the SSPF being prepared for future launches to the International Space Station. The three MPLMs are being used as cargo vans to carry supplies, equipment and research racks to the Space Station and back to KSC. Leonardo recently returned from its maiden voyage to the Station on mission STS-102

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Inside a high bay at Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Fla., the GOES-N spacecraft is attached to an overhead crane. The spacecraft will be lifted and moved for mating with its payload adapter. GOES-N is the latest in a series of Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites for NOAA and NASA providing continuous monitoring necessary for intensive data analysis. It will be launched May 18 on a Boeing Delta IV rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In a processing hangar at Space Launch Complex-40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, Space Exploration Technologies technicians stow cargo in the Dragon capsule in preparation for its scheduled April 30 liftoff aboard a Falcon 9 rocket.Known as SpaceX, the launch will be the company's second demonstration test flight for NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program, or COTS. During the flight, the capsule will conduct a series of checkout procedures to test and prove its systems, including rendezvous and berthing with the International Space Station. The cargo includes food and provisions for the stations Expedition crews, such as clothing, batteries, and computer equipment. Under COTS, NASA has partnered with two private companies to launch cargo safely to the station.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- STS-115 Mission Specialist Daniel Burbank checks out equipment during Crew Equipment Interface Test activities in the Space Station Processing Facility. The mission will deliver the second port truss segment, the P3/P4 Truss, to attach to the first port truss segment, the P1 Truss, as well as deploy solar array set 2A and 4A. Launch on Space Shuttle Endeavour is scheduled for May 23, 2003.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside the Astrotech payload processing facility near NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a technician installs protective thermal blankets around the Radiation Belt Storm Probes, or RBSP, spacecraft A.NASAs RBSP mission will help us understand the suns influence on Earth and near-Earth space by studying the Earths radiation belts on various scales of space and time. RBSP will begin its mission of exploration of Earths Van Allen radiation belts and the extremes of space weather after its launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. Launch is targeted for Aug. 23.

VANDENBERG AFB - Engineers move the port side of the payload fairing before it is connected into place for NASA's IRIS spacecraft. The fairing connects to the nose of the Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL rocket that will lift the solar observatory into orbit in June. The work is taking place in a hangar at Vandenberg Air Force Base where IRIS, short for Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, is being prepared for launch on a Pegasus XL rocket. Scheduled for launch from Vandenberg June 26, IRIS will open a new window of discovery by tracing the flow of energy and plasma through the chromospheres and transition region into the suns corona using spectrometry and imaging. IRIS fills a crucial gap in our ability to advance studies of the sun-to-Earth connection by tracing the flow of energy and plasma through the foundation of the corona and the region around the sun known as the heliosphere.

At the Harris Spaceport Systems facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the twin GRACE-FO satellites are integrated with the multi-satellite dispenser structure that will be used to deploy the satellites during launch on the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle.

Inside Building 1555 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the eight NASA Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) spacecraft installed on their deployment module undergo inspections prior to NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Processing activities will prepare the spacecraft for launch aboard an Orbital ATK Pegasus XL rocket. When preparations are competed at Vandenberg, the rocket will be transported to Kennedy attached to the Orbital ATK L-1011 carrier aircraft with in its payload fairing. CYGNSS will launch on the Pegasus XL rocket from the Skid Strip at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. CYGNSS will make frequent and accurate measurements of ocean surface winds throughout the life cycle of tropical storms and hurricanes. The data that CYGNSS provides will enable scientists to probe key air-sea interaction processes that take place near the core of storms, which are rapidly changing and play a critical role in the beginning and intensification of hurricanes.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Technicians in the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida load the dexterous humanoid astronaut helper, Robonaut 2, or R2, into the Permanent Multipurpose Module, or PMM. Packed inside a launch box called SLEEPR, or Structural Launch Enclosure to Effectively Protect Robonaut, R2 will be placed in the in the same launch orientation as space shuttle Discovery's STS-133 crew members -- facing toward the nose of the shuttle with the back taking all the weight. Although R2 will initially only participate in operational tests, upgrades could eventually allow the robot to realize its true purpose -- helping spacewalking astronauts with tasks outside the International Space Station. STS-133 is targeted to launch Nov. 1.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Astrotech payload processing facility at Port Canaveral, Fla., workers dressed in clean room attire, known as bunny suits, install supplies and other cargo in the Russian-built Mini-Research Module, or MRM, through a hatch on the end of the module. The six-member crew of space shuttle Atlantis' STS-132 mission will deliver an Integrated Cargo Carrier and the MRM to the International Space Station. The second in a series of new pressurized components for Russia, the MRM will be permanently attached to the bottom port of the Zarya module. The MRM also will carry U.S. pressurized cargo. STS-132 is the 34th mission to the station and the 132nd space shuttle mission. Launch is targeted for May 14.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, CALIF. - Inside the Astrotech Payload Processing Facility on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, a worker helps secure the upper Delta Payload Attach Fitting (UDPAF) to the lower Delta Payload Attach Fitting (LDPAF). The LDPAF holds the CloudSat satellite and the UDPAF will hold the CALIPSO satellite. CALIPSO stands for Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation. CALIPSO and CloudSat are highly complementary satellites that will provide never-before-seen 3-D perspectives of how clouds and aerosols form, evolve, and affect weather and climate. CALIPSO and CloudSat will fly in formation with three other satellites in the A-train constellation to enhance understanding of our climate system. Launch of CALIPSO_CloudSat aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket is scheduled for 3 01 a.m. PDT Sept. 29.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- The Aquarius/SAC-D spacecraft is being prepared for its move to cell 3 at the Spaceport Systems International payload processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. There, the spacecraft will undergo inspection of its solar arrays and tests will be conducted on its propulsion subsystem. Further testing of the satellites various other systems will follow.Following final tests, the spacecraft will be integrated to a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket in preparation for the targeted June launch. Aquarius, the NASA-built primary instrument on the SAC-D spacecraft, will map global changes in salinity at the ocean's surface. The three-year mission will provide new insights into how variations in ocean surface salinity relate to these fundamental climate processes.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Mission STS-120 Mission Specialist Daniel Tani and Commander Pam Melroy familiarize themselves with the Node 2 Harmony module inside the Space Station Processing Facility during a visit to Kennedy Space Center. Other crew members include Pilot George Zamka and Mission Specialists Scott Parazynski, Douglas Wheelock, Stephanie Wilson, Paolo Nespoli (with the European Space Agency) and Clayton Anderson. Mission STS-120 will deliver the Node 2 "Harmony" connecting module to the station. During the mission, Tani and Anderson will transfer to the station and remain as flight engineers for Expedition 15. The mission is tentatively scheduled for August of this year.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the high bay of the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHSF) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, spacecraft technicians from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory guide the multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator (MMRTG) for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission on the turning fixture toward the MMRTG integration cart. The cart will be used to install the MMRTG on the Curiosity rover for a fit check. The rover is on an elevated work stand, at right. The MMRTG will be installed on the rover for launch at the pad.The MMRTG will generate the power needed for the mission from the natural decay of plutonium-238, a non-weapons-grade form of the radioisotope. Heat given off by this natural decay will provide constant power through the day and night during all seasons. Curiosity, MSL's car-sized rover, has 10 science instruments designed to search for signs of life, including methane, and help determine if the gas is from a biological or geo

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Technicians at Astrotech's payload processing facility in Titusville, Fla. guide the high-gain antenna toward NASA's Juno spacecraft for installation. Juno is scheduled to launch aboard an Atlas V rocket 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.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, an overhead crane moves the SEDA-AP (Space Environment Data Acquisition Equipment-Attached Payload) to install it on the Japanese Experiment Module's Experiment Logistics Module-Exposed Section, or ELM-ES. The SEDA-AP and ELM-ES are part of space shuttle Endeavour's payload for the STS-127 mission. SEDA-AP will measure space environment in ISS orbit and environmental effects on materials and electronic devices to investigate the interaction with and from the environment at the Kibo exposed facility. Endeavour is targeted to launch May 15.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- At Vandenberg Air Force Base's Astrotech processing facility in California, technicians working on NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, spacecraft place the first half of the clampband on the test payload attach fitting. The satellite will survey the entire sky at infrared wavelengths, creating a cosmic clearinghouse of hundreds of millions of objects, which will be catalogued, providing a vast storehouse of knowledge about the solar system, the Milky Way, and the universe. Launch is scheduled no earlier than Dec. 7.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, workers oversee the movement of the cruise stage of Mars Exploration Rover 1 (MER-1). The cruise stage will be integrated with the aeroshell, the entry vehicle. 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 cant yet go. The MER-1 is scheduled to launch June 25 from Launch Pad 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

The heat shield for Orions Artemis ll, NASAs first crewed mission, is inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at the agencys Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sept. 17, 2019. The heat shield, measuring roughly 16 feet in diameter, will protect astronauts upon re-entry. The heat shield is a base titanium truss structure. Technicians will apply Avcoat, an ablative material that will provide the thermal protection needed to withstand the harsh environment of space and during re-entry. Artemis ll will confirm all of the spacecrafts systems operate as designed in the actual environment of deep space with astronauts aboard.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, removal of the shipping container's cover reveals the Fine Guidance Sensor, or FGS, for the Hubble Space Telescope. The FGS will be integrated onto the Orbital Replacement Unit carrier in the clean room of the facility. The sensor will extend the life of the pointing control system on the Hubble Space Telescope. On the mission, this FGS will replace one of the three sensors that is failing and thus outfit the telescope with two completely healthy units, which are needed. A third, older FGS aboard the telescope will provide additional target-pointing efficiency and redundancy. Space shuttle Atlantis is targeted to launch on the STS-125 mission Oct. 8.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the high bay of the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, workers from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center secure the Hubble vertical platform to the Super Lightweight Interchangeable Carrier for the Hubble Space Telescope. The Super Lightweight Interchangeable Carrier, or SLIC, is one of four carriers supporting hardware for space shuttle Atlantis' STS-125 mission to service the telescope. SLIC is built with state-of-the-art, lightweight, composite materials - carbon fiber with a cyanate ester resin and a titanium metal matrix composite. These composites have greater strength-to-mass ratios than the metals typically used in spacecraft design. The Orbital Replacement Unit Carrier, or ORUC, and the Flight Support System, or FSS, have also arrived at Kennedy.The Multi-Use Lightweight Equipment carrier will be delivered in early August. The carriers will be prepared for the integration of telescope science instruments, both intern

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Inside Endeavour's opened payload bay, a worker installs a wiring modification called the "Station to Shuttle Power Transfer System," or SSPTS. The SSPTS allows the space shuttle to stay docked at the International Space Station longer by providing its power and preserving its consumables. Endeavour is scheduled for mission STS-118 in June. It will be the orbiter's first shuttle flight in nearly five years. The vehicle has undergone an extensive modification period, including the addition of all of the return-to-flight safety modifications added to both Discovery and Atlantis. The June mission will deliver another starboard solar array, S5, to the International Space Station.

The Orion Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) crew module is moved and mated with the service module at the Operations and Checkout (O&C) Building at Kennedy Space Center on June 9, 2014. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- On Launch Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the first half of the fairing is lifted into the mobile service tower for encapsulation around NASA's Dawn spacecraft. The fairing is a molded structure that fits flush with the outside surface of the Delta II upper stage booster and forms an aerodynamically smooth nose cone, protecting the spacecraft during launch and ascent. Dawn's goal is to characterize the conditions and processes of the solar system's earliest epoch 4.5 billion years ago by investigating in detail two of the largest asteroids, Ceres and Vesta. They reside between Mars and Jupiter in the asteroid belt. Launch is scheduled for July 8.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the vertical Kibo Experiment Logistics Module Exposed Section, or ELM-ES, is lowered onto the workstand. The ELM-ES is one of the final components of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory for the International Space Station. It can provide payload storage space and can carry up to three payloads at launch. The ELM-ES will be carried aboard space shuttle Endeavour on the STS-127 mission targeted for launch June 13.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians connect an overhead crane to the Permanent Multipurpose Module, or PMM, for its transfer into a payload canister.The canister will then be transported to Launch Pad 39A and installed into space shuttle Discovery's payload bay. Discovery and its STS-133 crew will deliver the PMM, packed with supplies and critical spare parts, as well as Robonaut 2, the dexterous humanoid astronaut helper, to the International Space Station. Launch is targeted for 4:40 p.m. EDT, Nov. 1.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Stage 2 is separated from stage 3 of an Orbital Sciences Corp. Pegasus rocket in processing facility 1555 at Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) in California to reinstall some RF cabling. The stages were remated after the installation was complete.The rocket is being prepared to launch NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) into space. After the rocket and spacecraft are processed at Vandenberg, they will be flown on the Orbital Sciences' L-1011 carrier aircraft to the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site at the Pacific Ocean's Kwajalein Atoll for launch, targeted for no earlier than March 14. The high-energy x-ray telescope will conduct a census for black holes, map radioactive material in young supernovae remnants, and study the origins of cosmic rays and the extreme physics around collapsed stars.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - At Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Fla., Boeing technicians attach the upper canister with the lower segments surrounding the Deep Impact spacecraft. Once the spacecraft is completely covered, it will be transferred to Launch Pad 17-B on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. Then, in the mobile service tower, the fairing will be installed around the spacecraft. The fairing is a molded structure that fits flush with the outside surface of the Delta II upper stage booster and forms an aerodynamically smooth joint, protecting the spacecraft during launch. Scheduled for liftoff Jan. 12, Deep Impact will probe beneath the surface of Comet Tempel 1 on July 4, 2005, when the comet is 83 million miles from Earth. After releasing a 3- by 3-foot projectile to crash onto the surface, Deep Impacts flyby spacecraft will reveal the secrets of its interior by collecting pictures and data of how the crater forms, measuring the craters depth and diameter as well

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Mission STS-120 Mission Specialists Douglas Wheelock (left) and Scott Parazynski familiarize themselves with equipment inside the Space Station Processing Facility during a visit to Kennedy Space Center. Other crew members include Commander Pam Melroy, Pilot George Zamka and Mission Specialists Stephanie Wilson, Paolo Nespoli (with the European Space Agency), Daniel Tani and Clayton Anderson. Mission STS-120 will deliver the Node 2 "Harmony" connecting module to the station. During the mission, Tani and Anderson will transfer to the station and remain as flight engineers for Expedition 15. The mission is tentatively scheduled for August of this year.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers secure the work stand holding the Kibo Experiment Logistics Module Exposed Section, or ELM-ES. The ELM-ES is one of the final components of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory for the International Space Station. It can provide payload storage space and can carry up to three payloads at launch. In addition, the ELM-ES provides a logistics function where it can be returned to the ground aboard the space shuttle. The ELM-ES will be carried aboard space shuttle Endeavour on the STS-127 mission targeted for launch May 15, 2009.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility, STS-117 Mission Specialist Steven Swanson looks under the protective wrapping at the S3/S4 starboard integrated truss segment that is part of the payload on the mission. He and other crew members are at KSC to take part in a Crew Equipment Interface Test that allows them opportunities to become familiar with equipment and hardware for their mission. STS-117 will deliver the S3/S4 and another pair of solar arrays to the space station. The 21st shuttle mission to the International Space Station, STS-117 is scheduled to launch no earlier than March 16.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- During a bench review in the Space Station Processing Facility, astronaut Koicki Wakata gets hands-on experience on hardware he will be using in orbit. Wakata, with the Japanese Aerospace and Exploration Agency, will join the Expedition 18 crew in 2008, flying on mission STS-126.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Orbital Sciences Corporation technicians at Vandenberg AFB in California maneuver the second fairing half into place around the Demonstration of Autonomous Rendezvous Technology (DART) spacecraft in preparation for launch. The fairing will encapsulate DART and protect it while on the launch pad and during ascent. DART was designed and built for NASA by Orbital Sciences as an advanced flight demonstrator to locate and maneuver near an orbiting satellite. The DART spacecraft weighs about 800 pounds and is nearly 6 feet long and 3 feet in diameter. From beneath the belly of the Orbital Sciences L-1011 aircraft, the Pegasus XL vehicle will launch DART into a circular polar orbit of approximately 475 miles. The DART satellite provides a key step in establishing autonomous rendezvous capabilities for the U.S. Space Program. While previous rendezvous and docking efforts have been piloted by astronauts, the unmanned DART satellite will have computers and cameras to

In the Space Station Processing Facility, the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo finally rests on the weight and balance scale. The Italian-built MPLM is one of three such pressurized modules that will 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. The cylindrical module is approximately 21 feet long and 15 feet in diameter, weighing almost 4.1 metric tons. It can carry up to 9.1 metric tons of cargo packed into 16 standard space station equipment racks. The Leonardo will be launched on mission STS-102 March 8. On that flight, Leonardo will be filled with equipment and supplies to outfit the U.S. laboratory module, to be carried to the ISS on the Feb. 7 launch of STS-98

Roman Coronagraph Fast Steering Mirror. An engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is shown here with the fast steering mirror, a component of the Coronagraph Instrument on NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. The mirror can make small movements that correct for slight wobbling of the observatory. The incoming image needs to be perfectly sharp in order for the instrument to suppress light from a star while allowing the light from planets orbiting it to pass through. Although the technologies differ, it's analogous to image stabilization in digital cameras, in which the camera lens moves to counteract the shake of your hands and keep the image sharp. https //photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25437

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians help remove the Alliant Techsystems, or ATK, launch abort motor from a truck after arrival at the Launch Abort System Facility. The test flight abort motor is for Exploration Flight Test 1, or EFT-1, of the agencys Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle. It is part of Orions Launch Abort System, which is designed to safely pull the Orion crew module away from the launch vehicle in the event of an emergency on the launch pad or during the initial ascent of NASAs Space Launch System, or SLS, rocket. The motor is configured with inert propellant. 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 flight is scheduled to launch in 2014 atop a Delta IV rocket. A second uncrewed flight test is scheduled for 201

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- At the Astrotech payload processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians configure the equipment for the fueling of the Glory spacecraft, seen in the background wrapped in a protective covering, with its attitude control propellant.The Orbital Sciences Corp. Taurus XL rocket will carry NASA's Glory spacecraft into low Earth orbit. 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. Launch is scheduled for 5:09 a.m. EST Feb. 23. For information, visit www.nasa.gov/glory.

CAPE CANAVERAL, FIa. -- Amid the crowded hardware of the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the flexible hose rotary coupler is moved across the floor for installation onto Lightweight Multi-Purpose Experiment Support Structure Carrier. The carrier will be installed in space shuttle Endeavour for the STS-126 mission to the International Space Station. The 15-day flight will deliver equipment and supplies to the space station in preparation for expansion from a three- to six-person resident crew aboard the complex. The mission also will include four spacewalks to service the stations Solar Alpha Rotary Joints.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, STS-134 crew members inspect the Express Logistics Carrier-3 with the carrier's technicians. The six-member 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.

The Materials International Space Station Experiment-Flight Facility, or MISSE-FF, hardware arrived at the Space Station Processing Facility low bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Technicians assist as a crane is used to lift MISSE out of its shipping container. MISSE will be used to test various materials and computing elements on the exterior of the space station. They will be exposed to the harsh environment of low-Earth orbit, including to a vacuum, atomic oxygen, ultraviolet radiation, direct sunlight and extreme heat and cold. The experiment will provide a better understanding of material durability, from coatings to electronic sensors, which could be applied to future spacecraft designs. MISSE will be delivered to the space station on a future commercial resupply mission.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - An Orbital Sciences spacecraft technician monitors the Pegasus payload fairing as it is rotated from around NASAs Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, in Orbitals hangar on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.Access to the spacecraft is needed for compatibility testing to verify communication with a tracking station in Hawaii. With the change in the launch timeframe to June, this station will be needed to support launch. After processing of Orbitals Pegasus XL rocket and the spacecraft are complete, they will be flown on Orbital's L-1011 carrier aircraft from Vandenberg to the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site on the Pacific Oceans Kwajalein Atoll for launch. The high-energy X-ray telescope will conduct a census of black holes, map radioactive material in young supernovae remnants, and study the origins of cosmic rays and the extreme physics around collapsed stars.

Technicians at the Airbus facility in Bremen, Germany weigh the European Service Module on Oct. 31, 2018 ahead of shipment to Kennedy Space Center. The service module will depart Germany on November 5th, 2018 and will arrive in the U.S. on November 6...For the first time, NASA will use a European-built system as a critical element to power an American spacecraft, extending the international cooperation of the International Space Station into deep space. The European Service Module is a unique collaboration across space agencies and industry including ESAs prime contractor, Airbus, and 10 European countries. The completion of service module work in Europe and shipment to Kennedy signifies a major milestone toward NASAs human deep space exploration missions to the Moon and beyond.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians watch closely as the pump module orbital replacement unit is lowered onto the Express Logistics Carrier 1, or ELC-1, for installation. The carrier is part of the STS-129 payload on space shuttle Atlantis, which will deliver to the International Space Station two spare gyroscopes, two nitrogen tank assemblies, two pump modules, an ammonia tank assembly and a spare latching end effector for the station's robotic arm. STS-129 is targeted to launch Nov. 12.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the Soft Capture Mechanism (SCM), part of the Soft Capture and Rendezvous System, or SCRS, moves above the floor toward the stand holding the Flight Support System, or FSS, carrier where the SCM will be mated to the FSS. The SCRS will enable the future rendezvous, capture and safe disposal of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope by either a crewed or robotic mission. The ring-like device attaches to Hubbles aft bulkhead. The SCRS greatly increases the current shuttle capture interfaces on Hubble, therefore significantly reducing the rendezvous and capture design complexities associated with the disposal mission. The FSS will join the Multi-Use Lightweight Equipment, or MULE, carrier, the Super Lightweight Interchangeable Carrier and the Orbital Replacement Unit Carrier as payload on space shuttle Atlantis's STS-125 mission. The payload is scheduled to go to Launch Pad 39A in mid-September to

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Lockheed Martin crews unpack the Orion ground test vehicle in the Operations and Checkout O&C Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The vehicle traveled more than 1,800 miles from the company's Waterton Facility near Denver where it successfully completed a series of rigorous tests that simulated launch and spaceflight environments. The ground test vehicle will be used for pathfinding operations in the O&C, including simulated manufacturing and assembly procedures. After those operations are completed, new backshell panels will be installed on the ground test vehicle at the O&C prior to the vehicles trek to NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia for splashdown testing at the agency's Hydro Impact Basin.Launching atop NASA's heavy-lift Space Launch System SLS, which also is under development, the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle MPCV will serve as the exploration vehicle that will carry astronaut crews beyond low Earth orbit. It also will pro

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Members of the Space Shuttle Discoverys Return to Flight STS-114 crew are conducting a payload Crew Equipment Interface Test (CEIT) in the Space Station Processing Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Seen here are Mission Specialists Stephen Robinson (left) and Andrew Thomas. The launch window for STS-114 is May 15 to June 3, 2005. During CEIT, the crew is inspecting the resupply stowage racks installed in the Italian-built Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Raffaello and performing tool and equipment interface checks with the Thermal Protection System (TPS) repair sample box, the Control Moment Gyroscope (CMG) and the External Stowage Platform-2 in preparation for the missions three scheduled spacewalks. The seven-member crew will fly to the International Space Station primarily to evaluate procedures for flight safety, including Shuttle inspection and repair techniques. The TPS repair sample box contains tile samples for the Detailed Test Objective (

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, an overhead crane lowers the ICS Exposed Facility, or ICS-EF, onto the Japanese Experiment Module's Experiment Logistics Module-Exposed Section, or ELM-ES, where it will be installed alongside two other payloads, the SEDA-AP (Space Environment Data Acquisition Equipment-Attached Payload) and MAXI (Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image). The ICS-EF is composed of several components, including an antenna, pointing mechanism, frequency converters, high-power amplifier and various sensors including the Earth sensor, Sun sensor and inertial reference unit. The ICS-EF is part of space shuttle Endeavour's payload on the STS-127 mission, targeted for launch on May 15.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers check the security of the door on the hatch to the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo after its closing. The module will carry science and storage racks on space shuttle Discovery's STS-128 mission to the International Space Station. Launch of Discovery is targeted for Aug. 18.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In a processing facility at Space Launch Complex-40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, a cargo container is installed inside a Dragon capsule. The Dragon is set to launch aboard a Falcon 9 rocket.The new rocket and capsule were designed and manufactured by Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX, for the companys upcoming demonstration test flight for NASAs Commercial Orbital Transportation Services, or COTS, program. Under COTS, NASA has partnered with two private companies to develop the capability to deliver cargo to the International Space Station. During the flight, SpaceX's Dragon capsule will conduct a series of checkout procedures that will test and prove its systems. These tests include rendezvous and berthing with the space station and are intended to lead to regular resupply missions to the station. Liftoff is targeted for April 30 at 12:22 p.m. EDT pending official approval at the Flight Readiness Review on April 16.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In Endeavour's payload bay in Orbiter Processing Facility bay 2, STS-118 Mission Specialist Barbara Morgan gets some details about the orbiter boom sensor system in front of her. She and other crew members are at KSC for crew equipment interface test activities. The STS-118 mission will be delivering the third starboard truss segment, the ITS S5, to the International Space Station, as well as the SPACEHAB single cargo module filled with supplies and equipment. Launch aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour is targeted for Aug. 9.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, a worker prepares the second and third stages of the Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL launch vehicle for mating. The Pegasus XL will launch the Demonstration of Autonomous Rendezvous Technology (DART) spacecraft. DART was designed and built for NASA by Orbital Sciences Corporation as an advanced flight demonstrator to locate and maneuver near an orbiting satellite. DART weighs about 800 pounds and is nearly 6 feet long and 3 feet in diameter. The Pegasus XL will launch DART into a circular polar orbit of approximately 475 miles. DART is designed to demonstrate technologies required for a spacecraft to locate and rendezvous, or maneuver close to, other craft in space. Results from the DART mission will aid in the development of NASAs Crew Exploration Vehicle and will also assist in vehicle development for crew transfer and crew rescue capability to and from the International Space Station.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, STS-127 crew members get a look at the extended antenna in the Inter Orbit Communication System Extended Facility, or ICS-EF, across from them. Standing next to a Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, technician at left are Mission Specialists Christopher Cassidy and Dave Wolf and Commander Mark Polansky (pointing). Equipment familiarization is part of a Crew Equipment Interface Test. The antenna and a pointing mechanism will be used to communicate with JAXAs Data Relay Test Satellite, or DRTS. The ICS-EF will be launched, along with the Extended Facility and Experiment Logistics Module-Exposed Section, to the International Space Station aboard the space shuttle Endeavour on the STS-127 mission targeted for launch on May 15, 2009.

Technicians with Orbital ATK prepare the micro satellites for installation on the deployment module for NASAs Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) in Building 1555 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. CYGNSS is being prepared at Vandenberg, and then will be transported to NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard the Orbital ATK Pegasus XL rocket which will be attached to the Orbital ATK L-1011 carrier aircraft. CYGNSS will launch on the Pegasus XL rocket from the Skid Strip at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. CYGNSS will make frequent and accurate measurements of ocean surface winds throughout the life cycle of tropical storms and hurricanes. The data that CYGNSS provides will enable scientists to probe key air-sea interaction processes that take place near the core of storms, which are rapidly changing and play a critical role in the beginning and intensification of hurricanes.

The Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) is lowered onto a work stand inside Building 836 at Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) in California on Aug. 25, 2022. LOFTID is the secondary payload on NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations (NOAA) Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2) satellite mission. JPSS-2 is the third satellite in the Joint Polar Satellite System series. It is scheduled to lift off from VSFB on Nov. 1 from Space Launch Complex-3. JPSS-2, which will be renamed NOAA-21 after reaching orbit, will join a constellation of JPSS satellites that orbit from the North to the South pole, circling Earth 14 times a day and providing a full view of the entire globe twice daily. The NOAA/NASA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite, and NOAA-20, previously known as JPSS-1, are both already in orbit. Each satellite carries at least four advanced instruments to measure weather and climate conditions on Earth.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside Orbiter Processing Facility-2 at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians monitor the progress as a special crane lifts one of the three fuel cells away from space shuttle Atlantis payload bay.The fuel cells will be drained of all fluids. The hydrogen and oxygen dewars which feed reactants to the fuel cells remain in Atlantis mid-body and will be purged with inert gases and vented down. The work is part of the Space Shuttle Programs transition and retirement processing of shuttle Atlantis. The orbiter is being prepared for display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

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