Space Launch Vehicles and Platforms

Images of rockets and space shuttles on launch pads, showcasing prominent space vehicles and their mobile platforms at Kennedy Space Center, with clear blue skies and impressive infrastructure.

NASA's Ares I-X rocket is seen on a launch pad, Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA

NASA's Ares I-X rocket is seen on a launch pad, Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Space Shuttle Discovery, atop a Mobile Launcher Platform (MLP), crawls toward Launch Complex 39B. First motion out of the Vehicle Assembly Building occurred at 2 04 p.m. EDT. The rollout marks a major milestone in the Space Shuttle Programs Return to Flight. The MLP is moved by the Crawler-Transporter underneath, which stands 20 feet high, 131 feet long and 114 feet wide. It moves on eight tracks, each containing 57 shoes, or cleats, weighing one ton each. Loaded with the Space Shuttle, the Crawler can move at a maximum speed of approximately 1 mile an hour. A leveling system in the Crawler keeps the Shuttle vertical while negotiating the 5 percent grade leading to the top of the launch pad. Launch of Discovery on its Return to Flight mission, STS-114, is targeted for May 15 with a launch window that extends to June 3. During its 12-day mission, Discoverys seven-person crew will test new hardware and techniques to improve Shuttle safety, as well as deliver

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Space Shuttle Discovery makes its way up the 5 percent grade to the hardstand of Launch Pad 39B. First motion for the 4.2-mile journey was at 1 58 a.m. EDT. The Space Shuttle rests on a Mobile Launcher Platform that sits atop a Crawler-Transporter. This is the second rollout of Discovery. The orbiter was returned to the Vehicle Assembly Building for connection to an improved External Tank. Launch of Discovery on its Return to Flight mission STS-114 is targeted for a launch window extending from July 13 to July 31.

S69-51299 (8 Sept. 1969) --- Ground-level view at Launch Complex 39, Kennedy Space Center (KSC), showing the Apollo 12 (Spacecraft 108/ Lunar Module 6/ Saturn 507) space vehicle on the way from the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) to Pad A. The Saturn V stack and its mobile launch tower are atop a huge crawler-transporter. The Launch Complex 39 service structure is on the right. Apollo 12 is scheduled as the second lunar landing mission. The crew will be astronauts Charles Conrad Jr., commander; Richard F. Gordon Jr., command module pilot; and Alan L. Bean, lunar module pilot.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Endeavour atop its mobile launcher platform leave Launch Pad 39B behind as it rolls around to Launch Pad 39A. First motion was at 8:28 a.m. EDT. Endeavour is targeted to launch Nov. 14 on the STS-126 mission. On this 27th mission to the International Space Station, Endeavour will carry the Lightweight Multi-Purpose Experiment Support Structure Carrier and the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo that will hold supplies and equipment, including additional crew quarters, additional exercise equipment, spare hardware and equipment for the regenerative life support system.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Space shuttle Atlantis is illuminated by the sun as it rises through the clouds over NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The shuttle is on its 3.4-mile trip, known as rollout, from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39A. First motion was at 6:38 a.m. EDT Oct. 14. Rollout is expected to take about six hours.Liftoff of Atlantis on its STS-129 mission to the International Space Station is targeted for Nov. 12.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - With the Rotating Service Structure in place on Launch Pad 39B, all that is visible on Space Shuttle Atlantis is the orange external tank flanked by white solid rocket boosters. The Shuttle is undergoing pre-launch preparations for mission STS-112, scheduled to launch Oct. 2, 2002. The sky above the Shuttle is filled with dark clouds sweeping over Florida from Hurricane Isidore.

DN-ST-87-09496. Base: Cape Canaveral State: Florida (FL) Country: United States Of America (USA)

An Atlas-F launch vehicle lifts off carrying the Navy Orbiting Survival Satellite. No. 2 of 3 views. Base: Vandenberg Air Force Base State: California (CA) Country: United States Of America (USA)

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- Atop the crawler/transporter, the Space Shuttle orbiter Atlantis rolls out to Launch Complex 39A in preparation for mission STS-86, which is targeted for a September launch. STS-86 will be the seventh of nine planned dockings of the Space Shuttle orbiter with the Russian Space Station Mir

STS-130 ENDEAVOUR ROLLOUT - INCLUDES HARDDOWN

Low angle view of a rocket at a space center, Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, USA

A Lockheed Martin Atlas IIA launch vehicle (AC-146) is poised for launch at complex 46A. The rocket, carrying a GE-3 communications satellite, is scheduled for liftoff on 4 September 1997. Base: Cape Canaveral State: Florida (FL) Country: United States Of America (USA)

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Bathed in light, Space Shuttle Endeavour sits on the pad prior to launch on mission STS-113 to the International Space Station. Photo by Scott Andrews

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Viewed from the top of the rotating service structure, Space Shuttle Discovery rests on the mobile launcher platform and towers over the landscape after rollout to Launch Pad 39B. In the background are portions of the Banana River and the Atlantic Ocean. The lighter spots on the top of the external tank are areas of hail damage that was recently repaired. The Shuttle had to be returned to the VAB for the repairs, making this the second rollout for the Shuttle. Discovery is scheduled for liftoff May 27 at 6:48 a.m. EDT on mission STS-96, the 94th launch in the Space Shuttle Program. A logistics and resupply mission for the International Space Station, STS-96 is carrying such payloads as a Russian crane, the Strela; a U.S.-built crane; the Spacehab Oceaneering Space System Box (SHOSS), a logistics items carrier; and STARSHINE, a student-shared experiment

John F. Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA, North America

Space shuttle Atlantis sits on the top of a launch pad, Florida, USA

The Soyuz TMA-04M spacecraft is seen after being rolled out by train to the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Sunday, May 13, 2012. The launch of the Soyuz spacecraft with Expedition 31 Soyuz Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Sergei Revin of Russia, and prime NASA Flight Engineer Joe Acaba is scheduled for 9:01 a.m. local time on Tuesday, May 15.

A National Reconnaissance Office satellite awaits its trip into orbit atop a Lockheed Martin Atlas II launch vehicle (AC-109) at launch complex 36A. Base: Cape Canaveral State: Florida (FL) Country: United States Of America (USA)

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Viewed from outside the Vehicle Assembly Building, the stack of external tank and solid rocket boosters on Columbia can be seen sitting atop the Mobile Launcher Platform. The Shuttle never left the VAB due to a steering problem on the crawler-transporter under the MLP. The problem was a faulty bearing in the steering linkage of Power Truck Drive D, which was detected before the C-T left the VAB. Rollout has been rescheduled for Jan. 24

A rocket ride in an amusement park

USA, Florida, Titusville, Kennedy Space Center rocket garden, NASA.

S93-29846 (2 Feb 1993) --- The orbiter Columbia is rolled out of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). Having completed its assembly with the external tank and solid rocket boosters, the Space Shuttle will be rolled out to Launch Pad 39A, where it is targeted for liftoff on Space Shuttle Mission STS-55 in late February.

Space shuttle Atlantis sits ready on its launch pad at Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

The Soyuz rocket with MS-13 spacecraft onboard is seen on the launch pad after the service structure arms were lowered before launch, Saturday, July 20, 2019 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Expedition 60 Soyuz Commander Alexander Skvortsov of Roscosmos, flight engineer Andrew Morgan of NASA, and flight engineer Luca Parmitano of ESA (European Space Agency) launched at 12:28 p.m. Eastern time (9:28 p.m. Baikonur time) to begin their mission to the International Space Station.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Atlantis approaches Launch Pad 39A, at left, on its 3.4-mile trek from the Vehicle Assembly Building. First motion was at 6:38 a.m. EDT Oct. 14. The move, known as rollout, is expected to take about six hours.Liftoff of Atlantis on its STS-129 mission to the International Space Station is targeted for Nov. 12.

DN-ST-87-06502. Base: Cape Canaveral State: Florida (FL) Country: United States Of America (USA)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Space shuttle Atlantis rolls away from the rotating and fixed service structures (right) on Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. First motion was at 6:48 a.m. EDT. Atlantis sits on the mobile launcher platform, which in turn rests on the crawler-transporter, traveling less than 1 mph. Atlantis is rolling back to the Vehicle Assembly Building to await launch on its STS-125 mission to repair NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Atlantis' targeted launch on Oct. 14 was delayed when a system that transfers science data from the orbiting observatory to Earth malfunctioned on Sept. 27. The new target launch date is under review. The space shuttle is mounted on a Mobile Launcher Platform and will be delivered to the Vehicle Assembly Building atop a crawler transporter. traveling slower than 1 mph during the 3.4-mile journey. The rollback is expected to take approximately six hours.

Space Shuttle Endeavour is in place to launch, Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space shuttle Endeavour stands ready for processing beside the rotating and fixed service structures on Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Riding atop a crawler-transporter attached to its external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters, Endeavour's 3.4-mile trek, known as "rollout," began at the Vehicle Assembly Building at 7:56 p.m. EST March 10 and ended at 3:49 a.m. EST, nearly eight hours later. This is Endeavour's final scheduled rollout. Endeavour and its six-member crew will deliver the Express Logistics Carrier-3, Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2 (AMS), a high-pressure gas tank, additional spare parts for the Dextre robotic helper and micrometeoroid debris shields to the International Space Station on the shuttle's final spaceflight, STS-134. Launch is targeted for 7:48 p.m. EDT April 19.

The Soyuz TMA-4 capsule and its booster rocket are raised into position at the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Saturday, April 17, 2004, in Baikonur, Kazakhstan in preparation for the launch of the Expedition 9 crew and a European researcher to the International Space Station on April 19. The Soyuz vehicle is transported to the launch pad horizontally on a railcar from its processing hangar in a process that takes about 2.5 hours to complete.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Sitting on top of the mobile launcher platform, space shuttle Discovery straddles the flame trench, which channels the flames and smoke exhaust of the shuttle's solid rocket boosters away from the space shuttle during liftoff, on Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Traveling from the Vehicle Assembly Building, the shuttle took nearly 12 hours on the journey as technicians stopped several times to clear mud from the crawler's treads and bearings caused by the waterlogged crawlerway. First motion out of the VAB was at 2:07 a.m. EDT Aug. 4. Rollout was delayed approximately 2 hours due to lightning in the area. Discovery was secured, or "hard down" to Launch Pad 39A at 1:50 p.m. EDT. "Hard down" means that the mobile launcher platform, or MLP, is sitting on the pedestals on the pad, and the crawler has been jacked down, thus transferring the weight of the MLP from the crawler to the pad pedestals. Discovery's 13-day flight will deliver a new

NASAs Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen atop a mobile launcher at Launch Complex 39B, Thursday, April 21, 2022, at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The Soyuz rocket is rolled out to the launch pad Tuesday, March 24, 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.

Soviet booster rocket Vostok in VDNKh (Exhibition of Achievements of the USSR National Economy), Moscow, Russia

STS-132 DISCOVERY ON PAD 39A BEFORE RSS ROTATION

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Space Shuttle Columbia sits atop its Mobile Launcher Platform in the open doorway of the Vehicle Assembly Building. The Shuttle never left the VAB due to a steering problem on the crawler-transporter under the MLP. The problem was a faulty bearing in the steering linkage of Power Truck Drive D, which was detected before the C-T left the VAB. Rollout has been rescheduled for Jan. 24

The Soyuz TMA-09M spacecraft is seen after arriving at the Baikonur Cosmodrome launch pad by train, Sunday, May 26, 2013, in Kazakhstan. The launch of the Soyuz rocket to the International Space Station (ISS) with Expedition 36/37 Soyuz Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), Flight Engineers; Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency, and Karen Nyberg of NASA, is scheduled for Wednesday May 29, Kazakh time. Yurchikhin, Nyberg, and, Parmitano, will remain aboard the station until mid-November.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Discovery slowly is lifted off the ground inside the mate-demate device in preparation for the arrival of the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. The device, known as the MDD, is a large gantry-like steel structure used to hoist a shuttle off the ground and position it onto the back of the aircraft, or SCA. The SCA is a Boeing 747 jet, originally manufactured for commercial use, which was modified by NASA to transport the shuttles between destinations on Earth. The SCA designated NASA 905 is assigned to the remaining ferry missions, delivering the shuttles to their permanent public display sites. NASA 905 is scheduled to ferry Discovery to the Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia on April 17, after which the shuttle will be placed on display in the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.

The Rocket Garden at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Cape Canaveral, Florida.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center, tread marks from the shoes on the crawler-transporter are visible along the crawlerway leading up to the hardstand on Launch Pad 39A. Space shuttle Discovery, secured atop the mobile launch platform below, has just arrived for final prelaunch processing for the STS-124 mission. The 3.4-mile journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building began at 11:47 p.m. on May 2. The shuttle arrived at the launch pad at 4:25 a.m. EDT May 3 and was secured, or hard down, by 6:06 a.m. On the 13-day mission, Discovery and its crew will deliver the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Japanese Experiment Module - Pressurized Module and the Japanese Remote Manipulator System. Launch is targeted for May 31.

STS-131 DISCOVERY AT PAD 39A AFTER ROLLOUT - HARDDOWN

STS-131 DISCOVERY AT PAD 39A AFTER ROLLOUT - HARDDOWN

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - At left, the edge of the crawler-transporter is seen rolling away from Launch Pad 39A after delivering Space Shuttle Endeavour, in the background. Rollout of the shuttle began at 8:10 p.m. July 10 and concluded at 3:02 a.m. July 11. To the left of the shuttle is the rotating service structure, which can be rolled around to enclose the vehicle for access during processing. Behind it is the fixed service structure, topped by an 80-foot-tall lightning mast. Extending from it to Endeavour is the orbiter access arm, which provides access into the vehicle. Endeavour is scheduled to launch on mission STS-118 on Aug. 7. During the mission, Endeavour will carry into orbit the S5 truss, SPACEHAB module and external stowage platform 3. The mission is the 22nd flight to the International Space Station and will mark the first flight of Mission Specialist Barbara Morgan, the teacher-turned-astronaut whose association with NASA began more than 20 years ago. STS-11

The gantry arms begin to close around the Soyuz TMA-12M spacecraft to secure the rocket, as seen in this long exposure photograph, at the launch pad on Sunday, March 23, 2014, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Launch of the Soyuz rocket is scheduled for March 26 and will send Expedition 39 Soyuz Commander Alexander Skvortsov of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, Flight Engineer Steven Swanson of NASA, and Flight Engineer Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos on a six-month mission aboard the International Space Station.

DN-ST-88-04104. Base: Cape Canaveral State: Florida (FL) Country: United States Of America (USA)

STS-132 ATLANTIS ROLLOUT FROM VAB TO PAD 39A

Last Flight of the Shuttle Columbia

STS-26 Discovery, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 103, mated with the external tank (ET) and solid rocket boosters (SRBs), is framed by Kennedy Space Center's (KSC's) vehicle assembly building (VAB) doorway as it rolled out. This high angle view shows OV-103 atop the mobile launch pad and crawler transporter as it begins its slow exit from VAB en route to launch complex (LC) pad 39B. The move began shortly after midnight on the nation's 212th birthday. Ceremonies marking the event were held later during daylight hours.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Daylight streams through the open doors of NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building as Space Shuttle Discovery begins its slow 4.2-mile journey via the crawlerway to Launch Pad 39B. The shuttle rests on a mobile launcher platform that sits atop a crawler-transporter. First motion was at 12:45 p.m. EDT. The rollout is an important step before launch of Discovery on mission STS-121 to the International Space Station. Discovery's launch is targeted for July 1 in a launch window that extends to July 19. During the 12-day mission, Discovery's crew will test new hardware and techniques to improve shuttle safety, as well as deliver supplies and make repairs to the station.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -Sitting on top of the mobile launcher platform and propelled by the crawler-transporter, space shuttle Discovery rolls up Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida after a nearly 12-hour journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building. First motion out of the VAB was at 2:07 a.m. EDT Aug. 4. Rollout was delayed approximately 2 hours due to lightning in the area. The rollout was slower than usual as technicians stopped several times to clear mud from the crawler's treads and bearings caused by the waterlogged crawlerway. Discovery's 13-day flight will deliver a new crew member and 33,000 pounds of equipment to the International Space Station. The equipment includes science and storage racks, a freezer to store research samples, a new sleeping compartment and the COLBERT treadmill. Launch of Discovery on its STS-128 mission is targeted for late August.

The Soyuz rocket is erected into position after being rolled out to the launch pad by train on Tuesday, March 26, 2013, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Launch of the Soyuz rocket is scheduled for March 29 and will send Expedition 35 Soyuz Commander Pavel Vinogradov, and Flight Engineers Chris Cassidy of NASA and Alexander Misurkin of Russia on a five and a half-month mission aboard the International Space Station.

Rocket Space Ship. Military missile flying high in blue sky

An Atlas-F launch vehicle lifts off carrying the Navy Orbiting Survival Satellite. No. 1 of 4 views. Base: Vandenberg Air Force Base State: California (CA) Country: United States Of America (USA)

Rocket Space Ship. Military missile flying high in blue sky

Cape Canaveral, Florida, September 20, 2008 - With a rainbow serving as a backdrop in the sky, space shuttle Atlantis (foreground) sits on Launch Pad A and Endeavour on Launch Pad B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. At the left of each shuttle are the open rotating service structures with the payload changeout rooms revealed. The rotating service structures provide protection for weather and access to the shuttle.

Space rockets displayed at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

The Soyuz TMA-09M spacecraft is seen after arriving at the Baikonur Cosmodrome launch pad by train, Sunday, May 26, 2013, in Kazakhstan. The launch of the Soyuz rocket to the International Space Station (ISS) with Expedition 36/37 Soyuz Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), Flight Engineers; Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency, and Karen Nyberg of NASA, is scheduled for Wednesday May 29, Kazakh time. Yurchikhin, Nyberg, and, Parmitano, will remain aboard the station until mid-November.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Space Shuttle Atlantis, secured atop a mobile launch platform, rounds a curve on the crawlerway in Launch Complex 39 on its way to Pad A. The crawler transporter has a top speed of one mile per hour while it is moving the space shuttle. First motion out of the Vehicle Assembly Building was at 4:43 a.m. EST. Rollout is a milestone for Atlantis' launch to the International Space Station on mission STS-122, targeted for Dec. 6. On this mission, Atlantis will deliver the Columbus module to the International Space Station. The European Space Agency's largest contribution to the station, Columbus is a multifunctional, pressurized laboratory that will be permanently attached to U.S. Node 2, called Harmony. The module is approximately 23 feet long and 15 feet wide, allowing it to hold 10 large racks of experiments. The laboratory will expand the research facilities aboard the station, providing crew members and scientists from around the world the ability to cond

Sunset Glows Behind Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-1)

NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the mobile launcher platform, Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- Reflecting the early morning sun, Space Shuttle Discovery approaches the fixed service structure on Launch Pad 39A. In the foreground can be seen the stones that are the surface of the crawlerway and the tracks left by the crawler-transporter as it moves the Space Shuttle to its destination. Discovery is scheduled to launch Oct. 5 at 9:30 p.m. EDT on mission STS-92. Making the 100th Space Shuttle mission launched from Kennedy Space Center, Discovery will carry two pieces of hardware for the International Space Station, the Z1 truss, which is the cornerstone truss of the Station, and the third Pressurized Mating Adapter. Discovery also will be making its 28th flight into space, more than any of the other orbiters to date

Rocket Space Ship. Military missile flying high in blue sky

S86-41692 (October 1982) --- Space shuttle orbiter Columbia on pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) where it is being prepared for launch on Nov. 11.

Night scene of an Atlas "F" missile, a standard launch vehicle, as it lifts off the launch pad. Base: Vandenberg Air Force Base State: California (CA) Country: United States Of America (USA)

Launch Pad 39-B Discovery Carrying TD HS-S from Kennedy Space Center Florida USA

After successfully arriving at Kennedy Space Centers Launch Complex 39B, Exploration Ground Systems mobile launcher is photographed at the pad surface on June 28, 2019. The mobile launcher began its final solo trek to the pad at midnight on June 27, departing from NASAs Vehicle Assembly Building. The mobile launcher will remain at the pad over the summer, undergoing final testing and checkouts. Its next roll to the pad will be with the agencys Space Launch System rocket and Orion in preparation for the launch of Artemis 1.

Rocket Garden im Kennedy Space Center, Florida Rocket Garden in Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA. Rocket Garden im Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA. Copyright: xZoonar.com/UlfxNammertx 21609989

Space Shuttle Atlantis

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - On Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the GOES-O and Delta IV second stage roll out of the Horizontal Integration Facility aboard a transporter. They are being moved to the launch pad. GOES-O is one of a series of Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites. The multi-mission GOES series N-P will be a vital contributor to weather, solar and space operations and science. NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, are actively engaged in a cooperative program to expand the existing GOES system with the launch of the GOES N-P satellites. Launch of the GOES-O is targeted for no earlier than April 2009.

With a sunrise serving as the backdrop, Exploration Ground Systems mobile launcher makes its last solo trek to Kennedy Space Centers Launch Complex 39B in Florida on June 27, 2019. It will remain there for the summer, undergoing final testing and checkouts. The mobile launcher departed from the Vehicle Assembly Building at midnight on June 27 for the 10-hour journey to the pad. Its next roll to the pad will be with the agencys Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft in preparation for the launch of Artemis 1.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- STS-53 Discovery

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -Sitting on top of the mobile launcher platform, space shuttle Discovery arrives on Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Traveling from the Vehicle Assembly Building, the journey took nearly 12 hours as technicians stopped several times to clear mud from the crawler's treads and bearings caused by the waterlogged crawlerway. First motion out of the VAB was at 2:07 a.m. EDT Aug. 4. Rollout was delayed approximately 2 hours due to lightning in the area. Discovery's 13-day flight will deliver a new crew member and 33,000 pounds of equipment to the International Space Station. The equipment includes science and storage racks, a freezer to store research samples, a new sleeping compartment and the COLBERT treadmill. Launch of Discovery on its STS-128 mission is targeted for late August.

Space Shuttle Discovery, Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA

DN-ST-88-04109. Base: Cape Canaveral State: Florida (FL) Country: United States Of America (USA)

The Soyuz rocket is rolled out by train to the launch pad at Site 31, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2020, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Expedition 64 Russian cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of Roscosmos, and NASA astronaut Kate Rubins are scheduled to launch aboard their Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft on Oct. 14 to start a six-month mission onboard the International Space Station.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Space Shuttle Atlantis is reflected in the water near Launch Pad 39B. The rotating service structure has been rolled away in anticipation of the rollback of the shuttle and mobile launcher platform to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), approximately 4 miles away. Despite the clear blue skies, the rollback is a safety precaution as the area waits for the arrival of Tropical Storm Ernesto. The storm is forecast to be bringing 58-mph to 70-mph winds in the next 24 hours. The shuttle will be moved into high bay 2, on the southwest side of the VAB, for protection from the storm.

Challenger

Rocket Space Ship. Military missile flying high in blue sky

Space Shuttle Atlantis

ML Arrives at Pad 39B

An Air Force Titan IV/NUS K-2 sits poised on complex 40 at Cape Canaveral. Base: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station State: Florida (FL) Country: United States Of America (USA)

Space Shuttle lifting off from Kennedy Space Center.

Rocket Space Ship. Military missile flying high in blue sky

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- STS-62: Columbia

This is a view of the the first test flight of the Saturn V vehicle (SA-501) at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) launch complex 39A. The thrust chambers of the first stage's five engines extend into the 45-foot-square hole in the mobile launcher platform. Until liftoff, the flames impinged downward onto a flame deflector that diverted the blast lengthwise in the flame trench. Here, a flame deflector, coated with a black ceramic, is in place below the opening, while a yellow (uncoated) spare deflector rests on its track in the background. It took a tremendous flow of water (28,000 gallons per minute) to cool the flame deflector and trench. The Apollo 4 was launched on November 9, 1967 from KSC.

Two Shuttles Waiting

DN-ST-87-09903. Base: Cape Canaveral State: Florida (FL) Country: United States Of America (USA)

USA, Florida, Titusville, Kennedy Space Center rocket garden, NASA.

DN-ST-89-01707. Country: Unknown

Model rocket Vostok isolated on a white background VDNH Moscow Russia.. Model rocket Vostok isolated on a white background VDNH Moscow Russia

A preserved German Air Force F-104G Starfighter.

Space Shuttle Endeavour poised to launch on Space Transportation System 130 with the Rotating Service Structure rolled back and sign with evacuation instructions in foreground sitting on Pad 39A at Launch Complex 39, NASA Kennedy Space Center, Merritt Island, Florida, USA

USA, Florida, Titusville, Kennedy Space Center, Apollo/Saturn V center, NASA, Saturn V.

Tourists at a rocket garden, Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA

Aerials - STS-133 Discovery on Pad 39A, LEED Bldg., VAB

Rocket Space Ship. Military missile flying high in blue sky

The MA-7 Booster ignites on the pad and is seconds away from actual liftoff. Aboard the spacecraft is Astronaut M. Scott Carpenter, the U.S. second man to orbit the Earth. CAPE CANAVERAL, FL CN

of 3