Space Shuttle Launches

Dramatic views of various Space Shuttle launches against blue and twilight skies, showcasing powerful liftoffs with trails of smoke.

Launch of Space Shuttle Discovery on STS-121

STS047-S-040 (12 Sept 1992) --- A 35mm camera was used to record this distant, low-angle view of the STS-47 launch. With a crew of six NASA astronauts and a Japanese payload specialist onboard, the Space Shuttle Endeavour was heading for its second trip into space. This mission is devoted to support of the Spacelab-J mission, a joint effort between Japan and the United States. Launch occurred at 10 23 00 0680 a.m. (EDT), September 12, 1992. Onboard were astronauts Robert L. Gibson, mission commander; Curtis L. Brown Jr., pilot; Mark C. Lee, payload commander; and Jerome (Jay) Apt, Mae C. Jemison and N. Jan Davis, mission specialists; along with payload specialist Mamoru Mohri, representing the National Space Development Agency (NASDA) of Japan.

Space Shuttle Atlantis surpasses the full moon for beauty as it roars into the early evening sky trailing a tail of smoke. The upper portion catches the suns rays as it climbs above the horizon and a flock of birds soars above the moon. Liftoff occurred at 6 13 02 p.m. EST. Along with a crew of five, Atlantis is carrying the U.S. Laboratory Destiny, a key module in the growth of the Space Station. Destiny will be attached to the Unity node on the Space Station using the Shuttles robotic arm. Three spacewalks are required to complete the planned construction work during the 11-day mission. This mission marks the seventh Shuttle flight to the Space Station, the 23rd flight of Atlantis and the 102nd flight overall in NASAs Space Shuttle program. The planned landing is at KSC Feb. 18 about 1 00 p.m. EST

STS049-S-251 (7 May 1992) --- The Space Shuttle Endeavour soars toward Earth orbit where a crew of seven NASA astronauts will spend at least a week. Endeavour, the newest orbiter in NASA's Space Shuttle fleet, lifted off from Pad 39B at 7 40 p.m. (EDT), May 7, 1992. A diamond shock effect can be seen beneath the three main engines. Onboard are astronauts Daniel C. Brandenstein, mission commander; Kevin P. Chilton, pilot; and Richard J. Hieb, Bruce E. Melnick, Pierre J. Thuot, Kathryn C. Thornton and Thomas D. Akers, all mission specialists.

An unarmed Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile is successfully launched at 5:17 am PDT. This is the first of two launches to be seen from the air. An unarmed Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile is successfully launched at 5:17 am PDT. This is the first of two launches to be seen from the air.

01/14/2014. Takeoff and Explosion of the Challenger Sts-51l 01/28/1986 Archdc.

Saturn V Model in Flames

Launch of Space Shuttle Discovery on STS-121

Saturn 5 rocket during launch, illustration

The Soyuz TMA-04M rocket launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Tuesday, May 15, 2012 carrying Expedition 31 Soyuz Commander Gennady Padalka, NASA Flight Engineer Joseph Acaba and Flight Engineer Sergei Revin to the International Space Station.

A Standard-ER/SM-2 (RIM-67) surface-to-air missile is successfully launched from the vertical launching system (VLS) during testing. Base: White Sands Missile Test Range State: New Mexico (NM) Country: United States Of America (USA)

The Soyuz MS-07 rocket is launched with Expedition 54 Soyuz Commander Anton Shkaplerov of Roscosmos, flight engineer Scott Tingle of NASA, and flight engineer Norishige Kanai of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Sunday, Dec. 17, 2017 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Shkaplerov, Tingle, and Kanai will spend the next five months living and working aboard the International Space Station.

Liftoff of the New Horizons Atlas Rocket

S70-34855 (11 April 1970) --- The Apollo 13 (Spacecraft 109/Lunar Module 7/Saturn 508) space vehicle is launched from Pad A, Launch Complex 39, Kennedy Space Center (KSC), at 2 13 p.m. (EST), April 11, 1970. The crew of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's

S84-28205 (3 Feb. 1984) --- Reflected in nearby water, NASA's space shuttle Challenger, attached to two solid rocket boosters and an external fuel tank which it will later jettison, blasts off from Pad A at Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39, at 8 00 a.m. (EST), Feb. 3, 1984. The photograph was taken by Otis Imboden.

Vintage Photograph. COLUMBIA LAUNCH STS.3 KENNEDY SPACE CENTER. Rocket launch soaring into the sky with a trail of smoke.

A Trident II D-5 intercontinental ballistic missile lifts off from the water after being launched from the submerged nuclear-powered strategic missile submarine USS TENNESSEE (SSBN-734). This is the fourth submerged launch of the Trident II test series. First view in a series of four. Base: Cape Canaveral State: Florida (FL) Country: United States Of America (USA)

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. Into a blue, cloud-scattered sky, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft lifts off on time at 2 p.m. EST aboard an Atlas V rocket from Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. This was the third launch attempt in as many days after scrubs due to weather concerns. The compact, 1,050-pound piano-sized probe will get a boost from a kick-stage solid propellant motor for its journey to Pluto. New Horizons will be the fastest spacecraft ever launched, reaching lunar orbit distance in just nine hours and passing Jupiter 13 months later. The New Horizons science payload, developed under direction of Southwest Research Institute, includes imaging infrared and ultraviolet spectrometers, a multi-color camera, a long-range telescopic camera, two particle spectrometers, a space-dust detector and a radio science experiment. The dust counter was designed and built by students at the University of Colorado, Boulder. The launch at this time allows New Horizon

Like a rising sun lighting up the afternoon sky, the Space Shuttle Columbia soars from Launch Pad 39B at 2:46:00 p.m. EST, November 19, on the fourth flight of the United States Microgravity Payload and Spartan-201 satellite. The crew members include Mission Commander Kevin Kregel.; Pilot Steven Lindsey; Mission Specialists Kalpana Chawla, Ph.D., Winston Scott, and Takao Doi, Ph.D., of the National Space Development Agency of Japan; and Payload Specialist Leonid Kadenyuk of the National Space Agency of Ukraine. During the 16-day STS-87 mission, the crew will oversee experiments in microgravity; deploy and retrieve a solar satellite; and test a new experimental camera, the AERCam Sprint. Dr. Doi and Scott also will perform a spacewalk to practice International Space Station maneuvers

The Space Shuttle Challenger lifts off from the Complex 39A launch pad. Base: Kennedy Space Center State: Florida (FL) Country: United States Of America (USA)

November 29, 1961 - View of the liftoff of Mercury-Atlas 5 from Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The rocket is carrying space chimpanzee Eno.

51D-9092 (12 April 1985) --- The Space Shuttle Discovery ascends the launch complex in Florida and heads through Atlantic skies toward its 51-D mission. The seven member crew lifted off at 8 59 a.m. (EST), April 12, 1985. This picture was made with a 35mm camera.

STS-50 Columbia, OV-102, soars into the sky after KSC liftoff.

Rocket Launch, 5/20/78: Pioneer Venus-A. Mission: To Orbit Venus And Monitor Atmosphere.

STS114-S-015 (26 July 2005) --- Discovery and its seven-member crew launched at 10:39 a.m. EDT to begin the two-day journey to the International Space Station. Discovery is slated to dock with the ISS at 7:18 a.m. EDT Thursday.

USA, Florida, Cape Canaveral, low angle view of a rocket taking off from a launch pad, Mercury-Atlas 5, November 29, 1961

01/14/2014. Takeoff and Explosion of the Challenger Sts-51l 01/28/1986 Archdc.

The Soyuz TMA-04M rocket launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Tuesday, May 15, 2012 carrying Expedition 31 Soyuz Commander Gennady Padalka, NASA Flight Engineer Joseph Acaba and Flight Engineer Sergei Revin to the International Space Station.

nuclear rocket test 3d illustration of a nuclear rocket test Copyright: xZoonar.com/magannx 11244684

From the roof of the Launch Control Center, U.S. President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton track the plume and successful launch of Space Shuttle Discovery on mission STS-95. This was the first launch of a Space Shuttle to be viewed by President Clinton, or any President to date. They attended the launch to witness the return to space of American legend John H. Glenn Jr., payload specialist on the mission

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The Delta II rocket carrying the STEREO spacecraft on top streaks through the smoke as it climbs to orbit. Liftoff from Launch Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station was at 8:52 p.m. EDT. STEREO (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory) is a two-year mission using two nearly identical observatories, one ahead of Earth in its orbit and the other trailing behind. The duo will provide 3-D measurements of the sun and its flow of energy, enabling scientists to study the nature of coronal mass ejections and why they happen. The ejections are a major source of the magnetic disruptions on Earth and are a key component of space weather. The disruptions can greatly effect satellite operations, communications, power systems, humans in space and global climate. Designed and built by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) , the STEREO mission is being managed by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. APL will maintain command and control o

A rocket glider launches from Jean Dry Lake, during Springfest 2006. This rocket is meant to glide down horizontally, using large fins, not parachutes.

The Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft is launched with Expedition 57 Flight Engineer Nick Hague of NASA and Flight Engineer Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. During the Soyuz spacecraft's climb to orbit, an anomaly occurred, resulting in an abort downrange. The crew was quickly recovered and is in good condition.

1983 - An MGM-118A Peacekeeper international ballistic missile emerges from its launch canister. .

Space Shuttle Rakete startet mit Explosion und Rauch im Raum mit dem Planeten Erde und Sonne. Start der Weltraummission Raketenstart *** Space Shuttle Rocket launches with Explosion and Smoke at Room with the Planets Earth and Sun Start the Space mission Rocket Launch 1102805050

A Standard-ER/SM-2 (RIM-67) surface-to-air missile is successfully launched from the vertical launching system (VLS) during VLS testing. Base: White Sands Missile Test Range State: New Mexico (NM) Country: United States Of America (USA)

Rocket shooting into vast, desert sky, Black Rock Desert, Nevada

1979 - An LGM-30B Minuteman I intercontinental ballistic missile is launched during a test..

A modified Space Shuttle Main Engine is static fired at Marshall's Technology Test Bed.

iss046e050011 (02/27/2016) --- The sun rises slowly on Feb 27, 2016 as the International Space Station continues its course around the Earth. Expedition 46 crew members snapped this image.

July 4 fireworks came early when a NASA Terrier-Improved Malemute sounding rocket was successfully launched at 4 25 a.m., Thursday, June 29, from the agencys Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. During the 8-minute flight, 10 canisters about the size of a soft drink can were ejected in space, 6 to 12 miles away from the 670-pound main payload. The canisters deployed blue-green and red vapor that formed artificial clouds visible from New York to North Carolina. During an ionosphere or aurora science mission, these clouds, or vapor tracers, allow scientists on the ground to visually track particle motions in space. The development of the multi-canister ampoule ejection system will allow scientists to gather information over a much larger area than previously possible when deploying the tracers just from the main payload. Read more here a href=

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Plumes of smoke surround of the United Launch Alliance Delta II Heavy rocket carrying NASAs twin Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission off Space Launch Complex 17B on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. At right is the pads mobile service tower. The spacecraft launched at 9:08:52 a.m. EDT Sept. 10. GRAIL-A will separate from the second stage of the rocket at about one hour, 21 minutes after liftoff, followed by GRAIL-B at 90 minutes after launch. The spacecraft are embarking on a three-month journey to reach the moon.GRAIL will fly twin spacecraft in tandem around the moon to precisely measure and map variations in the moon's gravitational field. The mission will provide the most accurate global gravity field to date for any planet, including Earth. This detailed information will reveal differences in the density of the moon's crust and mantle and will help answer fundamental questions about the moon's internal structure, thermal e

An Atlas V rocket launches with the Juno spacecraft payload from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Friday, August 5, 2011. The Juno spacecraft will make a five-year, 400-million-mile voyage to Jupiter, orbit the planet, investigate its origin and evolution with eight instruments to probe its internal structure and gravity field, measure water and ammonia in its atmosphere, map its powerful magnetic field and observe its intense auroras.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- At Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the Delta II rocket with NASA's THEMIS spacecraft aboard lifts off Pad 17-B on a crisp Florida evening at 6:01 p.m. EST. THEMIS, an acronym for Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms, consists of five identical probes that will track violent, colorful eruptions near the North Pole. This will be the largest number of scientific satellites NASA has ever launched into orbit aboard a single rocket. The THEMIS mission aims to unravel the mystery behind auroral substorms, an avalanche of magnetic energy powered by the solar wind that intensifies the northern and southern lights. The mission will investigate what causes auroras in the Earths atmosphere to dramatically change from slowly shimmering waves of light to wildly shifting streaks of bright color.

1985 - LGM-118A Peacekeeper flight test missile 10 lifts off during the second silo test launch of the system..

S69-39525 (16 July 1969) --- The huge, 363-feet tall Apollo 11 (Spacecraft 107/Lunar Module 5/Saturn 506) space vehicle is launched from Pad A, Launch Complex 39, Kennedy Space Center (KSC), at 9 32 a.m. (EDT), July 16, 1969. Onboard the Apollo 11 spacecraft were astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, commander; Michael Collins, command module pilot; and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot. Apollo 11 is the United States first lunar landing mission. While astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin descend in the Lunar Module (LM) Eagle to explore the Sea of Tranquility region of the moon, astronaut Collins will remain with the Command and Service Modules (CSM) Columbia in lunar orbit.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Plumes of smoke surround of the United Launch Alliance Delta II Heavy rocket carrying NASAs twin Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission off Space Launch Complex 17B on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. At right is the pads mobile service tower. The spacecraft launched at 9:08:52 a.m. EDT Sept. 10. GRAIL-A will separate from the second stage of the rocket at about one hour, 21 minutes after liftoff, followed by GRAIL-B at 90 minutes after launch. The spacecraft are embarking on a three-month journey to reach the moon.GRAIL will fly twin spacecraft in tandem around the moon to precisely measure and map variations in the moon's gravitational field. The mission will provide the most accurate global gravity field to date for any planet, including Earth. This detailed information will reveal differences in the density of the moon's crust and mantle and will help answer fundamental questions about the moon's internal structure, thermal e

A Black Brant IX suborbital sounding rocket is launched at 7:07 p.m., Wednesday October 7, 2015. (NASA Photo/A. Stancil)A Black Brant IX suborbital rocket was launched from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility. The launch occurred at 7:07 p.m. The primary purpose of the flight was to test the performance of the second-stage Black Brant motor. Preliminary indications are that the motor performed as planned. Preliminary data analysis of the technology experiments (vapor tracer deployments) on the payload is in progress.NASA image use policy.NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASAs mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASAs accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific kn

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Silhouetted against the gray sky, a Boeing Delta II expendable launch vehicle with NASA's Mars Polar Lander lifts off from Launch Complex 17B, Cape Canaveral Air Station, at 3:21:10 p.m. EST. The lander is a solar-powered spacecraft designed to touch down on the Martian surface near the northern-most boundary of the south polar cap, which consists of carbon dioxide ice. The lander will study the polar water cycle, frosts, water vapor, condensates and dust in the Martian atmosphere. It is equipped with a robotic arm to dig beneath the layered terrain at the polar cap. In addition, Deep Space 2 microprobes, developed by NASA's New Millennium Program, are installed on the lander's cruise stage. After crashing into the planet's surface, they will conduct two days of soil and water experiments up to 1 meter (3 feet) below the Martian surface, testing new technologies for future planetary descent probes. The lander is the second spacecraft to be launched in a pa

A rocket engine is tested by the Great Expectations crew at BALLS, an experimental rocketry event in the Black Rock Desert of northern Nevada.

A Soyuz booster rocket launches the Soyuz MS-11 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Monday, Dec. 3, 2018, Baikonur time, carrying Expedition 58 Soyuz Commander Oleg Kononenko of Roscosmos, Flight Engineer Anne McClain of NASA, and Flight Engineer David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) into orbit to begin their six and a half month mission on the International Space Station.

This photograph shows an early moment of the first test flight of the Saturn V vehicle for the Apollo 4 mission, photographed by a ground tracking camera, on the morning of November 9, 1967. This mission was the first launch of the Saturn V launch vehicle. Objectives of the unmarned Apollo 4 test flight were to obtain flight information on launch vehicle and spacecraft structural integrity and compatibility, flight loads, stage separation, and subsystems operation including testing of restart of the S-IVB stage, and to evaluate the Apollo command module heat shield.

Roy Polmanteer's orange and white rocket shoots skyward at a launch event sponsored by the Southern Arizona Rocketry Association (SARA).

STS-34 Atlantis, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 104, lifts off from Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Launch Complex (LC) Pad 39B at 12 53 39 983 pm Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). This aerial view shows OV-104, its external tank (ET), and two solid rocket boosters (SRBs) rising high above LC Pad 39B atop a plume of exhaust smoke. Atlantic Ocean is visible in the background. The liftoff marks the beginning of a five-day mission in space.

S65-61650 (4 Dec. 1965) --- The Gemini-7 spacecraft, carrying astronauts Frank Borman, command pilot, and James A. Lovell Jr., pilot, was successfully launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration from Pad 19 at 2 30 p.m., (EST) Dec. 4, 1965. The Gemini-7 spacecraft is scheduled for a 14-day mission in space.

Launch of the first Dryden Aerospike rocket. The Dryden Aerospike Rocket Test provided the first known data from a solid-fueled aerospike rocket in flight.

A rocket with unusually wide fins in flight at BALLS, an experimental rocketry event in the Black Rock Desert of northern Nevada.

1975 - An LGM-25C Titan II missile is launched..

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket soars upward after lifting off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, carrying NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). Liftoff was at 6:51 p.m. EDT. TESS will search for planets outside of our solar system. The mission will find exoplanets that periodically block part of the light from their host stars, events called transits. The satellite will survey the nearest and brightest stars for two years to search for transiting exoplanets.

STS128-S-036 (28 Aug. 2009) --- Against a black night sky, Space Shuttle Discovery and its seven-member STS-128 crew head toward Earth orbit and rendezvous with the International Space Station (ISS). Liftoff was on time at 11:59 p.m. (EDT) on Aug. 28, 2009 from launch pad 39A at NASAs Kennedy Space Center. Onboard are astronauts Rick Sturckow, commander; Kevin Ford, pilot; John Danny Olivas, European Space Agency astronaut Christer Fuglesang, Patrick Forrester, Jose Hernandez and Nicole Stott, all mission specialists. Stott will join Expedition 20 in progress to serve as a flight engineer aboard the ISS. The 13-day mission will deliver more than seven tons of supplies, science racks and equipment, as well as additional environmental hardware to sustain six crew members on the space station. The equipment includes a freezer to store research samples, a new sleeping compartment and the COLBERT treadmill. The mission is the 128th in the Space Shuttle Program, the 37th flight of Discovery

A night view of a Minuteman III missile launch. Base: Vandenberg Air Force Base State: California (CA) Country: United States Of America (USA)

S131-E-005928 (5 April 2010) --- Space shuttle Discoverys external fuel tank (ET) is featured in this image photographed by the umbilical well camera aboard Discovery shortly after separating from the shuttle following launch.

S71-18398 (31 Jan. 1971) --- The huge, 363-feet tall Apollo 14 (Spacecraft 110/Lunar Module 8/Saturn 509) space vehicle is launched from Pad A, Launch Complex 39, Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida at 4 03 02 p.m. (EST), Jan. 31, 1971, on a lunar landing mission. This view is framed by moss-covered dead trees in the dark foreground. Aboard the Apollo 14 spacecraft were astronauts Alan B. Shepard Jr., commander; Stuart A. Roosa, command module pilot; and Edgar D. Mitchell, lunar module pilot.

STS099-S-022 (11 February 2000) --- The Space Shuttle Endeavour lifts off from Kennedy Space Centers (KSC) Launch Pad 39A to officially begin the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). Launch occurred at 12:43:40 p.m. (EST), February 11, 2000. This low-angle view clearly shows the "diamond-shock" effect of the shuttle's engines. Onboard were astronauts Kevin R. Kregel, mission commander, and Dominic L. Gorie, pilot; along with Janice Voss, Janet L. Kavandi, Mamoru Mohri and Gerhard P. J. Thiele, all mission specialists. Mohri is with Japan's National Space Development Agency (NASDA) and Thiele represents the European Space Agency (ESA).

April 26, 2003, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. Astronaut Edward T. Lu, NASA ISS science officer and flight engineer for Expedition Seven and Cosmonaut Yuri I. Malenchenko, Commander were launched onboard a Soyuz rocket at 9:53aam from Baikonur, Kazakhstan.

Team Vandenberg successfully launches an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The purpose of this launch was to test the reliability and accuracy of Air Force weapon systems. Base: Vandenberg Air Force Base State: California (CA) Country: United States Of America (USA)

Tree branches on the Space Coast frame Space Shuttle Discovery's liftoff from Launch Pad 39B at 2:19 p.m. EST Oct. 29 on mission STS-95. Making his second voyage into space after 36 years is Payload Specialist John H. Glenn Jr., senator from Ohio. Other crew members are Mission Commander Curtis L. Brown Jr., Pilot Steven W. Lindsey, Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai, (M.D., Ph.D.), with the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA), Mission Specialist Stephen K. Robinson, Mission Specialist Pedro Duque of Spain, representing the European Space Agency (ESA), and Mission Specialist Scott E. Parazynski. The STS-95 mission includes research payloads such as the Spartan solar-observing deployable spacecraft, the Hubble Space Telescope Orbital Systems Test Platform, the International Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker, as well as the SPACEHAB single module with experiments on space flight and the aging process. Discovery is expected to return to KSC at 11:49 a.m. EST on Nov. 7

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Erupting from the flames and smoke beneath it, NASAs Deep Impact spacecraft lifts off at 1 47 p.m. EST today from Launch Pad 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. A NASA Discovery mission, Deep Impact is heading for space and a rendezvous 83 million miles from Earth with Comet Tempel 1. After releasing a 3- by 3-foot projectile (impactor) to crash onto the surface July 4, 2005, Deep Impacts flyby spacecraft will reveal the secrets of the comets interior by collecting pictures and data of how the crater forms, measuring the craters depth and diameter as well as the composition of the interior of the crater and any material thrown out, and determining the changes in natural outgassing produced by the impact. It will send the data back to Earth through the antennas of the Deep Space Network.

ISS037-E-009203 (10 Oct. 2013) --- This is one of a series of views that captured a missile launch from Earth as seen on Oct. 10, 2013 by the Expedition 37 crew aboard the International Space Station.

Contrail from rocket launch, Space Coast, Florida

The Soyuz TMA-14 launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Thursday, March 26, 2009 carrying Expedition 19 Commander Gennady I. Padalka, Flight Engineer Michael R. Barratt and Spaceflight Participant Charles Simonyi to the International Space Station. (

NASA successfully launched the RockSat-X education payload on a Terrier-Improved Malemute suborbital sounding rocket at 7 33 30 a.m. EDT Aug. 17 from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Students from eight community colleges and universities from across the United States participated in the RockSat-X project.The payload carrying the experiments flew to an altitude of 95 miles. Data was received from most of the student experiments. However, the payload was not recovered as planned. NASA will investigate the anomaly.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Backdropped by a beautiful blue sky, plumes of smoke surround the United Launch Alliance Delta II Heavy rocket carrying NASAs twin Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission off Space Launch Complex 17B on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The spacecraft launched at 9:08:52 a.m. EDT Sept. 10. GRAIL-A will separate from the second stage of the rocket at about one hour, 21 minutes after liftoff, followed by GRAIL-B at 90 minutes after launch. The spacecraft are embarking on a three-month journey to reach the moon.GRAIL will fly twin spacecraft in tandem around the moon to precisely measure and map variations in the moon's gravitational field. The mission will provide the most accurate global gravity field to date for any planet, including Earth. This detailed information will reveal differences in the density of the moon's crust and mantle and will help answer fundamental questions about the moon's internal structure, thermal evolution,

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - The two-stage Delta II launch vehicle lifts off Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, carrying NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive satellite, or SMAP, on a mission to study global coverage of soil moisture and freeze/thaw measurements. Launch was at 9:22 a.m. EST. SMAP is designed to produce the highest-resolution maps of soil moisture ever obtained from space.

An air-to-air left side view of an F-15 Eagle aircraft releasing an anti-satellite (ASAT) missile during a test. Base: Pacific Missile Test Range State: California (CA) Country: United States Of America (USA)

One of Larry Foster's rockets heads skyward above Jean Dry Lake during Springfest '06.

SpaceX Rocket Launch, United States of America

The Soyuz TMA-18 rocket launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Friday, April 2, 2010 carrying Expedition 23 Soyuz Commander Alexander Skvortsov of Russia, Flight Engineer Mikhail Kornienko of Russia and NASA Flight Engineer Tracy Caldwell Dyson of the U.S. to the International Space Station. (

Evening view of DSV-3 Delta 152 missile launch with Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite aboard. Base: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station State: Florida (FL) Country: United States Of America (USA)

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Trailing a plume of smoke, Space Shuttle Endeavour pierces a small cloud, briefly lighting it from within, during launch on mission STS-100. Liftoff of the ninth flight to the International Space Station occurred at 2 40 42 p.m. EDT. The 11-day mission will deliver and integrate the Spacelab Logistics Pallet_Launch Deployment Assembly, which includes the Space Station Remote Manipulator System and the UHF Antenna. The mission includes two planned spacewalks for installation of the SSRMS on the Station. Also onboard is the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Raffaello, carrying resupply stowage racks and resupply_return stowage platforms

Like a rising sun lighting up the afternoon sky, the Space Shuttle Columbia soars from Launch Pad 39A at 2:20:32 p.m. EST, April 4, on the 16-day Microgravity Science Laboratory-1 (MSL-1) mission. The crew members are Mission Commander James D. Halsell, Jr.; Pilot Susan L. Still; Payload Commander Janice Voss; Mission Specialists Michael L. Gernhardt and Donald A. Thomas; and Payload Specialists Roger K. Crouch and Gregory T. Linteris. During the scheduled 16-day STS-83 mission, the MSL-1 will be used to test some of the hardware, facilities and procedures that are planned for use on the International Space Station as well as research in combustion, protein crystal growth and materials processing experiments

STS111-S-035 (5 June 2002) --- The Space Shuttle Endeavour lifts off, creating billows of smoke and steam on its way into space for mission STS-111 to the International Space Station (ISS). Liftoff occurred at 5:22:49 p.m. (EDT), June 5, 2002. The image was photographed from a Shuttle Training Aircraft (STA), which flies near the launch area for weather monitoring and other support to the mission's liftoff phase. The STS-111 crew includes astronauts Kenneth D. Cockrell, commander; Paul S. Lockhart, pilot, and Franklin R. Chang-Diaz and Philippe Perrin, mission specialists. Also onboard were the Expedition Five crewmembers including cosmonaut Valery G. Korzun, commander, along with astronaut Peggy A. Whitson and cosmonaut Sergei Y. Treschev, flight engineers. Perrin represents CNES, the French space agency, and Korzun and Treschev are with the Russian Aviation and Space Agency (Rosaviakosmos). This mission marks the 14th Shuttle flight to the International Space Station.

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