Space Shuttle Maintenance

Images showcasing the intricate process of maintaining and decommissioning space shuttles at a NASA facility, featuring technicians and specialized equipment in action.

STS-133 DISCOVERY ENGINE-1 INSTALLATION

The starboard side of the Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rockets payload fairing has been installed around NASA's Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) inside Building 1555 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Sept. 17, 2019. ICON launched on the Pegasus XL rocket, attached beneath the company's L-1011 Stargazer aircraft, on Oct. 10, 2019, after takeoff from the Skid Strip at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. ICON will study the frontier of space - the dynamic zone high in Earth's atmosphere where terrestrial weather from below meets space weather above. The explorer will help determine the physics of Earth's space environment and pave the way for mitigating its effects on our technology, communications systems and society.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 2 at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, United Space Alliance technicians complete weight and center of gravity checks on the space shuttle Endeavour.The work is part of Transition and Retirement of the remaining space shuttles, Endeavour and Atlantis. Endeavour is being prepared for public display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Its ferry flight to California is targeted for mid-September. Endeavour was the last space shuttle added to NASAs orbiter fleet. Over the course of its 19-year career, Endeavour spent 299 days in space during 25 missions.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In Orbiter Processing Facility-1 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, preparations are under way to install space shuttle main engine #2 on space shuttle Atlantis for its upcoming STS-132 mission. A main engine is 14 feet long, weighs approximately 7,000 pounds, and is 7.5 feet in diameter at the end of the nozzle. Inspection and maintenance of each of the shuttle's three main engines are an important safety measure and standard procedure between shuttle missions. Atlantis is scheduled to deliver an Integrated Cargo Carrier and Russian-built Mini Research Module to the International Space Station on STS-132. The second in a series of new pressurized components for Russia, the module will be permanently attached to the Zarya module. Three spacewalks are planned to store spare components outside the station, including six spare batteries, a boom assembly for the Ku-band antenna and spares for the Canadian Dextre robotic arm extension. A radiator, airlock and

Technicians install the rudder on the Orbital ATK Pegasus XL rocket July 8, 2017, inside Building 1555 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The Pegasus rocket is being prepared for NASA's Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON, mission. ICON will launch on June 15 from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands (June 14 in the continental United States) on Orbital ATK's Pegasus XL rocket, which is attached to the company's L-1011 Stargazer aircraft. ICON will study the frontier of space - the dynamic zone high in Earth's atmosphere where terrestrial weather from below meets space weather above. The explorer will help determine the physics of Earth's space environment and pave the way for mitigating its effects on our technology, communications systems and society.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Inside the Launch Abort System Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the launch abort motor has been prepared for connection to the attitude control motor. Both are segments 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. 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 2017 on the SLS rocket.

The Zenith-1 (Z-1) Truss, the cornerstone truss of the Space Station, is shown on the floor of the Space Station Processing Facility. The Z-1 Truss was officially turned over to NASA from The Boeing Co. on July 31. It is scheduled to fly in Space Shuttle Discovery's payload pay on STS-92 targeted for launch Oct. 5, 2000. The Z-1 is considered a cornerstone truss because it carries critical components of the Station's attitude, communications, thermal and power control systems as well as four control moment gyros, high and low gain antenna systems, and two plasma contactor units used to disperse electrical charge build-ups. The Z-1 truss and a Pressurized Mating Adapter (PMA-3), also flying to the Station on the same mission, will be the first major U.S. elements flown to the ISS aboard the Shuttle since the launch of the Unity element in December 1998

NASA joined the Space Launch System rockets core stage forward assembly with the 130-foot liquid hydrogen tank for the Artemis II mission on March 18. This completes assembly of four of the five large structures that make up the core stage that will help send the first astronauts to lunar orbit on Artemis II.The 66-foot forward assembly consists of the forward skirt, liquid oxygen tank and the intertank, which were mated earlier. Engineers inserted 360 bolts to connect the forward assembly to the liquid hydrogen tank to make up the bulk of the stage. Only the engine section, which is currently being outfitted and includes the main propulsion systems that connect to the four RS-25 engines, remains to be added to form the final core stage.All parts of the core stage are manufactured by NASA and Boeing, the core stage lead contractor at the agencys Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. Currently, the team is building core stages for three Artemis missions. The first core stage is

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A United Space Alliance technician monitors the space shuttle Endeavour as it backs out of Bay 2 of the Orbiter Processing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Endeavour will be moved to the Vehicle Assembly Building to undergo final preparations for its cross-country ferry flight targeted for mid-September. The work is part of Transition and Retirement of the remaining space shuttles, Endeavour and Atlantis. Endeavour is being prepared for public display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Endeavour was the last space shuttle added to NASAs orbiter fleet. Over the course of its 19-year career, Endeavour spent 299 days in space during 25 missions.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Space Shuttle Atlantis is outfitted with its left Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) pod in Orbiter Process Facility bay 1. The Orbital Maneuvering System provides the thrust for orbit insertion, orbit circularization, orbit transfer, rendezvous, deorbit, abort to orbit and abort once around. It can provide up to 1,000 pounds of propellant to the aft reaction control system. Each pod contains one OMS engine and the hardware needed to pressurize, store and distribute the propellants to perform the velocity maneuvers. Atlantis is the designated orbiter to fly on mission STS-121. The mission has a launch window of July 12 - July 31.

Technicians install the starboard fin on the Orbital ATK Pegasus XL rocket July 8, 2017, inside Building 1555 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The Pegasus rocket is being prepared for NASA's Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON, mission. ICON will launch on June 15 from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands (June 14 in the continental United States) on Orbital ATK's Pegasus XL rocket, which is attached to the company's L-1011 Stargazer aircraft. ICON will study the frontier of space - the dynamic zone high in Earth's atmosphere where terrestrial weather from below meets space weather above. The explorer will help determine the physics of Earth's space environment and pave the way for mitigating its effects on our technology, communications systems and society.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In Orbiter Processing Facility bay 3 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers check space shuttle main engine No. 3 that they will install on space shuttle Discovery. Each engine is 14 feet long, weighs about 6,700 pounds, and is 7.5 feet in diameter at the end of the nozzle. Discovery is being processed for its next mission, STS-119, targeted for launch on Feb. 12, 2009. Discovery and its crew will deliver integrated truss structure 6 (S6) and solar arrays to the International Space Station.

The major components of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft -- cruise stage atop the aeroshell, which has the descent stage and rover inside -- were connected together in October 2008 for several weeks of system testing.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Pressurized Mating Adapter (PMA)-2 is moved into position against Node 1 of the International Space Station (ISS) in KSC's Space Station Processing Facility for pre-mating preparations. The node is the first element of the ISS to be manufactured in the United States and is currently scheduled to lift off aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour on STS-88 later this year, along with PMAs 1 and 2. This PMA is a cone-shaped connector to Node 1, which will have two PMAs attached once this mate is completed. Once in space, Node 1 will function as a connecting passageway to the living and working areas of the ISS. It has six hatches that will serve as docking ports to the U.S. laboratory module, U.S. habitation module, an airlock and other space station elements

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside Orbiter Processing Facility-1 at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a United Space Alliance technician checks the payload bay door after it was closed on space shuttle Atlantis in preparation for its move to the Vehicle Assembly Building.The work is part of the Space Shuttle Programs transition and retirement processing of the space shuttle fleet. A groundbreaking was held Jan. 18 for Atlantis future home, a 65,000-square-foot exhibit hall in Shuttle Plaza at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Atlantis is scheduled to roll over to the visitor complex in November in preparation for the exhibits grand opening in July 2013.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At the Astrotech payload processing facility at Port Canaveral in Florida, STS-132 Mission Specialists Michael Good, left, and Steve Bowen get a close-up view of the Mini-Research Module during their crew equipment interface test, or CEIT. CEIT provides the crew with hands-on training and observation of shuttle and flight hardware. The six-member crew of space shuttle Atlantis' STS-132 mission will deliver an Integrated Cargo Carrier and a Russian-built Mini-Research Module to the International Space Station. The second in a series of new pressurized components for Russia, the module will be permanently attached to the bottom port of the Zarya module and also will carry U.S. pressurized cargo. STS-132 is the 34th mission to the station and the 132nd space shuttle mission in the program. Launch is targeted for May 14.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The U.S. Node 2 is lowered onto a workstand in the Space Station Processing Facility. The second of three connecting modules on the International Space Station, the Italian-built Node 2 attaches to the end of the U.S. Lab and provides attach locations for the Japanese laboratory, European laboratory, the Centrifuge Accommodation Module and, later, Multipurpose Logistics Modules. It will provide the primary docking location for the Shuttle when a pressurized mating adapter is attached to Node 2. Installation of the module will complete the U.S. Core of the ISS. Node 2 is the designated payload for mission STS-120. No orbiter or launch date has been determined yet.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In high bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building, the orbiter Atlantis has been lowered onto the mobile launcher platform below for mating with the external tank and solid rocket boosters already in place. After the stacking, Atlantis will undergo a shuttle interface test and other prelaunch processing. Atlantis' launch window begins Aug. 28. During its 11-day mission to the International Space Station, the STS-115 crew of six astronauts will continue construction of the station and install their cargo, the Port 3/4 truss segment with its two large solar arrays.

Inside the low bay of the Space Station Processing Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers assist as Sierra Nevada Corporations (SNC) Dream Chaser pressure test article on its support structure is lowered by crane on June 3, 2020, for its move into the high bay. The test article was shipped from Louisville, Colorado. It is similar to the actual pressurized cabin being used in the Dream Chaser spaceplane for Commercial Resupply Services-2 (CRS-2) missions. NASA selected Dream Chaser to provide cargo delivery, return and disposal service for the International Space Station under the CRS-2 contract. The test article will remain at Kennedy while SNC engineers use it to develop and verify refurbishment operations that will be used on Dream Chaser between flights.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A crane moves the airlock from the cargo bay of space shuttle Atlantis to a waiting trailer in Orbiter Processing Facility-2 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The airlock was the connecting point between the shuttle and International Space Station. It was removed as part of the ongoing work to prepare the shuttles for public display. The shuttle is being prepared for display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, cranes lift space shuttle Endeavour in order to raise it to vertical. Once vertical, the shuttle will be lifted into High Bay 1, then lowered and attached to the external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters already installed on the mobile launcher platform. Endeavour is scheduled to roll out to Launch Pad 39B on April 17. Endeavour will be prepared on the pad for liftoff in the unlikely event that a rescue mission is necessary following space shuttle Atlantis' launch on the STS-125 mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. After Atlantis is cleared to land, Endeavour will move to Launch Pad 39A for its upcoming STS-127 mission to the International Space Station, targeted to launch in mid-June.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The Hubble Space Telescope Orbiting Systems Test Platform (HOST) is lifted off its work stand in the Space Station Processing Facility before moving it to its payload canister. One of the payloads on the STS-95 mission, the HOST platform is carrying four experiments to validate components planned for installation during the third Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission and to evaluate new technologies in an Earth-orbiting environment. The STS-95 mission is scheduled to launch Oct. 29. It will carry other payloads such as the Spartan solar-observing deployable spacecraft, the International Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker (IEH-3), and the SPACEHAB single module with experiments on space flight and the aging process

Texas, Houston. NASA Space Center.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A transporter for oversize loads carries the port booster for the United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy for Exploration Flight Test-1, or EFT-1, into the Horizontal Integration Facility, or HIF, at Space Launch Complex 37 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The port booster joins the other two boosters of the Delta IV Heavy already in the HIF. The upper stage and spacecraft adapter arrived with the booster on a barge at the U.S. Army Outpost wharf at Port Canaveral, and were transported to the HIF on May 6.At the HIF, all three booster stages will be processed and checked out before being moved to the nearby launch pad and hoisted into position. The spacecraft adapter will connect Orion to the ULA Delta IV, and also will connect Orion to NASA's new rocket, the Space Launch System, on its first mission in 2017. During the EFT-1 mission, Orion will travel farther into space than any human spacecraft has gone in more than 40 years. The data gathered d

. These photos and videos show how technicians at NASAs Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans installed the third and fourth RS-25 engines onto the core stage for the agencys SLS (Space Launch System) rocket that will help power NASAs first crewed Artemis mission to the Moon. Technicians added the first engine to the SLS core stage Sept. 11. The second engine was installed onto the stage Sept. 15 with the third and fourth engines following Sept. 19 and Sept. 20. Engineers consider the engines to be soft mated to the rocket stage. Technicians with NASA, Aerojet Rocketdyne, an L3Harris Technologies company and the RS-25 engines lead contractor, along with Boeing, the core stage lead contractor, will now focus efforts on the complex tax of fully securing the engines to the stage and integrating the propulsion and electrical systems within the structure. NASA is working to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon under Artemis. SLS is part of NASAs backbone for deep sp

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Inside a Pegasus booster processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, all three fins on the aft end of the Pegasus XL rocket's first stage have been installed.The Orbital Sciences Corp. Pegasus rocket will launch the 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 Oceans Kwajalein Atoll for launch. 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. For more information, visit science.nasa.gov/missions/nustar/.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - This view reveals all three Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules on the floor of the Space Station Processing Facility. This is the first time all three - Leonardo, Raffaello and Donatello -- have been in one location. Donatello has been stored in the Operations and Checkout Building since its arrival at KSC and was brought into the SSPF for routine testing. The MPLMs were built by the Italian Space Agency, to serve as reusable logistics carriers and the primary delivery system to resupply and return station cargo requiring a pressurized environment. Raffaello is scheduled to fly on Space Shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-114.

The Orion crew module pressure vessel for NASAs Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1) is being moved from a clean room to a work station inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Orion will undergo additional processing to prepare it for launch in 2019. The spacecraft is being prepared for its first integrated flight atop the Space Launch System rocket on Exploration Mission-1.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The second stage for the Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX, Falcon 9 rocket is delivered to the SpaceX hangar at Pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Also seen here in the foreground is the first stage of the Falcon 9.The Falcon 9 rocket will launch a second Dragon spacecraft, called Dragon C2, in late 2011. The mission will demonstrate proximity operations during an approach within six miles of the International Space Station. The company is building the Dragon to fly on resupply missions to the station. SpaceX was awarded procurement for three demonstration flights under the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services, or COTS, program managed by NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. The SpaceX contract provides for 12 missions to resupply the station from 2011 through 2015.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - A technician rolls a section of the fairing for NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, out of an environmental enclosure inside the Orbital Sciences processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California toward the facilitys clean room.The fairing will enclose and protect the spacecraft from the heat and aerodynamic pressure generated during ascent to orbit aboard an Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL rocket. After processing of the rocket and 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 in March. 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.

STS-135 OTS Move Underneath Orbiter Atlantis

. The engine that will power NASAs quiet supersonic X-59 in flight is installed, marking a major milestone in the experimental aircrafts journey toward first flight. The installation of the F414-GE-100 engine at Lockheed Martins Skunk Works facility brings the vehicle close to the completion of its assembly.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In Orbiter Processing Facility-2 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, work platforms are removed from around space shuttle Endeavour in preparation for its roll to the Vehicle Assembly Building.The rollover began at 12:53 a.m. EST and was completed at 2:08 p.m. when Endeavour was towed into the VAB's transfer aisle. Next, Endeavour will be attached to a lifting sling, hoisted over a transom and lowered into High Bay 1, where it will be attached to its external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters. Rollout of the shuttle stack to Kennedys Launch Pad 39A, a significant milestone in launch processing activities, is planned for early January 2010. The Italian-built Tranquility module, the primary payload for Endeavour's STS-130 mission, will be installed in the payload bay after the shuttle arrives at the pad. Launch is targeted for early February.

A technician installs the aft skirt on the Orbital ATK Pegasus XL rocket July 8, 2017, inside Building 1555 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. When the aft skirt is installed, the rudder and fins can be installed. The Pegasus rocket is being prepared for NASA's Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON, mission. The explorer will launch on June 15, 2018, from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands (June 14 in the continental United States) on Orbital ATKS's Pegasus XL, which is attached to the company's L-1011 Stargazer aircraft. ICON will study the frontier of space - the dynamic zone high in Earth's atmosphere where terrestrial weather from below meets space weather above. The explorer will help determine the physics of Earth's space environment and pave the way for mitigating its effects on our technology, communications systems and society.

Inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Lockheed Martin technicians secure a protective cover around the Orion crew module adapter (CMA) for Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1) for its move to a clean room. The CMA will undergo propellant and environmental control and life support system tube installation and welding. The adapter will connect the Orion crew module to the European Space Agency-provided service module. The Orion spacecraft will launch atop NASAs Space Launch System rocket on EM-1, its first deep space mission, in late 2018.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane is used to lift a mock air lock being prepared for installation in the payload bay of the space shuttle Atlantis in Bay 2 of the Orbiter Processing Facility. Atlantis is undergoing final preparations for its transfer to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex targeted for November.The work is part of Transition and Retirement of the remaining space shuttles, Atlantis and Endeavour. Atlantis is being prepared for public display at Kennedy's Visitor Complex. Over the course of its 26-year career, Atlantis spent 293 days in space during 33 missions.

The Space Shuttle Atlantis receives post-flight servicing in the Mate-Demate Device (MDD), following its landing at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, June 22, 2007. The gantry-like MDD structure is used for servicing the shuttle orbiters in preparation for their ferry flight back to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, including mounting the shuttle atop NASA's modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In Orbiter Processing Facility-2 (OPF-2) at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Atlantis payload bay is open. Earlier, a special crane was used to remove Atlantis forward reaction control system. The system, which provided maneuvering capabilities to the spacecraft during its missions, will be transported to White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico to undergo a complete deservicing and cleaning. Atlantis glided to a landing, July 21, 2011, at Kennedy Space Centers Shuttle Landing Facility, completing NASAs final space shuttle mission, STS-135. The shuttle is in OPF-2 being decommissioned and prepared for eventual display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida.

At NASAs Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, technicians from Orion prime contractor Lockheed Martin have welded together three cone-shaped panels on Orions crew module for the Artemis III mission that will land the first woman and next man on the Moon.The crew modules primary structure, the pressure vessel, is comprised of seven machined aluminum alloy pieces that are welded together through a weld process that produces a strong, air-tight habitable space for astronauts during the mission. The pressure vessel is designed to withstand the harsh and demanding environment of deep space, and is the core structure upon which all the other elements of Orions crew module are integrated. Infographic showing the seven pieces of Orion's underlying structureWith welding complete on the crew module cone panels - one of which contains windows providing astronauts views of the Moon and Earth - work will begin joining the forward bulkhead to the tunnel to create the top of the spacecr

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Vehicle Assembly Building transfer aisle at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Discovery is lifted from its transporter by an overhead crane. The shuttle will be raised to a vertical position and lifted into high bay 3 where it will be mated with its external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters on the mobile launcher platform. After additional preparations are made, the shuttle will be rolled out to Launch Pad 39A for a targeted launch on Feb. 12. Discovery will carry the final starboard truss (S6) in the assembly of the International Space Station.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Columbia's engine no. 2 is about to be pulled from the orbiter. After small cracks were discovered on the LH2 Main Propulsion System (MPS) flow liners in two other orbiters, program managers decided to move forward with inspections on Columbia before clearing it for flight on STS-107. The heat shields were removed, and after removing the three main engines, inspections of the flow liners will follow. The July 19 launch of Columbia on STS-107 has been delayed a few weeks

NASA is preparing major pieces of the Space Launch System rockets core stage to be joined as part of assembling the core stage for the Artemis II mission that will send crews to lunar orbit. Crews will soon connect the forward assembly with the 130-foot liquid hydrogen tank in the final assembly area at NASAs Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. When this process is completed, four of the five large structures that make up the core stage will be joined. The 66-foot forward assembly consists of the forward skirt, liquid oxygen tank and the intertank, which were mated earlier. This forward assembly will be joined with the 130-foot liquid hydrogen tank, the largest part of the stage that holds more than 500,000 gallons of cryogenic propellant. To compete the Artemis II core stage, engineers will add the engine section, which is currently being outfitted and includes the main propulsion systems that connect to the four RS-25 engines, Together, with the SLS twin solid rocket boosters

. The engine that will power NASAs quiet supersonic X-59 in flight is installed, marking a major milestone in the experimental aircrafts journey toward first flight. The installation of the F414-GE-100 engine at Lockheed Martins Skunk Works facility brings the vehicle close to the completion of its assembly.

Stages 1 and 2 of an Orbital ATK Pegasus XL rocket come together in Building 1555 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The rocket and its payload, NASA's Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) spacecraft, are being prepared at Vandenberg, then will be attached to the Orbital ATK L-1011 carrier aircraft and transported to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. 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.

Boeing technicians install back shells on the Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) Starliner crew module inside the companys Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on December 2, 2020. During the OFT-2 mission, the uncrewed Starliner spacecraft will fly to the International Space Station for NASAs Commercial Crew Program.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - Preparations are under way in Orbital Sciences hangar on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California to reinstall the Pegasus fairing around NASAs Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR. Access to the spacecraft was 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 is complete, they will be flown on Orbital's L-1011 carrier aircraft from Vandenberg, to the U.S. Army's Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll, part of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean. The Pegasus, mated to its NuSTAR payload, will be launched from the carrier aircraft 117 nautical miles south of Kwajalein at latitude 6.75 degrees north of the equator. The high-energy X-ray telescope will conduct a census of black holes, map radioact

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Orbiter Processing Facility, the Ku-band communications antenna is stowed in the payload bay of Discovery before the bay's doors are closed. The stowage is in preparation for the rollover of the orbiter to the Vehicle Assembly Building. The primary payload, the U.S. Node 2, which is named Harmony, will be installed in the payload bay at the pad prior to Discovery's liftoff on mission STS-120. The mission will be the 23rd flight for the assembly of the International Space Station. Space Shuttle Discovery is targeted for launch on Oct. 23.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - In a clean room at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians complete a second fillet and wing fit check on the Pegasus XL launch vehicle. The Orbital Sciences Corp. Pegasus rocket will launch the 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 Oceans Kwajalein Atoll for launch. 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.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 3 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, United Space Alliance workers guide a "fish pole" lifting fixture being lowered by crane toward space shuttle Discovery's payload bay. The fixture will be used to remove the gaseous nitrogen tank during processing for the shuttle's STS-131 mission to the International Space Station.The tanks are used for atmosphere conditioning and for moving potable water in the crew module. The seven-member STS-131 crew will deliver a Multi-Purpose Logistics Module filled with science racks to be transferred to laboratories on the station. Three spacewalks will include work to attach a spare ammonia tank assembly to the station's exterior and return a European experiment from outside the station's Columbus module. This will be the 33rd shuttle mission to the station. Launch is targeted for March 18, 2010.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the three stages of the Orbital Sciences Corp. Pegasus XL rocket have been mated in preparation for the launch the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS, spacecraft.Scheduled for launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base no earlier than April 29, 2013, 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.

STS-132 ATLANTIS SSME-1 FINAL RIGHT HAND SHIELD INSTLN BEFORE DOME INSTLN

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Technicians prepare shuttle Atlantis for its final planned move from Orbiter Processing Facility-1 to the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The move called "rollover" is a major milestone in processing for the STS-135 mission to the International Space Station. Inside the VAB, the shuttle will be attached to its external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters. Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley and Mission Specialists Sandra Magnus and Rex Walheim are targeted to launch in early July, taking with them the Raffaello multipurpose logistics module packed with supplies, logistics and spare parts. The STS-135 mission also will fly a system to investigate the potential for robotically refueling existing spacecraft and return a failed ammonia pump module to help NASA better understand the failure mechanism and improve pump designs for future systems.STS-135 will be the 33rd flight of Atlantis, the 37th shuttle mission to t

VANDENBERG AFB, Calif. - A technician monitors the movement of the second stage of an Orbital Sciences Pegasus rocket into the first stage before a separation test is conducted. The Pegasus is being processed to launch NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph mission, known as IRIS.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The Pressurized Mating Adapter-1 (PMA-1), scheduled to fly on Space Shuttle mission STS-88 is undergoing processing in the Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF). A PMA is a cone-shaped connector that will be attached to Node 1, the space stations structural building block, during ground processing. STS-88 is the first International Space Station assembly flight.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Seen through the open bay door of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Discovery is being prepared for its move to Orbiter Processing Facility-1 (OPF-1). Discovery is switching places with shuttle Endeavour which has been undergoing decommissioning activities in OPF-1. Both shuttles will stop briefly outside OPF-3 for a "nose-to-nose" photo opportunity. Discovery then will be rolled into OPF-1 and Endeavour into the VAB.In OPF-1, Discovery will undergo further preparations for public display at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia. Endeavour will be stored in the VAB until October when it will be moved into OPF-2 for further work to get it ready for public display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In Orbiter Processing Facility-1 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians remove engine No. 1, one of three space shuttle main engines from shuttle Endeavour using a specially designed engine installer, called a Hyster forklift.The work is part of Endeavour's transition and retirement processing. The spacecraft is being prepared for public display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Endeavour flew 25 missions, spent 299 days in space, orbited Earth 4,671 times and traveled 122,883,151 miles over the course of its 19-year career. Endeavour's STS-134 and final mission was completed after landing on June 1, 2011.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility, one of two orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pods removed from Endeavour is lowered toward a transporter. The OMS pods are attached to the upper aft fuselage left and right sides. Fabricated primarily of graphite epoxy composite and aluminum, each pod is 21.8 feet long and 11.37 feet wide at its aft end and 8.41 feet wide at its forward end, with a surface area of approximately 435 square feet. Each pod houses the Reaction Control System propulsion components used for inflight maneuvering and is attached to the aft fuselage with 11 bolts. OMS pods are removed during Orbiter Major Modifications. Once removed, the OMS pods undergo in-depth structural inspections, system checks and the thrusters are changed out.

A Nitrogen/Oxygen Recharge System (NORS) tank is unpacked and readied for inspection 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.

NASA astronaut candidate Kayla Barron views the Orion pressure vessel for Exploration Mission-2 in the high bay of the Operations and Checkout Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Feb. 12, 2019. Work is in progress to prepare Orion for its crewed mission launching on the Space Launch System rocket.

The heat shield for Orions Artemis 2 mission, NASAs first crewed mission, is uncrated from its shipping container inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at the agencys Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 10, 2019. The heat shield, measuring roughly 16 feet in diameter, will protect astronauts upon re-entry on the second mission of Artemis. The heat shield arrived from Lockheed Martins manufacturing facility near Denver aboard NASAs Super Guppy Aircraft. The heat shield is a base titanium truss structure. Over the next several months, technicians will apply Avcoat, an ablative material that will provide the thermal protection. Artemis 2 will confirm all of the spacecrafts systems operate as designed in the actual environment of deep space with astronauts aboard.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Space shuttle main engine No. 2, which was removed from shuttle Discovery, is moved to a work stand for routine inspections in the Space Shuttle Main Engine Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The removal was part of Discovery's transition and retirement processing. Work performed on Discovery is expected to help rocket designers build next-generation spacecraft and prepare the shuttle for future public display.

STS-335 STS-135 ATLANTIS ENGINE #1 INSTALLATION

The astronauts for NASAs SpaceX Crew-1 mission visit the Crew Dragon spacecraft, named Resilience by the crew, inside the SpaceX hangar at Launch Complex 39A on Nov. 8, 2020. NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker, along with Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), will launch on SpaceXs Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon on the first crew rotation mission to the International Space Station as part of NASAs Commercial Crew Program.

Viewed from inside Orbiter Processing Facility bay 3, Atlantis is ready for rollover to the Vehicle Assembly Building. In the VAB it will be raised to vertical and lifted up and into high bay 3 for stacking with its external tank and solid rocket boosters. Atlantis will fly on mission STS-98, the seventh construction flight to the International Space Station. The orbiter will carry in its payload bay the U.S. Laboratory, named Destiny, that will have five system racks already installed inside of the module. After delivery of electronics in the lab, electrically powered attitude control for Control Moment Gyroscopes will be activated. Atlantis is scheduled for launch on Jan. 18, 2001, at 2:44 a.m. EST, with a crew of five

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside Orbiter Processing Facility-2 at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, United Space Alliance technicians gather together after replica shuttle main engine 2, or RSME 2, was installed on space shuttle Endeavour. The orbiter is surrounded by work platforms allowing access to all areas of the spacecraft.The work is part of Transition and Retirement of the remaining space shuttles, Endeavour and Atlantis. Endeavour is being prepared for public display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Its ferry flight to California is targeted for mid-September. Endeavour was the last space shuttle added to NASAs orbiter fleet. Over the course of its 19-year career, Endeavour spent 299 days in space during 25 missions.

VANDENBERG AFB, Calif. - Technicians monitor the movement of the second stage of an Orbital Sciences Pegasus rocket into the first stage before a separation test is conducted. The Pegasus is being processed to launch NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph mission, known as IRIS.

Commercial crew astronauts Chris Ferguson, Suni Williams, Eric Boe, Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada visit with Boeing and United Launch Alliance employees at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) after they were officially assigned to fly on Boeings CST-100 Starliner. The astronauts made the trip to the Florida spaceport about a week after their crew assignments were announced by NASA. They stopped by Boeings Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility (C3PF) at KSC and Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station to view progress on the Starliner and the launch pad. Boe, Ferguson and Mann will fly on Starliner in Boeings upcoming Crew Flight Test to the International Space Station (ISS). Cassada and Williams are assigned to Boeings first operational mission to the ISS.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers attach an overhead crane to shuttle Atlantis. The crane will lift the spacecraft into a high bay where it will be attached to the waiting external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters already on the mobile launcher platform.Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley and Mission Specialists Sandra Magnus and Rex Walheim are expected to launch mid July, taking with them the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module packed with supplies, logistics and spare parts. The STS-135 mission also will fly a system to investigate the potential for robotically refueling existing spacecraft and return a failed ammonia pump module to help NASA better understand the failure mechanism and improve pump designs for future systems. STS-135 will be the 33rd flight of Atlantis, the 37th shuttle mission to the space station, and the 135th and final mission of NASA's Space Shuttle Program.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside Orbiter Processing Facility-1 at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians prepare to install the ferry flight doors on space shuttle Discovery. The work is part of the Space Shuttle Programs transition and retirement processing of shuttle Discovery, which is being prepared for display at Smithsonians National Air and Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va. Discovery is scheduled to be transported atop a NASA Shuttle Carrier Aircraft modified 747 jet to Dulles International Airport in Virginia on April 17 and then moved to the Smithsonian for permanent public display on April 19.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Space shuttle Discovery's tail fin clears the hangar door of Orbiter Processing Facility-2 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Discovery touched down on the Shuttle Landing Facility's Runway 15 at 11:57 a.m., bringing an end to its 39th and final spaceflight mission, STS-133. Discovery and its six-member STS-133 crew delivered the Permanent Multipurpose Module, packed with supplies and critical spare parts, as well as Robonaut 2, the dexterous humanoid astronaut helper, to the International Space Station.Inside the processing facility, Discovery will be prepared for future public display.

An Orbital ATK rocket is seen in this long exposure, as workers prepare to roll it out to launch Pad-0A at Wallops Flight Facility Thursday, May 17, 2018 at Wallops Island, VA. The Antares will launch a Cygnus spacecraft on a cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station. The mission is Orbital ATKs ninth contracted cargo delivery flight to the space station for NASA. Included in the 7,400 pounds of cargo onboard Cygnus, are science experiments, crew supplies, and vehicle hardware.

STS-335 LAUNCH ON NEED - SEGMENT LIFT TO VERTICAL AND MOVE TO WORKSTAND

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 3 at NASAs Kennedy Space Center, workers continue to secure the Orbiter Transport System, or OTS, under space shuttle Discovery. The OTS will help move the orbiter on its rollover to the Vehicle Assembly Building. Discovery is targeted to launch May 31 on the STS-124 mission to the International Space Station. On the mission, Discovery will transport the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module - Pressurized Module (JEM-PM) and the Japanese Remote Manipulator System (JEM-RMS) to the space station to add to the Kibo laboratory.

The heat shield for Orions Artemis 2 mission, NASAs first crewed mission, is uncrated in the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at the agencys Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 9, 2019. The heat shield, measuring roughly 16 feet in diameter, will protect astronauts upon re-entry on the second mission of Artemis. The heat shield arrived from Lockheed Martins manufacturing facility near Denver aboard NASAs Super Guppy Aircraft. The heat shield is a base titanium truss structure. Over the next several months, technicians will apply Avcoat, an ablative material that will provide the thermal protection. Artemis 2 will confirm all of the spacecrafts systems operate as designed in the actual environment of deep space with astronauts aboard.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Space Shuttle Maine Engine Shop, workers are installing an engine controller in one of the three main engines of the orbiter Discovery. The controller is an electronics package mounted on each space shuttle main engine. It contains two digital computers and the associated electronics to control all main engine components and operations. The controller is attached to the main combustion chamber by shock-mounted fittings. Discovery is the designated orbiter for mission STS-120 to the International Space Station. It will carry a payload that includes the Node 2 module, named Harmony. Launch is targeted for no earlier than Oct. 20.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In NASA Kennedy Space Centers Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 3, a remote manipulator system, or space shuttle arm, previously installed on the orbiter Atlantis, is being installed in Discoverys payload bay. The arms were switched because the arm that was installed on Atlantis has special instrumentation to gather loads data from the second return-to-flight mission, STS-121. Discovery is the designated orbiter to fly on STS-121. scheduled to launch no earlier than May 2006.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Three fuel cells recently removed from space shuttle Atlantis stand on tables in Orbiter Processing Facility-2 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The fuel cells produced electricity for shuttles in space by combining liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. They were removed as part of the ongoing work to prepare the shuttles for public display. The shuttle is being prepared for display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

JSC2011-E-043869 (29 April 2011) --- NASA astronauts Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim, both STS-135 mission specialists, participate in an EVA Thermal Protection System (TPS) overview training session in the TPS/Precision Air Bearing Facility in the Space Vehicle Mock-up Facility at NASA's Johnson Space Center. A model of a space shuttle is in the foreground.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Space Shuttle Main Engine Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, two of six space shuttle main engines are prepared for the STS-134 and STS-335 missions. Postflight inspections and maintenance of each engine are conducted in the facility between shuttle missions by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne aerospace technicians. Three main engines are clustered at the aft end of the shuttle and have a combined thrust of more than 1.2 million pounds. Each engine utilizes liquid hydrogen for fuel and liquid oxygen as oxidizer and operates during the entire eight-and-a-half minute ride to orbit.Space shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 mission is the final planned mission of the Space Shuttle Program and will deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, as well as critical spare components, to the International Space Station next year. Shuttle Atlantis will be prepared for STS-335, which is the planned "launch on need," or potential rescue mission, for Endeav

The boilerplate Orion crew module for the Orion Launch Abort System Pad Abort-1 flight test is tilted on jacks during weight and balance testing at NASA Dryden.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Discoverys airlock is ready for installation. Located inside the orbiters payload bay, the airlock is sized to accommodate two fully suited flight crew members simultaneously. Support functions include airlock depressurization and repressurization, extravehicular activity equipment recharge, liquid-cooled garment water cooling, EVA equipment checkout, and communications. Discovery is designated as the Return to Flight vehicle for mission STS-114, no earlier than March 2005. STS-114 mission is Logistics Flight 1, which is scheduled to deliver supplies and equipment plus the external stowage platform to the International Space Station.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside Orbiter Processing Facility-3 at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, United Space Alliance technicians prepare to remove the right-hand orbital maneuvering system, or OMS, pod from Discovery. Removal of the OMS pods is part of the orbiter processing activities to prepare Discovery for its next launch, the STS-133 mission. The STS-133 mission to the International Space Station is targeted for launch in the fall of 2010. Discoverys six-person crew will take important spare parts to the International Space Station along with the Express Logistics Carrier 4.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- In a processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians complete final installation of the wing on the Pegasus XL launch vehicle. The Orbital Sciences Corp. Pegasus rocket will launch the 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 Oceans Kwajalein Atoll for launch. 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. For more information, visit science.nasa.gov_missions_nustar_.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The space shuttle Atlantis moves out of the 525-foot-tall Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Atlantis is switching places with Endeavour which had been in Bay 2 of the Orbiter Processing Facility OPF. In the OPF, Atlantis will undergo final preparations for its transfer to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex targeted for November. The work is part of Transition and Retirement of the remaining space shuttles, Atlantis and Endeavour. Atlantis is being prepared for public display at Kennedy's Visitor Complex. Over the course of its 26-year career, Atlantis spent 293 days in space during 33 missions.

F-1 rocket engine on display outside the Infinity Science Center visitor center at the John C. Stennis Space Center, in Hancock County Mississippi.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Preparations are under way in Orbiter Processing Facility-2 to roll space shuttle Atlantis to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.Atlantis will be stored temporarily in the VAB while transition and retirement processing resumes on shuttle Endeavour in the processing hangar. Endeavour is being prepared for public display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. A groundbreaking was held Jan. 18 for Atlantis' future home -- a 65,000-square-foot exhibit in Shuttle Plaza at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. For additional information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle.

Technician install the aft skirt on the Orbital ATK Pegasus XL rocket July 8, 2017, inside Building 1555 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. When the aft skirt is installed, the rudder and fins can be installed. The Pegasus rocket is being prepared for NASA's Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON, mission. The explorer will launch on June 15, 2018, from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands (June 14 in the continental United States) on Orbital ATKS's Pegasus XL, which is attached to the company's L-1011 Stargazer aircraft. ICON will study the frontier of space - the dynamic zone high in Earth's atmosphere where terrestrial weather from below meets space weather above. The explorer will help determine the physics of Earth's space environment and pave the way for mitigating its effects on our technology, communications systems and society.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Space Shuttle Main Engine Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, United Space Alliance workers carefully consider their readiness to lift a main engine. The engine is being moved to Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 3 where it will be installed in space shuttle Discovery during processing for the shuttle's STS-131 mission to the International Space Station.The seven-member STS-131 crew will deliver a Multi-Purpose Logistics Module filled with resupply stowage platforms and racks to be transferred to locations around the station. Three spacewalks will include work to attach a spare ammonia tank assembly to the station's exterior and return a European experiment from outside the station's Columbus module. Discovery's launch, targeted for March 18, 2010, will initiate the 33rd shuttle mission to the station.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In high bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the newly arrived simulator crew module for the Ares I-X rocket is lifted off the truck. The module will be moved to a work stand. Ares I-X is the test flight for the Ares I. The I-X flight will provide NASA an early opportunity to test and prove hardware, facilities and ground operations associated with Ares I. The launch of the 321-foot-tall, full-scale Ares I-X, targeted for July 2009, will be the first in a series of unpiloted rocket launches from Kennedy. When fully developed, the 16-foot diameter crew module will furnish living space and reentry protection for the astronauts.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Center Director Bob Cabana (right) speaks with a worker in Orbiter Processing Facility-1 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, as shuttle Atlantis is being prepared for it move to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB).The move called "rollover" is a major milestone in processing for the STS-135 mission to the International Space Station. Inside the VAB, the shuttle will be attached to its external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters. Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley and Mission Specialists Sandra Magnus and Rex Walheim are expected to launch in mid July, taking with them the Raffaello multipurpose logistics module packed with supplies, logistics and spare parts. The STS-135 mission also will fly a system to investigate the potential for robotically refueling existing spacecraft and return a failed ammonia pump module to help NASA better understand the failure mechanism and improve pump designs for future systems. STS-135 will be the 33rd fligh

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, all six Pratt Whitney Rocketdyne space shuttle main engines (SSMEs) from space shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 and space shuttle Atlantis' STS-135 missions sit in test cells inside the Engine Shop. For the first time, all 15 main engines are in the Engine Shop at the same time. They are being prepared for shipment to NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi for storage following the completion of the Space Shuttle Program. The engines are being repurposed for use on NASAs Space Launch System heavy lift rocket.

Technicians at Textron in Wimington, MA, perform X-ray testing on the Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) Orion heat shield on Nov. 23, 2013. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.

Technicians guide removal of the upper rigid door assembly that covers the telescope cavity on NASA's SOFIA 747SP in preparation for primary mirror removal.

On Nov. 12, 2018, inside the Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility (C3PF) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians and engineers prepare the company's CST-100 Starliner for transport to the company's testing facilities in El Segundo, California. The spacecraft is destined to fly astronauts to the International Space Station in Boeing's Crew Flight Test (CFT) as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program (CCP). The Starliner will be undergoing a series of environmental tests designed to simulate what the spacecraft will experience during different stages of flight. The agency's CCP will return human spaceflight launches to U.S. soil, providing safe, reliable and cost-effective access to low-Earth orbit on systems that meet our safety and mission requirements.

STS-135 OTS Move Underneath Orbiter Atlantis

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, crane operators and technicians practice de-stacking operations on a full-size mock-up of the Orion spacecraft and launch abort system in order to keep processing procedures and skills current. 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 2017 on NASAs Space Launch System rocket.

Artemis IV Orion Pressure Vessel Shipped to KSC. Teams at NASAs Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans prepare the completed Orion pressure vessel for the Artemis IV mission for shipment to NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The pressure vessel, which was assembled by lead contractor, Lockheed Martin, is the Orion crew module primary structure - the core upon which all other elements of Orions crew module are integrated. The structure is critical to Artemis crews as it holds the pressurized atmosphere astronauts breathe and work in a while in the vacuum of deep space. Once the module arrives at Kennedys Vehicle Assembly Building high bay, teams will begin integration of the pressure vessel with the Orion spacecraft crew module adapter and other assembly.With Artemis missions, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the lunar surface, paving the way for human exploration of the Moon and on to Mars. Image credit: NASA/Michael DeMocker

A member of the Mexican Military looks at the radar dome of an E-3 Sentry aircraft during a tour at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, Sept. 28, 2022. The dome is 30 feet in diameter, six feet thick, and is held 11 feet above the fuselage by two struts. The radar has a range of more than 250 miles and can look down to detect, identify and track enemy and friendly low-flying aircraft by eliminating ground clutter returns that confuse other radar systems.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A group of news media and social media tweeters toured the Launch Abort System Facility and viewed the launch abort system for the Orion spacecraft at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Speaking to the group is Scott Wilson, manager of Production Operations for the Orion Program. The group also toured the Launch Control Center and Vehicle Assembly Building, legacy facilities that are being upgraded by the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program at Kennedy to prepare for processing and launch of NASA's Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft. NASA is developing the Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft to provide an entirely new capability for human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit, with the flexibility to launch spacecraft for crew and cargo missions, including to an asteroid and Mars. Orions first unpiloted test flight is scheduled to launch later this year atop a Delta IV rocket. A second uncrewed flight test is scheduled for fiscal year 2

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - In Building 1555, workers help guide the fillet into place on the Pegasus XL launch vehicle. The Pegasus will launch NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer Mission, or IBEX, satellite from Kwajalein Island in the Marshall Islands, South Pacific. IBEX will make the first map of the boundary between the solar system and interstellar space. IBEX is the first mission designed to detect the edge of the solar system. As the solar wind from the sun flows out beyond Pluto, it collides with the material between the stars, forming a shock front. IBEX contains two neutral atom imagers designed to detect particles from the termination shock at the boundary between the solar system and interstellar space. IBEX also will study galactic cosmic rays, energetic particles from beyond the solar system that pose a health and safety hazard for humans exploring beyond Earth orbit. IBEX will make these observations from a highly elliptical orbit that takes it beyond th

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside the Horizontal Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the Delta IV Heavy rocket is ready for rollout to the pad. The rocket is secured on the Elevated Platform Transporter for the trip to the pad. The Delta IV Heavy will launch Orion on Exploration Flight Test-1. During its first flight test, Orion will travel farther into space than any human spacecraft has gone in more than 40 years. The data gathered during the flight will influence design decisions, validate existing computer models and innovative new approaches to space systems development, as well as reduce overall mission risks and costs for later Orion flights. Liftoff of Orion on the first flight test is planned for December 2014.

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