Space Station Assembly Procedures

Images depict workers at NASA's Kennedy Space Center managing various components for the International Space Station, showcasing heavy machinery and assembly procedures.

The launch abort system ogive panels are prepared for installation onto the Orion Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) launch abort system in the Launch Abort System Facility (LASF) at Kennedy Space Center on April 16, 2014. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, workers check the starboard integrated truss, known as S6, after its full rotation. The truss was rotated in order to remove and replace lower deck batteries. The final starboard truss in the assembly of the International Space Station, the S6 is scheduled to fly on the STS-119 space shuttle mission, whose launch date is not yet determined.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. --In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, workers stand by as an overhead crane lowers the Japanese Experiment Module, called Kibo, onto the scale for weighing. Also known as the JEM-PM, the module is the primary payload for space shuttle Discovery's STS-124 mission, which is targeted for launch to the International Space Station on April 24.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, an overhead crane lifts the Integrated Cargo Carrier-VLD (Vertical Light Deployment), part of the payload for the STS-127 mission. The ICC-VLD is being transferred to the payload canister, seen at left. The canister will deliver the ICC-VLD and other elements to Launch Pad 39A for installation in space shuttle Endeavour's payload bay. Launch is targeted for June 13.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers attach an overhead crane to the Lightweight Multi-Purpose Experiment Support Structure Carrier, or LMC, which holds an ammonia tank assembly. Part of the payload for space shuttle Discovery's STS-128 mission to the International Space Station, the carrier will be weighed and then installed in the payload canister. The STS-128 flight also will carry science and storage racks to the space station on Discovery. Launch of Discovery is targeted for Aug. 18.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Space Station Processing Facility, an overhead crane is ready to lift the Port 3/4 truss segment and move it to a payload canister for installation in the orbiter Atlantis. The truss is slated for launch on mission STS-115 no earlier than Aug. 28. The truss is the next major addition to the 11-segment integrated truss structure that will eventually span more than 300 feet on the station. The P3/P4 truss, with its two large solar arrays, will provide one-fourth of the total power-generation capability of the completed station. The P3/P4 truss is expected to be loaded into Atlantis's cargo bay around the beginning of August.

TITUSVILLE, Fla. - Technicians unpack the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, TDRS-K, after arrival at the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville, Fla. near NASAs Kennedy Space Center.Launch of the TDRS-K on the Atlas V rocket is planned for January 29, 2013. The TDRS-K spacecraft is part of the next-generation series in the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System, a constellation of space-based communication satellites providing tracking, telemetry, command and high-bandwidth data return services.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, clean-suit garbed workers secure the fairing sections around the New Horizons spacecraft for encapsulation. The fairing protects the spacecraft during launch and flight through the atmosphere. Once out of the atmosphere, the fairing is jettisoned. The compact 1,060-pound New Horizons probe carries seven scientific instruments that will characterize the global geology and geomorphology of Pluto and its moon Charon, map their surface compositions and temperatures, and examine Pluto's complex atmosphere. After that, flybys of Kuiper Belt objects from even farther in the solar system may be undertaken in an extended mission. New Horizons is the first mission in NASA's New Frontiers program of medium-class planetary missions. The spacecraft, designed for NASA by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., will fly by Pluto and Charon as early as summer 2015.

The launch abort system ogive panels are prepared for installation onto the Orion Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) launch abort system in the Launch Abort System Facility (LASF) at Kennedy Space Center on April 16, 2014. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The launch abort system is lowered by crane for installation on the Orion spacecraft for Exploration Flight Test-1 inside the Launch Abort System Facility, or LASF, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The completed crew and service modules will be tested and verified together with the launch abort system. Orion will remain inside the LASF until mid-November, when the United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket is ready for integration with the spacecraft. Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to destinations not yet explored by humans, including an asteroid and Mars. It will have emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. The first unpiloted test flight of the Orion is scheduled to launch in December atop the Delta IV Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida to an altitude of 3,600 miles above the Earth's surface. The two-or

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At the Astrotech Space Operations facility in Titusville, Fla., NASA's newly arrived GOES-P meteorological satellite is lifted into a vertical position for removal from its transportation case.GOES-P, the latest Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, was developed by NASA for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA. GOES-P is designed to watch for storm development and observed current weather conditions on Earth. Launch of GOES-P is targeted for no earlier than Feb. 25, 2010, from Launch Complex 37 aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In Orbiter Processing Facility-2 (OPF-2) at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians help position a special crane around space shuttle Atlantis so that work can begin to remove the spacecrafts forward reaction control system. The system provided some of the maneuvering capabilities to the spacecraft during its missions. 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.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside the Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane is used to lower the Orion crew module onto a work stand after it was lifted out of a special test stand. Lockheed Martin Space Systems and NASA engineers performed a series of static load tests on Orion that simulated the massive loads the spacecraft would experience during its mission.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, Exploration Flight Test 1, 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.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - At the Astrotech Payload Processing Facility on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, an overhead crane lifts the CloudSat spacecraft away from its shipping container. CloudSat was shipped from Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp. in Boulder, Colo. It will be placed on the workstand, seen on the floor in the foreground, and will undergo electrical and spacecraft transmitter testing. In combination with the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO), the spacecraft will provide never-before-seen 3-D perspectives of how clouds and aerosols form, evolve, and affect weather and climate. CALIPSO and CloudSat will fly in formation with three other satellites to enhance understanding of climate systems. The launch date for CloudSat_CALIPSO is no earlier than Aug. 22.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At Astrotech in Titusville, Fla., an overhead crane moves the GLAST spacecraft, inside its payload transportation canister, to the waiting transporter for transfer to pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. At the pad, NASA's Gamma-Ray Large Area Space Telescope will be lifted into the mobile service tower and encapsulated in the fairing for launch. GLAST is a powerful space observatory that will explore the Universe's ultimate frontier, where nature harnesses forces and energies far beyond anything possible on Earth; probe some of science's deepest questions, such as what our Universe is made of, and search for new laws of physics; explain how black holes accelerate jets of material to nearly light speed; and help crack the mystery of stupendously powerful explosions known as gamma-ray bursts. The launch date is targeted no earlier than June 3.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside the Operations and Checkout Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers position access stands near the service module for Orion, which is suspended above the floor by a movable crane. The spacecraft adapter cone for Orion is positioned on a stand and is being prepared for mating to the service module. Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to destinations not yet explored by humans, including an asteroid and Mars. It will have emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. The first unpiloted test flight of the Orion is scheduled to launch in 2014 atop a Delta IV rocket and in 2017 on NASAs Space Launch System rocket.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Express Logistics Carrier-2, or ELC-2, moves along the ceiling, past a Multi-Purpose Logistics Module, toward a transportation canister in which it will be secured for its trip to Launch Pad 39A. Once at the pad, it will be installed in space shuttle Atlantis' payload bay.The carrier is part of the payload for Atlantis' STS-129 mission to the International Space Station. The STS-129 crew will deliver two spare gyroscopes, two nitrogen tank assemblies, two pump modules, an ammonia tank assembly and a spare latching end effector for the station's robotic arm. Launch is targeted for Nov. 16.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, CALIF. - Inside the NASA spacecraft processing hangar 1610 located on North Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, Lockheed Martin workers check connections on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA-N) spacecraft. Launch of NOAA-N aboard the Boeing Delta II rocket is currently scheduled for May 11, 2005. NOAA-N is the fourth in the series of support dedicated microwave instruments for the generation of temperature, moisture, surface, and hydrological products in cloudy regions where visible and infrared (IR) instruments have decreased capability.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Orion crew and service module stack for Exploration Flight Test-1 was lifted by crane out of the test cell. The stack has been lowered onto the mating device on a stand. Technicians are attaching the stack to the mating device. A protective covering surrounds the crew module. Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to destinations not yet explored by humans, including an asteroid and Mars. It will have emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. The first unpiloted test flight of the Orion is scheduled to launch later this year atop a Delta IV Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida to an altitude of 3,600 miles above the Earth's surface. The two-orbit, four-hour flight test will help engineers evaluate the systems critic

Crane lifting the GPM Core Observatory into position for TVAC testing.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the Columbus Laboratory module is moved toward a weigh station. After being weighed, the module will be transferred to the payload canister. The European Space Agency 's largest single contribution to the International Space Station, Columbus will expand the research facilities of the station, providing crew members and scientists around the world the ability to conduct a variety of life, physical and materials science experiments. The module is approximately 23 feet long and 15 feet wide, allowing it to hold 10 large racks of experiments. The module is scheduled to be transferred to Launch Pad 39A in early November, in preparation for its journey to the station. Columbus will fly aboard space shuttle Atlantis on the STS-122 mission, targeted for launch Dec. 6.

In the Astrotech Processing Facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the Joint Polar Satellite System-1, or JPSS-1, spacecraft is prepared for placing it in a protective container, then mounting on a transport trailer for its move to Space Launch Complex 2. At the pad, JPSS-1 will be lifted for mating atop a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket. Built by Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp. of Boulder, Colorado, JPSS is the first in a series four next-generation environmental satellites in a collaborative program between the NOAA and NASA. Liftoff is scheduled to take place from Vandenberg's Space Launch Complex 2.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians, using an overhead crane, guide NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission cruise stage over a rotation stand. The cruise stage provides solar power, thrusters for navigation, and heat exchangers to the rover during its flight from Earth to Mars. To the right is the MSL heat shield. MSL's components include a car-sized rover, Curiosity, which has 10 science instruments designed to search for evidence on whether Mars has had environments favorable to microbial life, including chemical ingredients for life. The unique rover will use a laser to look inside rocks and release its gasses so that the rovers spectrometer can analyze and send the data back to Earth. Launch of MSL aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket is scheduled for Nov. 25 from Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians prepare to attach an overhead crane to NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission aeroshell, (containing the compact car-sized rover Curiosity), which will be mated to the cruise stage. The cruise stage provides solar power, thrusters for navigation, and heat exchangers to the rover during its flight from Earth to Mars. The rover Curiosity has 10 science instruments designed to search for evidence on whether Mars has had environments favorable to microbial life, including chemical ingredients for life. The unique rover will use a laser to look inside rocks and release its gasses so that the rovers spectrometer can analyze and send the data back to Earth. Launch of MSL aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket is scheduled for Nov. 25 from Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

Inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Orion crew module adapter (CMA) for Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1) is being moved 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.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - At NASAs Hangar AE on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS), Fla., technicians check the attachment of the base petals of a transportation canister around the bottom of the payload attach fitting on the Swift spacecraft. Swift is a first-of-its-kind multi-wavelength observatory dedicated to the study of gamma-ray burst (GRB) science. Its three instruments will work together to observe GRBs and afterglows in the gamma ray, X-ray, ultraviolet and optical wavebands. Swift is expected to observe more than 200 gamma-ray bursts - the most comprehensive study of GRB afterglows to date - during its 2-year mission. Swift is scheduled to launch in mid-November from Launch Pad 17-A at CCAFS.

In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians and engineers prepare a Cygnus spacecraft's pressurized cargo module for mating to its service module. Cygnus is being prepared to deliver thousands of pounds of supplies, equipment and scientific research materials on the Orbital ATK CRS-7 mission to the International Space Station. Scheduled to launch on March 19, 2017, the commercial resupply services mission will lift off atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Technicians secure NASA's Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) on the spacecraft separation system May 9, 2018, in a clean room inside Building 1555 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The explorer will launch on June 15, 2018, 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.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Inside the Space Station Processing Facility, an overhead crane carries the SPACEHAB Module towards the Payload Canister. The SPACEHAB Module will carry racks of experiments, flight hardware, spacewalk equipment and supplies to support mission STS-116 to the International Space Station. STS-116 will be mission number 20 to the station and construction flight 12A.1. Along with SPACEHAB, the mission payload on Space Shuttle Discovery includes the P5 integrated truss structure and other key components. The launch window opens Dec. 7.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, engineers and technicians prepare for a spin test of the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, spacecraft. The operation is designed to verify that MAVEN is properly balanced as it spins during the initial mission activities.MAVEN is being prepared for its scheduled launch on Nov 18, 2013 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. Positioned in an orbit above the Red Planet, MAVEN will study the upper atmosphere of Mars in unprecedented detail.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Space Station Processing Facility, an overhead crane lifts the S3/S4 integrated truss structure from a rotation stand. The truss will be moved to a work stand. Along with a third set of solar arrays and batteries, the truss is scheduled to fly on mission STS-117 aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis to the International Space Station. The crew of six astronauts will install the truss to continue assembly of the station.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Suspended from an overhead crane in the Space Station Processing Facility, the P3 Integrated Truss Structure glides along the ceiling to a workstand, at right. The port-side P3 truss is scheduled to be added to the International Space Station on mission STS-115 in 2002 aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis. The P3 will be attached to the first port truss segment, P1, being installed in an earlier mission

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Fla., a hoist is attached to NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, in order to lift and rotate it. SDO is the first space weather research network mission in NASA's Living With a Star Program. The spacecraft's long-term measurements will give solar scientists in-depth information about changes in the sun's magnetic field and insight into how they affect Earth. In preparation for its anticipated November launch, engineers will perform a battery of comprehensive tests to ensure SDO can withstand the stresses and vibrations of the launch itself, as well as what it will encounter in the space environment after launch.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- In Space Systems International's Payload Processing Facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians are rotating the Aquarius/SAC-D spacecraft into a vertical position for testing. Following final tests, the spacecraft will be integrated to a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket in preparation for the targeted June launch. Aquarius, the NASA-built primary instrument on the SAC-D spacecraft, will provide new insights into how variations in ocean surface salinity relate to fundamental climate processes on its three-year mission.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Suspended from an overhead crane in the Space Station Processing Facility, the P3 Integrated Truss Structure glides along the ceiling to a workstand, at right. The port-side P3 truss is scheduled to be added to the International Space Station on mission STS-115 in 2002 aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis. . The P3 will be attached to the first port truss segment, P1, being installed in an earlier mission

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. At the Astrotech payload processing facility, workers separate the upper and lower canisters around the Dawn spacecraft. Dawn was returned from Launch Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station to Astrotech to await a new launch date. The launch opportunity extends from Sept. 7 to Oct. 15. Dawn is the ninth mission in NASA's Discovery Program. The spacecraft will be the first to orbit two planetary bodies, asteroid Vesta and dwarf planet Ceres, during a single mission. Vesta and Ceres lie in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. It is also NASA’s first purely scientific mission powered by three solar electric ion propulsion engines. NASA/Charisse Nahser

Inside the high bay of the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Orion's crew module adapter is mated to the European Service Module on Nov. 26, 2018. For the first time, NASA will use a European-built system as a critical element to power an American spacecraft, extending the international cooperation of the International Space Station into deep space. The European Service Module is a unique collaboration across space agencies and industry, including the European Space Agency's prime contractor, Airbus, and 10 European countries. The completion of service module work in Europe and shipment to Kennedy signifies a major milestone toward NASA's human deep space exploration missions to the Moon and beyond.

GRAIL put into Canister and Canister lifted onto Transporter

Solar panels for the International Space Station (ISS) are uncrated in the Space Station Processing Facility. They are the first set of U.S.-provided solar arrays and batteries for ISS, scheduled to be part of mission STS-97 in December 1999. The mission, fifth in the U.S. flights for construction of ISS, will build and enhance the capabilities of Space Station. It will deliver the solar panels as well as radiators to provide cooling. The Shuttle will spend 5 days docked to the station, which at that time will be staffed by the first station crew. Two space walks will be conducted to complete assembly operations while the arrays are attached and unfurled. A communications system for voice and telemetry also will be installed

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Ball Aerospace technicians at Astrotech in Titusville, Fla., attach the high-gain communications antenna onto the Deep Impact spacecraft. A NASA Discovery mission, Deep Impact will probe beneath the surface of Comet Tempel 1 on July 4, 2005, when the comet is 83 million miles from Earth, and reveal the secrets of its interior. During the encounter phase, the high-gain antenna transmits near-real-time images of the impact back to Earth. The spacecraft is scheduled to launch Jan. 8 aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket from Launch Complex 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The first set of two Ogive panels for the Orion Launch Abort System was uncrated inside the Launch Abort System Facility, or LASF, at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. One of the panels is secured on a storage stand at the other end of the facility. The second panel is being lifted by crane and technicians are monitoring the progress as it is being moved to the storage stand. During processing, the panels will be secured around the Orion crew module and attached to the Launch Abort System.Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to destinations not yet explored by humans, including an asteroid and Mars. It will have emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. The first unpiloted test flight of Orion is scheduled to launch in 2014 atop a Delta IV rocket and in 2017 on NASAs Space Launch System rocket.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center, the Multi-Use Logistic Equipment, or MULE, carrier is moved toward the payload canister. The carrier is one of four associated with the STS-125 mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. It will be installed in the payload canister for transfer to Launch Pad 39A. At the pad, all the carriers will be loaded into space shuttle Atlantis payload bay. Launch of Atlantis is targeted for Oct. 10.

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

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

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Operations and Checkout Building, the Joint Airlock Module is lowered toward a stand on the floor where it will be moved to a horizontal position. Then it will be lifted into the payload canister for transfer to the Space Station Processing Facility. There it will continue to undergo preflight processing for the STS-104 mission scheduled for launch aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis May 17, 2001. The Joint Airlock Module is the gateway from which crew members aboard the International Space Station will enter and exit the 470-ton orbiting research facility

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, operations are under way to place the International Space Station's Node 3, named Tranquility, into a payload transportation canister for its move to Launch Pad 39A. Here, Tranquility is lifted high above its workstand.The primary payload for the space shuttle Endeavour's STS-130 mission, Tranquility is a pressurized module that will provide room for many of the space station's life support systems. Attached to one end of Tranquility is a cupola, a unique work area with six windows on its sides and one on top. The cupola resembles a circular bay window and will provide a vastly improved view of the station's exterior. The multi-directional view will allow the crew to monitor spacewalks and docking operations, as well as provide a spectacular view of Earth and other celestial objects. The module was built in Turin, Italy, by Thales Alenia Space for the European Space Agency. L

Technicians move NOAAs Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-T (GOES-T) inside the Astrotech Space Operations facility in Titusville, Florida, on Jan. 28, 2022. The spacecraft is being prepared for encapsulation inside its protective payload fairings. GOES-T is scheduled to launch on March 1, 2022, atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 541 rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. GOES-T is the third satellite in the GOES-R series that will continue to help meteorologists observe and predict local weather events that affect public safety. The launch is being managed by NASAs Launch Services Program based at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Americas multi-user spaceport.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- At Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Fla., workers guide the upper transportation canister as it is lowered onto the Dawn spacecraft. The canister will be attached to the bottom segments already in place. The canister will protect the spacecraft and booster during transfer to Launch Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS). During its nearly decade-long mission, the Dawn mission will study the asteroid Vesta and dwarf planet Ceres, celestial bodies believed to have accreted early in the history of the solar system. To carry out its scientific mission, the Dawn spacecraft will carry a visible camera, a visible and infrared mapping spectrometer, and a gamma ray and neutron spectrometer, whose data will be used in combination to characterize these bodies. In addition to the three instruments, radiometric and optical navigation data will provide data relating to the gravity field and thus bulk properties and internal structure of the two

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- At Vandenberg Air Force Base's Astrotech processing facility in California, NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, spacecraft is situated on a work stand. At left on the spacecraft is the fixed panel solar array. In front, the square is the HGA Slotted Array (Ku-Band). The satellite will survey the entire sky at infrared wavelengths, creating a cosmic clearinghouse of hundreds of millions of objects, which will be catalogued, providing a vast storehouse of knowledge about the solar system, the Milky Way, and the universe. Launch is scheduled no earlier than Dec. 10.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside the Operations and Checkout Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the spacecraft adapter cone for the Orion vehicle is being prepared to be mated to the service module. In the background, the service module for Orion is suspended above the floor by a movable crane.Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to destinations not yet explored by humans, including an asteroid and Mars. It will have emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. The first unpiloted test flight of the Orion is scheduled to launch in 2014 atop a Delta IV rocket and in 2017 on NASAs Space Launch System rocket.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Inside the Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers monitor the progress as a crane begins to lift the Orion crew module from its processing stand and transfer it to a dolly. Orion is being prepared for Exploration Flight Test 1, or EFT-1. 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 United Launch Alliance Delta IV heavy rocket. A second uncrewed flight test is scheduled for 2017 on the Space Launch System rocket.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, an overhead crane lowers the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module, or MPLM, into a payload canister.Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley and Mission Specialists Sandra Magnus and Rex Walheim are targeted to lift off on space shuttle Atlantis July 8, taking with them the MPLM packed with supplies, logistics and spare parts to the International Space Station. 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 the Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians monitor the progress as a crane lifts the top platform of a test stand for the Orion crew module. Lockheed Martin Space Systems and NASA engineers are preparing Orion for a series of static load tests that simulate the massive loads the spacecraft would experience during its mission. 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, Exploration Flight Test 1, 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.

In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a Cygnus spacecraft's pressurized cargo module (background) and its service module (foreground) are being prepared for mating for the Orbital ATK CRS-7 mission to the International Space Station. Cygnus is being prepared to deliver thousands of pounds of supplies, equipment and scientific research materials on the Scheduled to launch on March 19, 2017, the commercial resupply services mission will lift off atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Inside the Astrotech Space Operations high bay at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians prepare the canister, at right, for installation around NASA's Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2), at left, on Aug. 25, 2018. The satellite will be transported to Space Launch Complex 2 where it will be hoisted up by crane and attached to the United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket. Launch is scheduled for Sept. 15, 2018. ICESat-2 will measure the height of a changing Earth, one laser pulse at a time, 10,000 laser pulses a second. The satellite will carry the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS). ICESat-2 will help scientists investigate why, and how much our planet's frozen and icy areas, called the cryosphere, are changing in a warming climate.

Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians are opening the hatch on the Orbital ATK Cygnus pressurized cargo module to prepare for late stowage of supplies and hardware. The Orbital ATK CRS-7 commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station is scheduled to launch atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station targeted for March 24, 2017. Cygnus will deliver 7,600 pounds of supplies, equipment and scientific research materials to the space station.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Fla., technicians conduct illumination tests on solar array panel #1 with its magnetometer boom for NASA's Juno spacecraft.Juno is scheduled to launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V from Cape Canaveral, Fla. Aug. 5.The solar-powered spacecraft will orbit Jupiter's poles 33 times to find out more about the gas giant's origins, structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere and investigate the existence of a solid planetary core.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center, an overhead crane lifts the Flight Support System carrier with the Soft Capture Mechanism under protective cover. The carrier is one of four associated with the STS-125 mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. It will be installed in the payload canister for transfer to Launch Pad 39A. At the pad, all the carriers will be loaded into space shuttle Atlantis payload bay. Launch of Atlantis is targeted for Oct. 10.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, or PHSF, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane lowers the Multi-Use Lightweight Equipment, or MULE, carrier onto a stand. The carrier contains hardware for the STS-125 Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission that has been returned to the PHSF to await a new launch date for the mission. Atlantis' targeted launch on Oct. 14 was delayed when a system that transfers science data from the orbiting observatory to Earth malfunctioned on Sept. 27. The new target launch date is under review.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At the Astrotech payload processing facility, the second cover is placed over NASA's Kepler spacecraft. Kepler will be moved to the Hazardous Processing Facility for fueling. Kepler is designed to survey more than 100,000 stars in our galaxy to determine the number of sun-like stars that have Earth-size and larger planets, including those that lie in a star's "habitable zone," a region where liquid water, and perhaps life, could exist. If these Earth-size worlds do exist around stars like our sun, Kepler is expected to be the first to find them and the first to measure how common they are. The liftoff of Kepler aboard a Delta II rocket is currently planned for 10:48 p.m. EST March 5 from Space Launch Complex 17 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Engineers prepare to remove shipping material from around NASAs Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution MAVEN spacecraft inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility on Aug. 3, 2013, at the agencys Kennedy Space Center in Florida. MAVEN will be prepared inside the facility for its scheduled November launch to Mars. Positioned in an orbit above the Red Planet, MAVEN will study the upper atmosphere of Mars in unprecedented detail.

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

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, workers prepare to install the final solar array wing for the International Space Station onto the S6 truss element. Scheduled to launch on the STS-119 mission, space shuttle Discovery will carry the S6 truss segment to complete the 361-foot-long backbone of the International Space Station. The truss includes the fourth pair of solar array wings and electronics that convert sunlight to power for the orbiting laboratory. Launch is targeted for Feb. 12, 2009.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At the Astrotech Space Operations facility in Titusville, Fla., spacecraft technicians prepare the high-gain communications antenna on the Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, for stowage following testing to verify the spacecraft's readiness for launch.SDO is the first space weather research network mission in NASA's Living With a Star Program. The spacecraft's long-term measurements will give solar scientists in-depth information about changes in the sun's magnetic field and insight into how they affect Earth. Liftoff on an Atlas V rocket is scheduled for Feb. 3, 2010.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Technicians prepare to lift a special fixture inside the high bay of the Operations & Checkout Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The fixture is designed to enable precise pre-launch processing of the Orion spacecraft. An Orion capsule is being prepared to make a flight test in 2014 on a mission that will not carry any astronauts. Photo by Tim Jacobs

STS-132 MINI RESEARCH MODULE-1 INSTALL TO CANISTER

STS-134 S-Band Support Assembly (SASA) Lift to ELC-3

Orion EFT-1 Crew Module Being Uncrated

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility, the overhead crane lowers the S5 integrated truss into the payload canister. The external stowage platform 3 (ESP3) is already in the canister, at left. Endeavour is targeted for launch on Aug. 9 to the International Space Station. The mission will continue space station construction by delivering the third starboard truss segment, as well as carrying the ESP3 and the SPACEHAB module.

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

Inside the Launch Abort System Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane lowers the Orion heat shield from Exploration Flight Test-1 onto a transporter for its move to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). The heat shield is being transferred from the Orion Program to the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program, Landing and Recovery Operations. In the VAB, the heat shield will be integrated with the Orion ground test article and used for future underway recovery testing.

The spacecraft that will carry NASA's Perseverance rover to Mars is examined prior to an acoustic test in the Environmental Test Facility at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. From the bottom up, is the complete cruise stage, which will power and guide the Mars 2020 spacecraft on its seven-month voyage to the Red Planet. Directly above that is the aeroshell (white back shell and barely visible black heat shield), which will protect the vehicle during cruise as well as during its fiery descent into the Martian atmosphere. Not visible (because it's cocooned inside the aeroshell) is the completed rocket-powered descent stage and the surrogate rover (a stand-in for the real rover, which at the time was undergoing final assembly in JPL's High Bay 1 cleanroom). The image was taken on April 11, 2019.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians guide the backshell as it is lowered over NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover, Curiosity, for encapsulation. The backshell, a protective cover, carries the parachute and several components used during later stages of entry, descent and landing. A United Launch Alliance Atlas V-541 configuration will be used to loft MSL into space. MSL's components include a compact car-sized rover, Curiosity, which has 10 science instruments designed to search for evidence on whether Mars has had environments favorable to microbial life, including chemical ingredients for life. The unique rover will use a laser to look inside rocks and release its gasses so that the rovers spectrometer can analyze and send the data back to Earth. MSL is scheduled to launch Nov. 25 with a window extending to Dec. 18 and arrival at Mars Aug. 2012.

The Remote Manipulator System (RMS) eases a mannequin representing an astronaut into position for an STS-61 Hubble Space Telescope (HST) servicing task in the Space Shuttle mockup and integration laboratory at JSC (35699, 35703); Wide-angle view of the RMS easing a mannequin into position for work on the HST mock-up in bldg 9N (35700-1); Swiss scientist Claude Nicollier, mission specialist, works the control of the RMS during a training session in the manipulator development facility (MDF) in JSC's Shuttle mock-up and integration laboratory. Astronaut Kenneth D. Bowersox (left), pilot, is among the other crewmembers in training for the STS-61 HST servicing mission (35702).

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Lockheed Martin technicians examine NASA's twin Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory lunar spacecraft before they are moved onto workstands in the Hazardous Processing Facility (HPF) at Astrotech Space Operation's payload processing facility in Titusville, Fla. In the HPF, the spacecraft will undergo two days of fueling activities.GRAIL will fly in tandem orbits around the moon for several months to measure its gravity field. GRAIL's primary science objectives are to determine the structure of the lunar interior, from crust to core, and to advance understanding of the thermal evolution of the moon. Launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket from Space Launch Complex 17B on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is scheduled for Sept. 8.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo is lifted from its stand in the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Leonardo is part of space shuttle Endeavour's payload on the STS-126 mission to the International Space Station. The module will be moved across the facility and installed in the waiting payload canister for transfer to Launch Pad 39A. At the pad, the payload canister will release its cargo into the Payload Changeout Room. Later, the payload will be installed in space shuttle Endeavour's payload bay. The module contains supplies and equipment, including additional crew quarters, equipment for the regenerative life support system and spare hardware. Endeavour is targeted for launch on Nov. 14.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At the Astrotech Space Operations facility in Titusville, Fla., NASA's newly arrived GOES-P meteorological satellite is lifted from its transportation case.GOES-P, the latest Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, was developed by NASA for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA. GOES-P is designed to watch for storm development and observed current weather conditions on Earth. Launch of GOES-P is targeted for no earlier than Feb. 25, 2010, from Launch Complex 37 aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket.

Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. - At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, NASAs Interstellar Boundary Explorer, or IBEX, is covered with protective material for a move to the stand in the foreground. The overhead crane will be attached to make the move. Designed to detect the edge of the Solar System, the IBEX satellite will make the first map of the boundary between the Solar System and interstellar space. IBEX is targeted for launch from the Kwajalein Atoll, a part of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean, on Oct. 19.

NASAs Robotic Refueling Mission 3 arrived at Kennedy Space Centers Space Station Processing Facility on May 8. The mission, which is scheduled to launch to the International Space Station later this year, will advance satellite servicing capabilities that will enable long duration, deep space exploration.

The Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) booster (right) is lifted out of its container after arriving at Kennedy Space Center's Vertical Processing Facility. The IUS will be mated with the Chandra X-ray Observatory (at left) and then undergo testing to validate the IUS/Chandra connections and check the orbiter avionics interfaces. Following that, an end-to-end test (ETE) will be conducted to verify the communications path to Chandra, commanding it as if it were in space. With the world's most powerful X-ray telescope, Chandra will allow scientists from around the world to see previously invisible black holes and high-temperature gas clouds, giving the observatory the potential to rewrite the books on the structure and evolution of our universe. Chandra is scheduled for launch July 22 aboard Space Shuttle Columbia, on mission STS-93

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Technicians secure the aeroshell for Mars Exploration Rover 2 to a workstand in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility. Set to launch in 2003, the MER Mission will consist of two identical rovers designed to cover roughly 110 yards each Martian day. Each rover will carry five scientific instruments that will allow it to search for evidence of liquid water that may have been present in the planet's past. The rovers will be identical to each other, but will land at different regions of Mars. The first rover has a launch window opening May 30, and the second rover, a window opening June 25, 2003.

An overhead crane moves the JEM Experiment Logistics Module Pressurized Section above the floor of the Space Station Processing Facility to a scale for weight and center-of-gravity measurements. The module will then be moved to a work stand. The logistics module is one of the components of the Japanese Experiment Module or JEM, also known as Kibo, which means "hope" in Japanese. Kibo comprises six components: two research facilities -- the Pressurized Module and Exposed Facility; a Logistics Module attached to each of them; a Remote Manipulator System; and an Inter-Orbit Communication System unit. Kibo also has a scientific airlock through which experiments are transferred and exposed to the external environment of space. Kibo is Japan's first human space facility and its primary contribution to the station. Kibo will enhance the unique research capabilities of the orbiting complex by providing an additional environment in which astronauts can conduct science experiments. The various c

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility, overhead cranes lower the Mobile Base System onto the weight and center of gravity stand. Part of the payload on mission STS-111 to the International Space Station, the MBS will be installed on the Mobile Transporter to complete the Canadian Mobile Servicing System, or MSS. The mechanical arm will then have the capability to "inchworm" from the U.S. Lab Destiny to the MSS and travel along the truss to work sites. STS-111 is the second utilization flight (UF-2) to the Space Station and will also carry the Expedition 5 crew to replace Expedition 4. Launch is scheduled for May 31, 2002

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Inside the Astrotech payload processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, NASA's Glory spacecraft will be removed from its protective covering. Next, the spacecraft will be encapsulated in its protective payload fairing before it is transported to Space Launch Complex 576-E and joined with the Taurus XL rocket's third stage. Once Glory reaches orbit, it will collect data on the properties of aerosols and black carbon. It also will help scientists understand how the sun's irradiance affects Earth's climate. Launch is scheduled for 5:09 a.m. EST Feb. 23. For information, visit www.nasa.gov/glory.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- At the Astrotech processing facility on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, is prepared for its move from the test stand for mating to its Payload Attach Fitting.The satellite will survey the entire sky at infrared wavelengths, creating a cosmic clearinghouse of hundreds of millions of objects which will be catalogued and provide a vast storehouse of knowledge about the solar system, the Milky Way, and the universe. Launch is scheduled for Dec. 7.

STS-131 LMC Support Structure Carrier Lift & Installation in Canister

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians prepare to install a resupply rack into the Permanent Multipurpose Module, or PMM. The Leonardo multi-purpose logistics module, or MPLM, is being modified to become the PMM that will carry supplies and critical spare parts to the International Space Station aboard space shuttle Discoverys STS-133 mission. Discovery, targeted to launch Nov. 1, will leave the module behind so it can be used for microgravity experiments in fluid physics, materials science, biology and biotechnology.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside the Operations and Checkout Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers position the spacecraft adapter cone for Orion underneath the service module, which is suspended above the floor by a movable crane. The service module will be attached to the adapter cone.Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to destinations not yet explored by humans, including an asteroid and Mars. It will have emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. The first unpiloted test flight of the Orion is scheduled to launch in 2014 atop a Delta IV rocket and in 2017 on NASAs Space Launch System rocket.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- At Astrotech, photographers dressed in clean-room suits are able to shoot the Dawn spacecraft in its entirety before it is prepared for launch. Seen on each side are the folded solar array panels. At the top on the near side is the "box," containing the visual and infrared mapping spectrometer, which is designed to measure how much radiation of different "colors" is reflected or emitted by an object. Above it are the framing cameras, which are the scientific imaging system of the Dawn Mission. Dawn's goal is to characterize the conditions and processes of the solar system's earliest epoch by investigating in detail the largest protoplanets that have remained intact since their formations: asteroid Vesta and the dwarf planet Ceres. They reside in the extensive zone between Mars and Jupiter together with many other smaller bodies, called the asteroid belt.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the cover of the shipping container is lifted to reveal the Multi-Use Lightweight Equipment (MULE) carrier inside. The MULE is part of the payload for the fifth and final shuttle servicing mission to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, STS-125. The MULE carrier will join the Flight Support System, the Super Lightweight Interchangeable Carrier and the Orbital Replacement Unit Carrier in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility where the Hubble payload is being prepared for launch. The Relative Navigation Sensors and the New Outer Blanket Layers will be on the MULE. The payload is scheduled to go to Launch Pad 39A in mid-September to be installed into Atlantis' payload bay. Atlantis is targeted to launch Oct. 8 at 1:34 a.m. EDT. .

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside the Operations and Checkout Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians monitor the progress as a crane is used to move the Orion Exploration Flight Test 1 crew module to the base of a birdcage tool. The birdcage will be used to continue installation of external components in preparation for Orions first uncrewed test flight in 2014 atop a Delta IV 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. A second uncrewed flight test is scheduled for 2017 on NASAs Space Launch System rocket.

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

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the Fine Guidance Sensor Scientific Instrument Protective Enclosure, or FSIPE, cover has been installed on the Orbital Replacement Unit Carrier, or ORUC. The ORUC is one of three carriers that are being prepared for the integration of telescope science instruments, both internal and external replacement components, as well as the flight support equipment to be used by the astronauts during the fifth and final Hubble servicing mission, STS-125. Launch is targeted for Oct. 8.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In NASA Kennedy Space Centers Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, Boeing workers attach a crane to the top of the cover surrounding the third stage, or upper stage, for the New Horizons spacecraft. The third stage is a Boeing STAR 48 solid-propellant kick motor. The launch vehicle for New Horizons is the Atlas V rocket, scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., during a 35-day window that opens Jan. 11, and fly through the Pluto system as early as summer 2015.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Atlantis' payload bay doors are closed around the cargo for Atlantis' STS-129 mission to the International Space Station and secured for launch. The cargo includes the Express Logistics Carriers 1 and 2.The STS-129 crew will deliver two spare gyroscopes, two nitrogen tank assemblies, two pump modules, an ammonia tank assembly and a spare latching end effector for the station's robotic arm. Launch is set for Nov. 16.

STS-130 ENDEAVOUR PAYLOAD BAY DOOR CLOSURE

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside the Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane lifts the Orion crew module out of a special test stand. Lockheed Martin Space Systems and NASA engineers performed a series of static load tests on Orion that simulated the massive loads the spacecraft would experience during its mission.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, Exploration Flight Test 1, 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.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Workers in the Space Station Processing Facility look over the Mobile Base System (MBS), part of the payload on mission STS-111 to the International Space Station. The MBS will be installed on the Mobile Transporter to complete the Canadian Mobile Servicing System, or MSS. The mechanical arm will then have the capability to "inchworm" from the U.S. Lab Destiny to the MSS and travel along the truss to work sites. STS-111 is the second utilization flight (UF-2) to the Space Station and will also carry the Expedition 5 crew to replace Expedition 4. Launch is scheduled for May 2, 2002

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Lockheed Martin technicians push NASA's mylar-covered twin Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory lunar spacecraft toward the work area of the Hazardous Processing Facility (HPF) at Astrotech Space Operation's payload processing facility in Titusville, Fla. In the HPF, the spacecraft will undergo two days of fueling activities.GRAIL will fly in tandem orbits around the moon for several months to measure its gravity field. GRAIL's primary science objectives are to determine the structure of the lunar interior, from crust to core, and to advance understanding of the thermal evolution of the moon. Launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket from Space Launch Complex 17B on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is scheduled for Sept. 8.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility, an overhead crane carrying the P3 Integrated Truss Structure moves into place over a workstand where it will deposit the truss. The port-side P3 truss is scheduled to be added to the International Space Station on mission STS-115 in 2002 aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis. The P3 will be attached to the first port truss segment, P1, being installed in an earlier mission

This radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG), at center, is ready for electrical verification testing now that it has been installed on the Cassini spacecraft in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility. A handling fixture, at far left, remains attached. This is the third and final RTG to be installed on Cassini for the prelaunch tests. The RTGs will provide electrical power to Cassini on its 6.7-year trip to the Saturnian system and during its four-year mission at Saturn. RTGs use heat from the natural decay of plutonium to generate electric power. The generators enable spacecraft to operate at great distances from the Sun where solar power systems are not feasible. The Cassini mission is targeted for an Oct. 6 launch aboard a Titan IVB/Centaur expendable launch vehicle

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