Space Technology Processing

Technicians working in clean room environments with satellites and spacecraft, highlighting preparation and technology in space missions.

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

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a worker prepares the equipment to help close the hatch on the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo before it is transferred to a payload canister. Leonardo is the payload for space shuttle Endeavour's STS-126 mission to the International Space Station. The 15-day mission will deliver equipment and supplies to the space station in preparation for expansion from a three- to six-person resident crew aboard the complex. Leonardo holds supplies and equipment, including additional crew quarters, equipment for the regenerative life support system and spare hardware. Endeavour is targeted for launch Nov. 14.

Technicians dressed in clean room suits monitor the progress as a crane lowers NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) onto a test stand inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHSF) at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Inside the PHSF, the satellite will be processed and prepared for its flight. TESS is scheduled to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. TESS is the next step in NASA's search for planets outside our solar system, known as exoplanets. TESS is a NASA Astrophysics Explorer mission led and operated by MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and managed by NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Dr. George Ricker of MITs Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research serves as principal investigator for the mission. Additional partners include Orbital ATK, NASAs Ames Research Center, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and the Space Telescope Scie

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

In the Astrotech processing facility in Titusville, Florida, near NASA's Kennedy Space Center, on Wednesday, May 23, 2018, technicians and engineers deploy the magnetometer boom on NASA's Parker Solar Probe. The Parker Solar Probe will launch on a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida no earlier than Aug. 4, 2018. The mission will perform the closest-ever observations of a star when it travels through the Sun's atmosphere, called the corona. The probe will rely on measurements and imaging to revolutionize our understanding of the corona and the Sun-Earth connection.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Space Station Processing Facility, STS-117 Mission Specialist James Reilly works with the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM). Reilly and STS-115 Mission Specialist Joseph Tanner are at KSC for equipment familiarization, a routine part of astronaut training and launch preparations.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, engineers and technicians position the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, spacecraft on a work stand for electrical testing.MAVEN is being prepared for its scheduled launch in November 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.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, STS-127 crew members are lowered into space shuttle Endeavour's payload bay for a close look at installed hardware. In the foreground are Commander Mark Polansky and Mission Specialist Julie Payette. The crew members are at Kennedy for a crew equipment interface test, which provides hands-on training and observation of shuttle and flight hardware. Endeavour will deliver the Japanese Experiment Module's Experiment Logistics Module-Exposed Section, or ELM-ES, to the International Space Station on STS-127. Launch is targeted for mid-June, 2009.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians prepare to move a system that will investigate the potential for robotically refueling existing spacecraft in orbit into the Lightweight Multi-Purpose Experiment Support Structure Carrier (LMC). Called the Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM), the system is being processed to fly aboard space shuttle Atlantis in the LMC on the STS-135 mission to the International Space Station.Also going up will be the Raffaello multipurpose logistics module packed with supplies, logistics and spare parts. The mission also will return a failed ammonia pump module to help NASA better understand the failure mechanism and improve pump designs for future systems. STS-135, targeted to launch June 28, 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. -- Technicians at Astrotech's payload processing facility in Titusville, Fla. attach an overhead crane to the high-gain antenna that will be installed to NASA's Juno spacecraft. Juno is scheduled to launch aboard an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, Fla. Aug. 5.The solar-powered spacecraft will orbit Jupiter's poles 33 times to find out more about the gas giant's origins, structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere and investigate the existence of a solid planetary core.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - Orbital Sciences technicians closely monitor the second section of the Pegasus payload fairing before it is secured around NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, inside the Orbital Sciences processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. NuSTAR already is mated to its Pegasus XL rocket, which is positioned behind the spacecraft outside the environmental enclosure. Encapsulation of NuSTAR in its fairing is a significant prelaunch milestone.The fairing will protect the spacecraft from the heat and aerodynamic pressure generated during ascent to orbit. 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 remna

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center, crew members with the STS-125 mission get a close look at some of the equipment associated with their mission to service NASAs Hubble Space Telescope. At right, Mission Specialist Michael Good holds a Rate Sensor Unit. From left are Mission Specialists Andrew Feustel and Mike Massimino, Johnson Space Center EVA Trainer Thomas Gonzales-Torres, and Mission Specialist John Grunsfeld. The STS-125 crew is taking part in a crew equipment interface test, which provides experience handling tools, equipment and hardware they will use on their mission. Space shuttle Atlantis is targeted to launch on the STS-125 mission Oct. 10.

Cape Canaveral, Fla. -- At the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians using an overhead crane, move the aeroshell, a component of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), back to a work stand after a spin and balance test. The aeroshell consists of the backshell which carries the parachute and several components used during later stages of entry, descent and landing, and the spacecraft's heat shield.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. 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 Statio

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

Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians perform final cargo installation in the Orbital ATK Cygnus pressurized cargo module. 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 no earlier than March 21, 2017. Cygnus will deliver 7,600 pounds of supplies, equipment and scientific research materials to the space station.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a technician inspects one of the solar arrays for the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN spacecraft. MAVEN is being prepared inside the facility for its scheduled November launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket to Mars. Positioned in an orbit above the Red Planet, MAVEN will study the upper atmosphere of Mars in unprecedented detail.

A Lockheed Martin employee works to secure the Orion crew module for the Artemis 1 mission onto a stand inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 16, 2019. Work will begin to secure the crew module atop its service module in the final assembly and test cell. The Orion spacecraft is being prepared for its uncrewed test flight atop NASAs Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. Artemis 1 is the first test flight of the SLS and Orion spacecraft as an integrated system. Orion will travel thousands of miles beyond the Moon during a mission that will test its systems in space and during re-entry. The spacecraft will return to Earth and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean where it will be retrieved and transported back to Kennedy.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians help lift the control moment gyro, or CMG, from its container. The CMG is part of the payload on the STS-129 mission to the International Space Station. On the mission, space shuttle Atlantis also will deliver the orbital spares and replacement parts to sustain the life of the station.

In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians and engineers remove a protective cover on the Cosmic-Ray Energetics and Mass investigation, or CREAM, instrument. It is designed to measure the charges of cosmic rays to better understand what gives them such incredible energies, and how that effects the composition of the universe. The instrument will be launched to the space station on the SpaceX CRS-12 commercial resupply mission in August 2017.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- At Astrotech's Payload Processing Facility, technicians check the Dawn spacecraft as it is lowered onto a transporter. Dawn will be moved to the Hazardous Processing Facility for fueling. Dawn is scheduled to launch June 30 aboard a Delta II rocket from Launch Complex 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Dawn's mission is to explore two of the asteroid belt's most intriguing and dissimilar occupants: asteroid Vesta and the dwarf planet Ceres.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility bay 2 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, workers prepare to install a camera pack on the orbiter boom sensor system in space shuttle Endeavour's payload bay. The scheduled launch vehicle for the STS-126 missions, Endeavour will deliver a multi-purpose logistics module to the International Space Station. Launch is targeted for Nov. 10. Endeavour is also the backup shuttle, if needed for rescue, for the STS-125 mission in October that will make repairs on NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. For that purpose, it is designated STS-400.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Crew members of mission STS-124 are in the Space Station Processing Facility to look over equipment. The crew comprises Commander Mark Kelly, Pilot Kenneth Ham, and Mission Specialists Karen Nyberg, Ronald Garan, Michael Fossum, Stephen Bowen and Akihiko Hoshide, who represents the Japanese Aerospace and Exploration Agency. Seen here is Garan. The STS-124 mission is the second of three flights that will launch components to complete the Japanese pressurized module, the Kibo laboratory. The mission will include two spacewalks to install the new lab and its remote manipulator system. The lab's logistics module, which will have been installed in a temporary location during STS-123, will be attached to the new lab. The mission is scheduled to launch in 2008.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians attach the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution spacecraft, or MAVEN, to the rotation fixture for further testing and prelaunch preparations next week. MAVEN is being readied for its scheduled November launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket to Mars. Positioned in an orbit above the Red Planet, MAVEN will study the upper atmosphere of Mars in unprecedented detail.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, CALIF.- At Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., spacecraft functional testing is underway on the SciSat-1. The solar arrays are being attached and the communications systems are also being checked out. The SciSat-1 weighs approximately 330 pounds and after launch will be placed in a 400-mile-high polar orbit to investigate processes that control the distribution of ozone in the upper atmosphere. The data from the satellite will provide Canadian and international scientists with improved measurements relating to global ozone processes and help policymakers assess existing environmental policy and develop protective measures for improving the health of our atmosphere, preventing further ozone depletion. The mission is designed to last two years.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, space shuttle Endeavour's STS-123 Pilot Gregory Johnson looks over part of the payload on the mission, the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator, known as Dextre. Dextre will work with the mobile base and Canadarm2 on the International Space Station to perform critical construction and maintenance tasks. The crew is at Kennedy for crew equipment interface test, a process of familiarization with payloads, hardware and the space shuttle. The STS-123 mission is targeted for launch on Feb. 14. It will be the 25th assembly flight of the station.

VANDENBERG AFB, Calif. - Technicians test fit the separation system that will push NASA's IRIS spacecraft away from an Orbital Pegasus XL rocket when IRIS reaches its proper orbit after launch. IRIS is short for Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph and the spacecraft's mission will improve our understanding of how heat and energy move through the deepest levels of the suns atmosphere, thereby increasing our ability to forecast space weather.

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

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Technicians move a system that will investigate the potential for robotically refueling existing spacecraft in orbit from a processing lab to a high bay in the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The move prepares the system for its lift into the Lightweight Multi-Purpose Experiment Support Structure Carrier (LMC), which will carry it into orbit. Called the Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM), the system will be processed to fly aboard space shuttle Atlantis on the STS-135 mission to the International Space Station.Also going up will be the Raffaello multipurpose logistics module packed with supplies, logistics and spare parts. The mission also will return a failed ammonia pump module to help NASA better understand the failure mechanism and improve pump designs for future systems. STS-135, targeted to launch June 28, will be the 33rd flight of Atlantis, the 37th shuttle mission to the space station, and the 135th and final

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In Discovery's payload bay in Orbiter Processing Facility bay 3, STS-120 crew members are getting hands-on experience with a winch that is used to manually close the payload bay doors in the event that becomes necessary. At center is Pilot George D. Zamka and at right is Expedition 16 Flight Engineer Daniel M. Tani. The STS-120 crew is at Kennedy for a crew equipment interface test, or CEIT, which includes harness training, inspection of the thermal protection system and camera operation for planned extravehicular activities, or EVAs. The STS-120 mission will deliver the Harmony module, christened after a school contest, which will provide attachment points for European and Japanese laboratory modules on the International Space Station. Known in technical circles as Node 2, it is similar to the six-sided Unity module that links the U.S. and Russian sections of the station. Built in Italy for the United States, Harmony will be the first new U.S. pressurize

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

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At the Astrotech Space Operations facility in Titusville, Fla., NASA Goddard Space Flight Center technician Carl Clause installs an aft omni coupler on the bagged Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO.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.

Inside the high bay of the Astrotech Space Operations facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians attach NASA's Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) to the payload direct mate adapter, on Aug. 24, 2018. The satellite is being prepared for its scheduled launch from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg on the final United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket. 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.

LCROSS in Ames Clean room N-240 - calibration and camera check out wit Kim Ennico (l) and Mark Shirley, Northrup Grumman Redondo Beach, CA remove rear cover

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - Inside the Astrotech Payload Processing Facility on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, a worker secures the transport canister around the dual spacecraft CALIPSO and CloudSat. The spacecraft will be moved to Space Launch Complex 2. There the spacecraft will be lifted and mated with a Boeing Delta II rocket for launch on April 21. CALIPSO stands for Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation. It will fly in combination with the CloudSat satellite to provide never-before-seen 3-D perspectives of how clouds and aerosols form, evolve, and affect weather and climate. CALIPSO and CloudSat will join three other satellites in orbit to enhance understanding of climate systems.

OpComm Delivery For Orion Artemis II. Inside the high bay of the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians work on the Optical Communications System for the Artemis II mission on June 2, 2023. Optical communications is the latest space communications technology that is able to provide data rates as much as a hundred times higher than current systems. This will allow astronauts to send and receive ultra-high-definition video from the surface of the Moon or other planets such as Mars. Artemis II will be the first Artemis mission flying crew aboard Orion.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians and engineers install a separation system ring that will be attached to NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS, spacecraft. The separation system will push IRIS away from an Orbital Pegasus XL rocket when the spacecraft reaches its proper orbit after launch. Scheduled for launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base no earlier than June 26, 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.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility, STS-122 crew members inspect the Columbus European Laboratory, part of the payload on their mission. Seen here is Commander Steve Frick. The crew is participating in a crew equipment interface test that provides opportunities for hands-on experience with payloads and equipment. The other crew members are Pilot Alan Poindexter and Mission Specialists Rex Walheim, Stan Love, Leland Melvin and Hans Schlegel, who represents the European Space Agency. The 24th mission to the International Space Station, STS-122 will also include the Multi-Purpose Experiment Support Structure - Non-Deployable (MPESS-ND). Launch of STS-122 on Space Shuttle Discovery is scheduled no earlier than October.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - Inside an environmental enclosure at Vandenberg Air Force Base's processing facility in California, technicians roll the turnover rotation fixture away from NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, following its mating to an Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL rocket. The turnover rotation fixture was used to rotate the spacecraft into a horizontal position and supported it during mating operations. The uniting of the spacecraft with the rocket is a major milestone in prelaunch preparations.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. 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.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, technicians aid with the lowering of the starboard arm of the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator, known as Dextre, toward the base. The arm will be installed on the base. Dextre is a sophisticated dual-armed robot, which is part of Canada's contribution to the International Space Station (ISS). Along with Canadarm2, whose technical name is the Space Station Remote Manipulator System, and a moveable work platform called the Mobile Base System, these three elements form a robotic system called the Mobile Servicing System, or MSS. The three components have been designed to work together or independently. Dextre is part of the payload scheduled on mission STS-123, targeted to launch Feb. 14.

Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory lift the Mars 2020 rover's bit carousel out of its storage container. The bit carousel is a mechanism that is at the heart of the rover's Sample Caching System. The image was taken on Aug. 5, 2019, in the Spacecraft Assembly Facility's High Bay 1 at JPL.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane lowers the plasma contactor unit, or PCU, that will be installed on the Express Logistics Carrier, or ELC. The PCU is used to disperse electrical charge build-ups on the International Space Station. The carrier is part of the STS-129 payload on space shuttle Atlantis, which will deliver to the International Space Station two spare gyroscopes, two nitrogen tank assemblies, two pump modules, an ammonia tank assembly and a spare latching end effector for the station's robotic arm. STS-129 is targeted to launch Nov. 12.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, workers move a piece of flight support system (FSS) access scaffolding. The scaffolding will be used to prepare the Hubble Space Telescope, or HST, carriers for the STS-125 servicing mission 4. The FSS will berth, secure and furnish power to Hubble and also contains the soft capture mechanism to be attached to the telescope. Upon completion of STS-125, the Hubble will provide even deeper and more detailed views of the Universe. The STS-125 mission will be the final space shuttle mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.

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

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In bay 2 of the Orbiter Processing Facility, workers are installing the Multifunction Electronic Display Subsystem - a state-of-the-art glass cockpit” - on the orbiter Endeavour. The bunny suits” they are wearing are clean room attire required for anyone coming in close proximity to the orbiter. The full-color, flat-panel MEDS upgrade improves crew/orbiter interaction with easy-to-read, graphic portrayals of key flight indicators like attitude display and mach speed. Endeavour is undergoing major modifications, which include inspecting more than 150 miles of wiring and bonding 1,000 thermal tiles, along with installing the display system.

STS-132 MINI RESEARCH MODULE-1 CARGO STORAGE

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Technicians move a system that will investigate the potential for robotically refueling existing spacecraft in orbit from a processing lab to a high bay in the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The move prepares the system for its lift into the Lightweight Multi-Purpose Experiment Support Structure Carrier (LMC), which will carry it into orbit. Called the Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM), the system will be processed to fly aboard space shuttle Atlantis on the STS-135 mission to the International Space Station.Also going up will be the Raffaello multipurpose logistics module packed with supplies, logistics and spare parts. The mission also will return a failed ammonia pump module to help NASA better understand the failure mechanism and improve pump designs for future systems. STS-135, targeted to launch June 28, will be the 33rd flight of Atlantis, the 37th shuttle mission to the space station, and the 135th and final

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

In Building 1555 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the payload fairing is being installed on an Orbital ATK Pegasus XL rocket. On board Pegasus are eight NASA Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System, or CYGNSS, spacecraft. When preparations are competed at Vandenberg, the L-1011/Pegasus XL combination will be flown to NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. On Dec. 12, 2016, the carrier aircraft is scheduled to take off from the Skid Strip at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and CYGNSS will launch on the Pegasus XL rocket with the L-1011 flying off shore. CYGNSS satellites 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 help scientists to probe key air-sea interaction processes that take place near the core of storms, which are rapidly changing and play a crucial role in the beginning and intensification of hurricanes.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, STS-128 Mission Specialists John "Danny" Olivas (second from left) and Christer Fugelsang (right) inspect ammonia tanks, part of the payload for their mission. Fugelsang is with the European Space Agency. Members of the STS-128 crew are at Kennedy for a crew equipment interface test, or CEIT, which provides hands-on training and observation of shuttle and flight hardware. The STS-128 flight will carry science and storage racks to the International Space Station on space shuttle Discovery. The STS-128 mission is targeted to launch on Aug. 6.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the high bay of the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a spacecraft technician from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory conducts a visual inspection of the cooling tubes on the exterior of the multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator (MMRTG) for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission following the MMRTG fit check on the Curiosity rover.The MMRTG will generate the power needed for the mission from the natural decay of plutonium-238, a non-weapons-grade form of the radioisotope. Heat given off by this natural decay will provide constant power through the day and night during all seasons. MSL's components include a car-sized rover, Curiosity, which has 10 science instruments designed to search for signs of life, including methane, and help determine if the gas is from a biological or geological source. Waste heat from the MMRTG will be circulated throughout the rover system to keep instruments, compute

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, STS-128 Mission Specialists John "Danny" Olivas (top right) and Christer Fugelsang (bottom right) inspect ammonia tanks, part of the payload for their mission. Members of the STS-128 crew are at Kennedy for a crew equipment interface test, or CEIT, which provides hands-on training and observation of shuttle and flight hardware. The STS-128 flight will carry science and storage racks to the International Space Station on space shuttle Discovery. The STS-128 mission is targeted to launch on Aug. 6.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At the Astrotech Space Operations facility in Titusville, Fla., spacecraft technicians lower one of the solar panels on the Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, toward the spacecraft 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.

Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a technician adjusts the thermal blankets around the area where several Nanoracks will be installed on the exterior of the Orbital ATK Cygnus pressurized cargo module. 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 no earlier than March 21, 2017. Cygnus will deliver 7,600 pounds of supplies, equipment and scientific research materials to the space station.

Technicians make preparations to begin attaching NASA's Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) to the Orbital ATK Pegasus XL rocket May 14, 2018, inside a clean room in 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 the 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.

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

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At the Astrotech payload processing facility, technicians install insulation blankets around the star tracker sunshades on NASA's Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope, or GLAST, spacecraft. The 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. A launch date is still to be determined.

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

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, STS-125 crew members are lowered into space shuttle Atlantis' payload bay for a close look at the hardware. Equipment familiarization is part of the crew equipment interface test, which provides hands-on experience with hardware and equipment for the mission. Crew members are Commander Scott Altman, Pilot Gregory C. Johnson, and Mission Specialists Michael Good, Megan McArthur, John Grunsfeld, Mike Massimino (reaching toward the airlock) and Andrew Feustel. Atlantis is targeted to launch Oct. 8 on the STS-125 mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. The mission crew will perform history-making, on-orbit surgery” on two important science instruments aboard the telescope. After capturing the telescope, two teams of spacewalking astronauts will perform the repairs during five planned spacewalks.

LCROSS - calibration and camera check out with Kim Ennico placing cover over rear LCROSS

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility bay 1 at NASA Kennedy Space Center, engineers stand by as the remote manipulator system, or boom, is lowered toward Atlantis payload bay for installation. Atlantis is the designated orbiter for mission STS-115, the 19th assembly flight to the International Space Station. The payload includes the P3/P4 solar arrays. The launch planning window has not been determined yet for STS-115.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center, crew members with the STS-125 mission get a close look at some of the equipment associated with their mission to service NASAs Hubble Space Telescope. At left is Mission Specialist Mike Massimino reaching out to equipment on the Main Electronics Box, or MEB. The STS-125 crew is taking part in a crew equipment interface test, which provides experience handling tools, equipment and hardware they will use on their mission. Space shuttle Atlantis is targeted to launch on the STS-125 mission Oct. 10.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the control moment gyroscope, or CMG, is placed on the small adapter plate assembly. The CMG is part of the payload on the STS-129 mission to the International Space Station. On the mission, space shuttle Atlantis also will deliver the orbital spares and replacement parts to sustain the life of the station.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, an overhead crane lifts the newly arrived ground support equipment for the STS-125 Hubble Servicing Mission off its transporter. The GSE are carriers, or pallets, that will hold equipment in space shuttle Atlantis payload bay. Under the protective covering of the carrier can be seen the soft capture mechanism. This carrier will be moved to a work stand. The carriers will be 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 servicing mission. The three payload carriers or pallets are the Flight Support System, the Super Lightweight Interchangeable Carrier and the Orbital Replacement Unit Carrier. At the end of July, a fourth and final carrier, the Multi-Use Lightweight Equipment carrier will join the others in the Payload Hazardous Servicing

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2 (AMS) sits in its cargo element work stand, where technicians will continue to process the experiment for launch. AMS is designed to operate as an external experiment on the International Space Station. It will use the unique environment of space to study the universe and its origin by searching for dark matter. AMS will fly to the station aboard space shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 mission targeted to launch Feb. 27, 2011.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Space Station Processing Facility, workers conduct a post-delivery verification test on a Control Moment Gyro (CMG) that is scheduled to fly on mission STS-114. The CMG will replace another on the International Space Station, which will require a spacewalk.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Workers in NASA Spacecraft Hangar AE remove sections of the transportation canister from around the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF), which has been returned to the hangar from the launch pad. SIRTF will remain in the clean room until it returns to the pad in early August. One of NASA's largest infrared telescopes to be launched, SIRTF will obtain images and spectra by detecting the infrared energy, or heat, radiated by objects in space.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- After their arrival at KSC, STS-117 crew members take part in a payload bay walkdown on Launch Pad 39A to look at the cargo in Space Shuttle Atlantis. Seen here are Mission Specialists Patrick Forrester (left) and James Reilly. The payload includes the S3/S4 integrated truss structure for the International Space Station. STS-117 is scheduled to launch at 7:38 p.m. June 8. During the 11-day mission and three spacewalks, the crew will work with flight controllers at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston to install the 17-ton segment on the station's girder-like truss and deploy the set of solar arrays, S3/S4. The mission will increase the space station's power capability in preparation for the arrival of new science modules from the European and Japanese space agencies.

Inside the Space Station Processing Facility high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a technician works on the pump package assembly (PPA) on Aug. 30, 2018. The payload will be carried to the International Space Station on SpaceX's 16th Commercial Resupply Services mission. The PPA will be used to continuously drive the cooling water in the space station's thermal control system. The assembly includes a centrifuge pump, a fine filter and gas trap for pump protection, a coarse outlet filter, sensors, and an accumulator. The PPA also will provide a reservoir used for makeup of coolant if leakage occurred. CRS-16 is scheduled to launch to the space station later this year.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, CALIF.- At Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., spacecraft functional testing is underway on the SciSat-1. The solar arrays are being attached and the communications systems are also being checked out. The SciSat-1 weighs approximately 330 pounds and after launch will be placed in a 400-mile-high polar orbit to investigate processes that control the distribution of ozone in the upper atmosphere. The data from the satellite will provide Canadian and international scientists with improved measurements relating to global ozone processes and help policymakers assess existing environmental policy and develop protective measures for improving the health of our atmosphere, preventing further ozone depletion. The mission is designed to last two years.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In Orbiter Processing Facility-3 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, STS-133 Pilot Eric Boe (left) and Mission Specialist Nicole Stott enjoy the moment as a technician describes an element of the shuttle's payload bay. The astronauts are at Kennedy for the Crew Equipment Interface Test, or CEIT, which provides the crew with hands-on training and observation of shuttle and flight hardware for their mission to the International Space Station. Launch of the STS-133 mission on space shuttle Discovery is targeted for Nov. 1 at 4 33 p.m. EDT.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, STS-119 crew members take a close look at equipment that is part of the payload on the mission. The crew is at Kennedy for a Crew Equipment Interface Test that provides experience handling tools, equipment and hardware they will use on the mission. 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. Discovery is targeted for launch on Feb. 12, 2009.

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

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside the Astrotech payload processing facility near NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians prepare Radiation Belt Storm Probes, or RBSP, spacecraft A for a spin test. During the spin test, the spacecraft is turned at a rate of 55 rpm to ensure that it is properly balanced.NASAs RBSP mission will help us understand the suns influence on Earth and near-Earth space by studying the Earths radiation belts on various scales of space and time. RBSP will begin its mission of exploration of Earths Van Allen radiation belts and the extremes of space weather after its launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. Launch is targeted for Aug. 23.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Inside Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Fla., STS-116 Mission Specialists Robert Curbeam and Sunita Williams inspect flight hardware during the Crew Equipment Interface Test. Mission crews make frequent trips to the Space Coast to become familiar with the equipment and payloads they will be using. STS-116 will be mission No. 20 to the International Space Station and construction flight 12A.1. The mission payload is the SPACEHAB module, the P5 integrated truss structure and other key components. Launch is scheduled for no earlier than Dec. 7.

In the Astrotech facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, or InSight, spacecraft is placed on a spin table during preflight processing. InSight will be the first mission to look deep beneath the Martian surface. It will study the planet's interior by measuring its heat output and listen for marsquakes. The spacecraft will use the seismic waves generated by marsquakes to develop a map of the planets deep interior. The resulting insight into Mars formation will provide a better understanding of how other rocky planets, including Earth, were created. InSight is scheduled for liftoff May 5, 2018.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, STS-115 crew members inspect equipment in Atlantis's payload bay. From left are Mission Specialists Joseph Tanner and Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper. The crew is at KSC for Crew Equipment Interface Test activities, which involves equipment familiarization, a routine part of astronaut training and launch preparations. The STS-115 mission will deliver the second port truss segment, the P3/P4 truss, to the International Space Station. The crew will attach the P3 to the first port truss segment, the P1 truss, as well as deploy solar array set 2A and 4A. Launch on Space Shuttle Atlantis is scheduled for late August.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a technician prepares the Science Instrument Command and Data Handling Unit, or SIC&DH, for its move to the Multi-Use Lightweight Equipment Carrier in the facility. The SIC&DH will be installed on the Hubble Space Telescope during space shuttle Atlantis' STS-125 mission. This unit will replace the one that suffered a failure aboard the orbiting telescope on Sept. 27, 2008. Atlantis is targeted for launch on May 12.

STS-133 EXPCA4 Lift to Work Stand

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center, crew members with the STS-125 mission get a close look at some of the equipment associated with their mission to service NASAs Hubble Space Telescope. From left, Mission Specialist John Grunsfeld, a technician, Johnson Space Center EVA Trainer Kristie Hansen, Mission Specialists Andrew Feustel, Mike Massimino and Michael Good look at the Small ORU Protective Enclosure, or SOPE. The STS-125 crew is taking part in a crew equipment interface test, which provides experience handling tools, equipment and hardware they will use on their mission. Space shuttle Atlantis is targeted to launch on the STS-125 mission Oct. 10.

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

STS-132 LAUNCH L-3 CREW - PAYLOAD WALKDOWN

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility, with the help of a lifting device, the starboard hatch is lifted on the Node 2 module. The second of three Station connecting modules, the Node 2 attaches to the end of the U.S. Lab and provides attach locations for several other elements. Node 2 is scheduled to launch on mission STS-120, Station assembly flight 10A.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In Orbiter Processing Facility-3 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, STS-133 Pilot Eric Boe (out of frame) and Mission Specialist Nicole Stott listen to a technician as he describes an element of the shuttle's payload bay. The astronauts are at Kennedy for the Crew Equipment Interface Test, or CEIT, which provides the crew with hands-on training and observation of shuttle and flight hardware for their mission to the International Space Station. Launch of the STS-133 mission on space shuttle Discovery is targeted for Nov. 1 at 4 33 p.m. EDT.

Workers in the Space Station Processing Facility watch closely as Solar Array Wing-3, a component of the International Space Station, is lowered toward the Integrated Electronic Assembly where it will be installed for testing. The solar array is scheduled to be launched on STS-97 in late November along with the P6 truss. The Stations electrical power system (EPS) will use eight photovoltaic solar arrays to convert sunlight to electricity. Each of the eight solar arrays will be 112 feet long by 39 feet wide. The solar arrays are mounted on a “blanket” that can be folded like an accordion for delivery. Once in orbit, astronauts will deploy the blankets to their full size. Gimbals will be used to rotate the arrays so that they will face the Sun to provide maximum power to the Space Station

Inside the Space Station Processing Facility high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians work on the pump package assembly (PPA) on Aug. 30, 2018. The payload will be carried to the International Space Station on SpaceX's 16th Commercial Resupply Services mission. The PPA will be used to continuously drive the cooling water in the space station's thermal control system. The assembly includes a centrifuge pump, a fine filter and gas trap for pump protection, a coarse outlet filter, sensors, and an accumulator. The PPA also will provide a reservoir used for makeup of coolant if leakage occurred. CRS-16 is scheduled to launch to the space station later this year.

LCROSS in Ames clean room N-240- cleaning for shipping to Northrup Grumman, Redondo Beach, CA

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Space Station Processing Facility, workers talk near the opened hatch of the Italian-built Node 2. A future element of the International Space Station, Node 2 arrived at KSC June 1. The second of three Station connecting modules, 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.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. --At NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians uncover and check the Optical Payload for Lasercomm Science, or OPALS, experiment in a test cell at a Space Station Processing Facility offline laboratory. The optical technology demonstration experiment arrived from the agencys Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.NASA will use the International Space Station to test OPALS communications technology that could dramatically improve spacecraft communications, enhance commercial missions and strengthen transmission of scientific data. The experiment is slated to fly later this year aboard a SpaceX Dragon commercial resupply mission to the space station. The mission is expected to run 90 days after installation on the outside of the station.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, workers check the status of the cruise stage of Mars Exploration Rover 1 (MER-1) after being lowered onto blocks. The cruise stage will be integrated with the aeroshell, the entry vehicle. NASAs twin Mars Exploration Rovers are designed to study the history of water on Mars. These robotic geologists are equipped with a robotic arm, a drilling tool, three spectrometers, and four pairs of cameras that allow them to have a human-like, 3D view of the terrain. Each rover could travel as far as 100 meters in one day to act as Mars scientists' eyes and hands, exploring an environment where humans cant yet go. The MER-1 is scheduled to launch June 25 from Launch Pad 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

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

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, STS-127 crew members get a close look at equipment for their mission, which will install final components of the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agencys Japanese Experiment Module. Equipment familiarization is part of a Crew Equipment Interface Test. The JEM components include the Inter Orbit Communication System Extended Facility, or ICS-EF, the Extended Facility and Experiment Logistics Module-Exposed Section. The payload will launch aboard space shuttle Endeavour targeted for May 15, 2009.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, STS-125 crew members are lowered into space shuttle Atlantis' payload bay for a close look at the hardware. Equipment familiarization is part of the crew equipment interface test, which provides hands-on experience with hardware and equipment for the mission. Crew members are Commander Scott Altman, Pilot Gregory C. Johnson, and Mission Specialists Michael Good, Megan McArthur, John Grunsfeld, Mike Massimino and Andrew Feustel. Atlantis is targeted to launch Oct. 8 on the STS-125 mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. The mission crew will perform history-making, on-orbit surgery” on two important science instruments aboard the telescope. After capturing the telescope, two teams of spacewalking astronauts will perform the repairs during five planned spacewalks.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Technicians in the Space Station Processing Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center get ready to move more resupply stowage bags into containers known as resupply stowage racks inside the Italian-built Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Raffaello. The module will deliver a variety of supplies including food, clothing and spare parts to the International Space Station. Raffaello will launch on Space Shuttle Discoverys Return to Flight mission, STS-114. The launch window is May 15 to June 3.

In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians and engineers load thousands of pounds of supplies, equipment and scientific research materials aboard a Cygnus spacecraft's pressurized cargo module (PCM) for 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.

Inside the Space Station Processing Facility high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians work on the pump package assembly (PPA) on Aug. 30, 2018. The payload will be carried to the International Space Station on SpaceX's 16th Commercial Resupply Services mission. The PPA will be used to continuously drive the cooling water in the space station's thermal control system. The assembly includes a centrifuge pump, a fine filter and gas trap for pump protection, a coarse outlet filter, sensors, and an accumulator. The PPA also will provide a reservoir used for makeup of coolant if leakage occurred. CRS-16 is scheduled to launch to the space station later this year.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- STS-120 Mission Specialists Scott Parazynski (left) and Doug Wheelock check out the primary payload for the mission: the U.S. Node 2, another element to be added to the International Space Station. They are familiarizing themselves with the payload. Node 2 will provide a passageway between three station science experiment facilities: the U.S. Destiny Laboratory, the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module, and the European Columbus Laboratory. STS-120 is targeted for launch on Sept. 7 with a crew of six, including Commander Pam Melroy, Pilot George Zamka, and Mission Specialist Mike Foreman.

BALL ENGINEERS DISMANTLE ARRAY OF SIX GOLD-PLATED JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE MIRRORS FOR TRANSPORT TO BALL AEROSPACE AFTER CRYOGENIC TESTING AT MARSHALL'S X-RAY AND CRYOGENIC FACILITY.

Rebecca Rogers, systems engineer, left, and Dustin Holta, launch engineer, right, mount a cover plate to the CAPSTONE spacecraft dispenser with the spacecraft stowed inside at Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems, Inc., in Irvine, California.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- In Space Systems International's Payload Processing Facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, a technician makes an adjustment to the solar array after it was installed to the Aquarius/SAC-D spacecraft. 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.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians inspect the control moment gyroscope , or CMG, after removal from its container. The CMG is suspended by a crane. The CMG is part of the payload on the STS-129 mission to the International Space Station. On the mission, space shuttle Atlantis also will deliver the orbital spares and replacement parts to sustain the life of the station.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Space Station Processing Facility, workers check over the Italian-built Node 2, a future element of the International Space Station. The second of three Station connecting modules, the Node 2 attaches to the end of the U.S. Lab and provides attach locations for several other elements. Kopra is currently assigned technical duties in the Space Station Branch of the Astronaut Office, where his primary focus involves the testing of crew interfaces for two future ISS modules as well as the implementation of support computers and operational Local Area Network on ISS. Node 2 is scheduled to launch on mission STS-120, Station assembly flight 10A.

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