Spacecraft Preparation and Testing

Images depict various stages of spacecraft preparation and testing, showcasing technicians working on simulators, launch systems, and research modules in high-tech environments.

STS-132 ATLANTIS - RCC PANEL REMOVAL

At the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, Expedition 46-47 crewmember Tim Kopra of NASA reviews procedures inside a Soyuz spacecraft simulator Nov. 20 at the start of final qualification exams. Kopra and crewmates Yuri Malenchenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) and Tim Peake of the European Space Agency will launch Dec. 15 on their Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft Dec. 15 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for a six-month mission on the International Space Station.NASA/Seth Marcantel

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians wait as a truck arrives at the Launch Abort System Facility with a launch abort motor from Alliant Techsystems, or ATK, for Exploration Flight Test 1, or EFT-1, of the agencys Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle. ATKs abort motor is part of Orions Launch Abort System, which is designed to safely pull the Orion crew module away from the launch vehicle in the event of an emergency on the launch pad or during the initial ascent of NASAs Space Launch System, or SLS, rocket. The test flight abort motor is configured with inert propellant. Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry crews to space beyond low Earth orbit. It will provide emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during the space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. Orions first unpiloted test flight is scheduled to launch in 2014 atop a Delta IV rocket. A second uncrewed flight test is scheduled for 2017 on th

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- Four members of the STS-107 crew look over equipment inside the SPACEHAB Double Module, which will be making its first research flight into space on STS-107. Seen are (left to right) Mission Specialist David M. Brown, Pilot William C. Willie” McCool, Commander Rick D. Husband and Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon of Israel. STS-107 will carry a broad collection of experiments ranging from material science to life science. It is scheduled to launch July 19, 2001

Inside the Astrotech processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, or InSight, spacecraft has been mounted on to a rotation fixture for further testing. InSight was developed and built by Lockheed-Martin Space Systems in Denver, Colorado, and is scheduled for liftoff is May 5, 2018. InSight is the first mission to land on Mars and explore the Red Planet's deep interior. It will investigate processes that shaped the rocky planets of the inner solar system including Earth.

STS-132 ATLANTIS - RCC PANEL REMOVAL

Inside Building 1555 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians and engineers install one of eight NASA Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) spacecraft on its deployment module. 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 NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida 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. -- In Orbiter Processing Facility-1 at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians monitor the progress as an overhead crane removes shuttle Endeavours left-hand orbital maneuvering system, or OMS, pod. The work is part of Endeavours transition and retirement processing. The spacecraft is being prepared for public display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Endeavour flew 25 missions, spent 299 days in space, orbited Earth 4,671 times and traveled 122, 883, 151 miles over the course of its 19-year career. Endeavours STS-134 and final mission was completed after landing on June 1, 2011.

At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, a technician mates the AIM spacecraft, at left, to the Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL rocket, at right. AIM, which stands for Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere, is being prepared for integrated testing and a flight simulation. The AIM spacecraft will fly three instruments designed to study polar mesospheric clouds located at the edge of space, 50 miles above the Earth's surface in the coldest part of the planet's atmosphere. The mission's primary goal is to explain why these clouds form and what has caused them to become brighter and more numerous and appear at lower latitudes in recent years. AIM's results will provide the basis for the study of long-term variability in the mesospheric climate and its relationship to global climate change. Launch from the Pegasus XL rocket is scheduled for April 25.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians inspect under NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission aeroshell, where the wheels of the rover Curiosity can be seen. 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.

At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, workers monitor the data produced by the second flight simulation of the Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL rocket. The rocket is the launch vehicle for NASA's Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere, or AIM, spacecraft. AIM is the seventh Small Explorers mission under NASA's Explorer Program. The program provides frequent flight opportunities for world-class scientific investigations from space within heliophysics and astrophysics. The AIM spacecraft will fly three instruments designed to study polar mesospheric clouds located at the edge of space, 50 miles above the Earth's surface in the coldest part of the planet's atmosphere. The mission's primary goal is to explain why these clouds form and what has caused them to become brighter and more numerous and appear at lower latitudes in recent years. AIM's results will provide the basis for the study of long-term variability in the mesospheric climate and its relationship to global climate change. AIM is s

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Multi-Payload Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough, left, and Marsha Ivins, participate in an exercise known as crew egress evaluation from an Orion mock-up. The spacecraft is replicated in all areas that could affect a crew's escape, including the area that seals to a launch pad's White Room. The exercise focuses on whether astronauts and their rescue crews can exit the vehicle quickly in the event of a pad emergency.

VANDENBERG AFB - The payload fairing locked in place over NASA's IRIS spacecraft. The fairing connects to the nose of the Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL rocket that will lift the solar observatory into orbit in June. The work is taking place in a hangar at Vandenberg Air Force Base where IRIS, short for Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, is being prepared for launch on a Pegasus XL rocket. Scheduled for launch from Vandenberg June 26, 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.

Inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Artemis II crew module adapter (CMA) is being relocated from the clean room to the Pressure Proof Cell for additional testing and maintenance. The CMA connects the crew module to the service module. Artemis II is the first crewed mission in a series of missions to the Moon and on to Mars. Artemis II will confirm all of the Orion spacecrafts systems operate as designed in the actual environment of deep space with astronauts aboard.

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

In the Space Station Processing Facility, STS-100 Mission Specialist Scott Parazynski looks over part of the U.S. Lab, Destiny. Mission STS-100 will be the ninth construction flight for the International Space Station. It is scheduled to launch April 19, 2001

Orion EM-1 hardware

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the high bay of the RTG storage facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a Department of Energy contractor employee guides the external and internal protective layers of the shipping cask as they are lifted from around the multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator (MMRTG) for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission. The MMRTG no longer needs supplemental cooling since any excess heat generated can dissipate into the air in the high bay.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.Waste heat from the MMRTG will be circulated throughout the rover system to keep instruments, computers, mechanical devices and communications systems within their operating temperature ranges. MSL's components include a compact car-sized rover, Curio

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Russell Romanella, director of Safety and Mission Assurance at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, right-center, is briefed on NASA's Morpheus lander, a vertical test bed vehicle. Morpheus is being checked out by technicians and engineers in a building at the Shuttle Landing Facility, or SLF, at Kennedy. Morpheus is designed to demonstrate new green propellant propulsion systems and autonomous landing and an Autonomous Landing and Hazard Avoidance Technology, or ALHAT, system.Checkout of the prototype lander has been ongoing at NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston in preparation for its first free flight. The SLF site will provide the lander with the kind of field necessary for realistic testing. Project Morpheus is one of 20 small projects comprising the Advanced Exploration Systems, or AES, program in NASAs Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. AES projects pioneer new approaches for rapidly developing prototype systems, demonstrating

S73-20759 (1 March 1973) --- Astronaut Charles Conrad Jr., commander of the first manned Skylab mission, takes items from the M512 materials processing equipment storage assembly during Skylab training at Johnson Space Center. Conrad is standing in the Multiple Docking Adapter (MDA) trainer in the JSC Mission Simulation and Training Facility. The assembly holds equipment designed to explore space manufacturing capability in a weightless state. Conrad is holding one of the experiment parts in his left hand.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside Orbiter Processing Facility-1 at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians prepare to install the shuttle orbiter repackaged galley (SORG) in the middeck of space shuttle Discovery.After Discoverys final mission, STS-133, the SORG was removed and sent to a United Space Alliance lab in Houston where it was cleaned and deserviced. Water in the microbial check valve and the orbiter water system was drained and dried. The SORG was returned to Kennedy Space Center. The work is part of the Space Shuttle Programs transition and retirement processing of shuttle Discovery, which is being prepared for display at Smithsonians National Air and Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In Orbiter Processing Facility-3 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers ensure that the orbiter boom sensor system, or OBSS, is properly attached to a lifting device before removing it from space shuttle Discovery's payload bay. The workers are dressed in clean-room attire, known as 'bunny suits.' The 50-foot-long OBSS attaches to the end of the shuttles robotic arm and supports the cameras and laser systems used to inspect the shuttles thermal protection system while in space. The OBSS' inspection boom assembly, or IBA, is removed from the arm every other processing flow for a detailed inspection. After five consecutive flights, all IBA internal components are submitted to a thorough electrical checkout in Kennedy's Remote Manipulator System Lab. Discovery next will deliver the first Permanent Multi-purpose Module, or PMM; the Express Logistics Carrier 4; and critical spare parts to the International Space Station on the STS-133 mission. Launch is ta

Supported on a lift fixture, this radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG), at center, is hoisted from its storage base using the airlock crane in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHSF). Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) workers are preparing to install the RTG onto the Cassini spacecraft, in background at left, for mechanical and electrical verification testing. The three RTGs on Cassini will provide electrical power to the spacecraft 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. Cassini is built and managed by JPL

Inside the airlock in the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay on Nov. 6, 2018, European Space Agency (ESA) and Airbus engineers check the ESA European Service Module (ESM) after it is uncrated at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The ESM will supply the main propulsion system and power to the Orion spacecraft for Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1), a mission to the Moon. The ESM also will house air and water for astronauts on future missions. EM-1 will be an uncrewed flight test that will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration to destinations beyond Earth orbit. EM-1 will be the first integrated test of NASA's Space Launch System, Orion and the ground systems at Kennedy.

iss064e016718 (Dec. 30, 2020) --- The inside of the Advanced Plant Habitat, a fully automated space botany research facility, is pictured aboard the International Space Station.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Vehicle Assembly Building's High Bay 4 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a worker seated at the table monitors data collected during a sway test on the Ares I-X launch vehicle. The test is simulating conditions the rocket could experience during rollout to Launch Pad 39B, wind conditions at the pad and first-stage ignition. During the test, vibrations are mechanically induced into the rocket by four hydraulic shakers and a sway is manually introduced for lateral motion to measure the vehicle's response. A total of 44 accelerometers are installed on the flight test vehicle that required more than 27,000 feet of cable. Part of the Constellation Program, the Ares I-X is the test vehicle for the Ares I, which is the essential core of a space transportation system that eventually will carry crewed missions back to the moon, on to Mars and out into the solar system . The Ares I-X flight test is targeted for Oct. 31.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, CALIF. - Inside Orbital Sciences Building 1555 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, a worker installs one of the fins on the aft skirt of the Pegasus XL rocket that will launch the Space Technology 5 spacecraft later this month. ST5 contains three micro-satellites that will be positioned in a "string of pearls" constellation to perform simultaneous multi-point measurements of the Earth's magnetic field using highly sensitive magnetometers. The scheduled launch date is Feb. 28.

ISS040-E-091989 (13 Aug. 2014) --- European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst, Expedition 40 flight engineer, enters the newly-attached "Georges Lemaitre" Automated Transfer Vehicle-5 (ATV-5) of the International Space Station.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility, members of the STS-92 crew get a close look at some of the equipment, such as the Integrated Truss Structure Z1, to fly on their mission. STS-92 is the fifth U.S. flight in the construction of the International Space Station. At left is Mission Specialist Koichi Wakata, who is with the National Space Development Agency of Japan . The Z1 is an early exterior framework to allow the first U.S. solar arrays on a future flight to be temporarily installed on Unity for early power. Another part of the payload is a pressurized mating adapter, PMA-3, to provide a Shuttle docking port for solar array installation on the sixth ISS flight and Lab installation on the seventh ISS flight. Other crew members are Mission Commander Brian Duffy, Pilot Pamela A. Melroy, and Mission Specialists Leroy Chiao, Peter J.K. Wisoff, Michael E. Lopez-Alegria, and William S. McArthur Jr. Launch of STS-92 is scheduled for Sept. 21, 2000

SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) primary mirror being moved into N-211, readied and move into the Ames Vacuum Chamber for the coating process.

The Experiment Logistics Module Pressurized Section for the Japanese Experiment Module arrives at the Space Station Processing Facility for uncrating. 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 components of JEM will be assembled in space over the course of three Space Shuttle missions

A87565 U12N MIDDLE NOTE ALCOVE 21-36 JOHN ALLEN (PROJECT ENGINEER) MAR 16 87 EG&G/NTS PHOTO LAB Publication Date: 3/16/1987 ALCOVE 21-36; EDGERTON, GERMESHAUSEN & GRIER; EG&G; EQUIPMENT; EQUIPMENT & INSTRUMENTS; INSTRUMENTS; INSTRUMENTS & EQUIPMENT; MIDDLE NOTE; NEVADA; NEVADA TEST SITE; NTS; NUCLEAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGY; NUCLEAR TESTING; NUCLEAR TESTS; SCOPE SYSTEM; TEST SITES; UGT; UNDERGROUND; UNDERGROUND TESTING; WIRE & CABLES; U12N MIDDLE NOTE ALCOVE 21-36 historical images. 1972 - 2012. Department of Energy. National Nuclear Security Administration. Photographs Related to Nuclear Weapons Testing at the Nevada Test Site.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, the Phoenix Mars Lander spacecraft rests with its heat shield installed. Targeted for launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Aug. 3, Phoenix will land in icy soils near the north polar permanent ice cap of Mars and explore the history of the water in these soils and any associated rocks, while monitoring polar climate. Landing on Mars is planned in May 2008 on arctic ground where a mission currently in orbit, Mars Odyssey, has detected high concentrations of ice just beneath the top layer of soil.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - n the RTG Facility at Kennedy Space Center, Jim Wojciechowski and Dan Brunson move a metal canister toward the radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG). The canister will protect the RTG when it is moved. The RTG is the baseline power supply for the NASAs New Horizons spacecraft, scheduled to launch in January 2006 on a journey to Pluto and its moon, Charon. As it approaches Pluto, the spacecraft will look for ultraviolet emission from Pluto's atmosphere and make the best global maps of Pluto and Charon in green, blue, red and a special wavelength that is sensitive to methane frost on the surface. It will also take spectral maps in the near infrared, telling the science team about Pluto's and Charon's surface compositions and locations and temperatures of these materials. When the spacecraft is closest to Pluto or its moon, it will take close-up pictures in both visible and near-infrared wavelengths. It is expected to reach Pluto in July 2015.

JSC2007-E-14579 (21 March 2007) --- Attired in a Mark III advanced space suit technology demonstrator, Brian Daniel participates in an extravehicular activity (EVA) systems engineering and integration (SE&I) test in the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility at Johnson Space Center. Data collected in the test will be used in development of the next generation of space suits that are being designed for use in the Constellation Program.

iss052e018944 (7/24/2017) --- NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson working with the Efficacy and Metabolism of Azonafide Antibody-Drug Conjugates in Microgravity (ADCs in Microgravity). The ADCs in Microgravity investigation evaluates new antibody-drug conjugates that combine an immune-activating drug with antibodies in order to target only cancer cells, increasing the effectiveness of chemotherapy and reducing its side effects. In microgravity, cancer cells grow in three-dimensional, spheroid structures that closely resemble their form in the human body, allowing for better drug testing. This investigation may accelerate development of targeted therapies for cancer patients.

One of the STS-100 crew members looks at part of the Canadian robotic arm, SSRMS, which is on a workstand in the Space Station Processing Facility. The arm is 57.7 feet (17.6 meters) long when fully extended and has seven motorized joints. It is capable of handling large payloads and assisting with docking the Space Shuttle. The SSRMS is self-relocatable with a Latching End Effector, so it can be attached to complementary ports spread throughout the Stations exterior surfaces. Mission STS-100 is scheduled to launch on Space Shuttle Endeavour April 19 at 2:41 p.m. EDT from Launch Pad 39A, KSC, with a crew of seven. The crew comprises Commander Kent V. Rominger, Pilot Jeffrey S. Ashby and Mission Specialists Chris A. Hadfield, Scott E. Parazynski, John L. Phillips, Umberto Guidoni and Yuri V. Lonchakov. Hadfield is with the Canadian Space Agency, Guidoni the European Space Agency and Lonchakov the Russian Space and Aviation Agency

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Fla., technicians prepare the solar array panel for installation on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO. The orbiter will carry seven instruments to provide scientists with detailed maps of the lunar surface and enhance our understanding of the moon's topography, lighting conditions, mineralogical composition and natural resources. Information gleaned from LRO will be used to select safe landing sites, determine locations for future lunar outposts and help mitigate radiation dangers to astronauts. The polar regions of the moon are the main focus of the mission because continuous access to sunlight may be possible and water ice may exist in permanently shadowed areas of the poles. Launch of LRO is targeted for June 2.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - At Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, workers attach the mated Pegasus XL and Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) satellite to the Orbital Sciences L-1011 aircraft. The GALEX, to be launched April 28 from the L-1011, will carry into space an orbiting telescope that will observe a million galaxies across 10 billion years of cosmic history to help astronomers determine when the stars and elements we see today had their origins. The spacecraft will sweep the skies for 28 months using state-of-the-art ultraviolet detectors to single out galaxies dominated by young, hot, short-lived stars that give off a great deal of energy at that wavelength. These galaxies are actively creating stars, and therefore provide a window into the history and causes of star formation in galaxies.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. In the Orbital Sciences Building 836 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, workers keep close watch as the payload support structure with the three micro-satellites comprising the Space Technology 5 (ST5) spacecraft is lifted and weighed. ST5 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. With

Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. - Inside a hangar at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians prepare to offload the third stage of the Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL rocket from the truck in which it was transported. NASAs Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS, spacecraft will launch aboard the Pegasus XL in late 2012. 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 heliosphere, or region around the sun.

ISS030-E-051108 (27 Jan. 2012) --- NASA astronaut Don Pettit, Expedition 30 flight engineer, works on a Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellite (SPHERES) in a portable glovebox facility in the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station.

This photograph was taken during a deployment simulation of the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV). The LRV was built to give Apollo astronauts a greater range of mobility during the last three lunar exploration missions; Apollo 15, Apollo 16, and Apollo 17. It was designed and developed by the Marshall Space Flight Center and built by the Boeing Company.

JSC2002-02132 (3 December 2002) --- Astronaut Daniel C. Burbank, STS-115 mission specialist, uses the Sky-genie to lower himself from a simulated trouble-plagued shuttle in an emergency egress training session in the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility at the Johnson Space Center (JSC). Burbank is wearing a training version of the shuttle launch and entry suit. United Space Alliance (USA) crew trainer David Pogue assisted Burbank.

PHOTO DATE: 04-09-09LOCATION: NBLSUBJECT: STS-125 EVA OPS 1G training with crew members John Grunsfeld, Mike Good, Andrew Feustel and Mike Massimino.

TROPICS Encapsulation. Technicians place NASAs Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats (TROPICS) CubeSats in Rocket Labs Electron payload fairing in a processing facility near Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand. TROPICS is scheduled to launch on Monday, May 1, at 1 a.m. New Zealand time from Launch Complex 1, Pad B. TROPICS will provide data on temperature, precipitation, water vapor, and clouds by measuring microwave frequencies, providing insight into storm formation and intensification.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, CALIF. -- At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, workers move the stand holding NASA's Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere, or AIM, spacecraft under a clean room tent. AIM is the seventh Small Explorers mission under NASA's Explorer Program. The program provides frequent flight opportunities for world-class scientific investigations from space within heliophysics and astrophysics. The AIM spacecraft will fly three instruments designed to study polar mesospheric clouds located at the edge of space, 50 miles above the Earth's surface in the coldest part of the planet's atmosphere. The mission's primary goal is to explain why these clouds form and what has caused them to become brighter and more numerous and appear at lower latitudes in recent years. AIM's results will provide the basis for the study of long-term variability in the mesospheric climate and its relationship to global climate change. AIM is scheduled to be mated to the Pegasus XL during the

View of the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) known as Endurance designed by Stone Aerospace being lowered into the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL) pool at the Sonny Carter Training Facility (SCTF) for testing. The AUV is being tested for potential exploration of Jupiter's moon Europa. This image was featured in the August 2008 JSC Roundup, Volume 47, Number 8.

In a lab at NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston, engineers simulate conditions that astronauts in space suits would experience when the Orion spacecraft is vibrating during launch atop the agencys powerful Space Launch System rocket on its way to deep space destinations on Jan. 19, 2017. A series of tests occurring this month at Johnson will help human factors engineers assess how well the crew can interact with the displays and controls they will use to monitor Orions systems and operate the spacecraft when necessary...Test subjects wore modified advanced crew escape suits that are being developed for astronauts in Orion, and sat in the latest design of the seat atop the crew impact attenuation system. This was the first time this key hardware was brought together to evaluate how launch vibrations may impact the astronauts ability to view the displays and controls.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- On Launch Pad 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, workers begin attaching the second stage of the Boeing Delta II rocket to the first stage below. The rocket is the launch vehicle for the Comet Nucleus Tour (CONTOUR) spacecraft that will provide the first detailed look into the heart of a comet -- the nucleus. Flying as close as 60 miles (100 kilometers) to at least two comets, the spacecraft will take the sharpest pictures yet of a nucleus while analyzing the gas and dust that surround these rocky, icy building blocks of the solar system. Launch of CONTOUR is scheduled for July 1, 2002

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - Workers attach a third solid rocket motor, or SRM, for NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 mission, or OCO-2, to the Delta II first stage in the mobile service tower at Space Launch Complex 2 on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Operations to attach the rocket's three SRMs, known as graphite epoxy motors, to its first stage are nearing completion.OCO-2 is scheduled to launch into a polar Earth orbit aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II 7320-10C rocket in July. Once in orbit, OCO-2 will collect precise global measurements of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere and provide scientists with a better idea of the chemical compound's impacts on climate change. Scientists will analyze this data to improve our understanding of the natural processes and human activities that regulate the abundance and distribution of this important atmospheric gas.

A740906 U12E DINING CAR GAUGE INSTALLATION CHARLES GULICK JR. (Project Engineer) NOV 4 74EG&G/NTS PHOTO LAB Publication Date: 11/4/1974 DINING CAR TEST; EDGERTON, GERMESHAUSEN & GRIER; EG&G; EQUIPMENT & INSTRUMENTS; GAUGE INSTALLATION; GULICK, CHARLES; HANDS; INSTRUMENTS & EQUIPMENT; MALE; MAN (ADD MALE MODIFIER); MEASURED; MEASUREMENT; MEASURING DEVICES (EXC UTENSIL; NEVADA; NEVADA TEST SITE; NTS; NUCLEAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGY; NUCLEAR TESTING; NUCLEAR TESTS; PIPES; SENSORS; STRINGS; TAPE MEASURES; TEST SITES; UGT; UNDERGROUND; UNDERGROUND TESTING; WIRE & CABLES; DINING CAR- GAUGE INSTALLATION historical images. 1972 - 2012. Department of Energy. National Nuclear Security Administration. Photographs Related to Nuclear Weapons Testing at the Nevada Test Site.

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

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, STS-134 crew members inspect the Express Logistics Carrier-3 with the carrier's technicians. The six-member crew is at Kennedy participating in the Crew Equipment Interface Test (CEIT), which gives them an opportunity for hands-on training with tools they'll be using in space and familiarization of the payload they'll be delivering to the International Space Station. Space shuttle Endeavour is targeted to launch on the STS-134 mission Feb. 27, 2011.

PHOTO DATE: 11-21-12LOCATION: NBL - Pool Topside SUBJECT: Expedition 42/43 crew member and Italian ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti with NASA astronaut Terry Virts during INC-42/CB EVA SKILLS 21027.

The heat shield and back shell for the Mars 2020 rover are unboxed inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center on Dec. 13, 2019. The two integral pieces of equipment, which were flown to the Florida spaceport from Lockheed Martin Space in Denver, Colorado, will protect the rover during its passage to Mars. The Mars 2020 rover is being manufactured at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. When completed, the rover will be delivered to Kennedy in mid-February, 2020, with the mission scheduled to launch in the summer of 2020.

PHOTO DATE: 11/28/12 LOCATION: B9 ARGOS/POGO LABSUBJECT: ESA astronaut (UK) Timothy Peake during ISS EVA PGT/ARGOS training.

NASA astronaut Doug Hurley exits the hatch of the orbiter Atlantis during the STS-135 Crew Equipment Interface Test ( CEIT ) in the Orbiter Processing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center on Thursday, April 7, 2011, in Florida. ( NASA Photo / Houston Chronicle, Smiley N. Pool )

PHOTO DATE: 10-30-13LOCATION: Bldg. 9NW - POGO Stand SUBJECT: Expedition 43 commander and crew member Terry Virts during his ISS EVA POGO 1 training on the POGO stand with instructors Faruq Sabur and Alexandros Kanelakos.

MSFC'S JOSH MOORE AND SCOTT GILLEY CONTINUE WORK TO PREPARE THE HOT FIRE ROBOTIC LANDER FOR TESTING ON THE ARMY'S TEST RANGE

Engineers Tom Huber (behind MIRI) and Mick Wilks (inside black ISIM Structure) check that MIRI is integrated precisely. The engineers have to make sure that MIRI, the only instrument on the Webb telescope that 'sees' mid-infrared light, is precisely positioned so that it and the other instruments can glimpse the formation of galaxies and see deeper into the universe than ever before.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the RTG Facility at Kennedy Space Center, Dan Brunson and Jim Wojciechowski carefully lower the radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) into a t-cart. The RTG is the baseline power supply for the NASAs New Horizons spacecraft, scheduled to launch in January 2006 on a journey to Pluto and its moon, Charon. As it approaches Pluto, the spacecraft will look for ultraviolet emission from Pluto's atmosphere and make the best global maps of Pluto and Charon in green, blue, red and a special wavelength that is sensitive to methane frost on the surface. It will also take spectral maps in the near infrared, telling the science team about Pluto's and Charon's surface compositions and locations and temperatures of these materials. When the spacecraft is closest to Pluto or its moon, it will take close-up pictures in both visible and near-infrared wavelengths. It is expected to reach Pluto in July 2015.

NASA CCP astronauts Bob Behnken, Eric Boe and Doug Hurley conduct a full-suited exercise in Boeing's CST-100 Starliner mockup trainer at the Johnson Space Center in Houston in early May.

Virtual Intelligent Planetary Exploration Rover, VIPER Mobility Platform Testing

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Members of the news media interview Walter "Buddy" McKenzie, right, manager of technical operations with United Space Alliance, in front of space shuttle Endeavour's aft engine compartment inside Orbiter Processing Facility-2 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. McKenzie was one of several shuttle experts available for interviews around the outside of Endeavour and inside the shuttle's crew compartment.Ongoing transition and retirement activities are preparing the spacecraft for public display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Endeavour flew 25 missions during its 19-year career.

NASA's Space Optics Manufacturing Center has been working to expand our view of the universe via sophisticated new telescopes. The Optics Center's goal is to develop low-cost, advanced space optics technologies for the NASA program in the 21st century - including the long-term goal of imaging Earth-like planets in distant solar systems. To reduce the cost of mirror fabrication, Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) has developed replication techniques, the machinery and materials to replicate electro-formed nickel mirrors. The process allows fabricating precisely shaped mandrels to be used and reused as masters for replicating high-quality mirrors. This image shows a lightweight replicated x-ray mirror with gold coatings applied.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Inside the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo, a worker looks at the placement of a laboratory rack. The MPLM is the first of three such pressurized modules that will serve as the International Space Stations “moving vans,” carrying laboratory racks filled with equipment, experiments and supplies to and from the Space Station aboard the Space Shuttle. Leonardo will be launched March 1, 2001, on Shuttle mission STS-102 On that flight, Leonardo will be filled with equipment and supplies to outfit the U.S. laboratory module, being carried to the ISS on the Jan. 19, 2001, launch of STS-98

Inside the Astrotech processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, or InSight, spacecraft is prepared to be lifted on to a rotation fixture for further testing. InSight was developed and built by Lockheed-Martin Space Systems in Denver, Colorado, and is scheduled for liftoff is May 5, 2018. InSight is the first mission to land on Mars and explore the Red Planet's deep interior. It will investigate processes that shaped the rocky planets of the inner solar system including Earth.

ASAP, (Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel), members, Dr. Sandra Magnus, Dr. Donald P. McErlean, Dr. George Nield, Captain Christopher Saindon, Mr. David West, Dr. Patricia Sanders,Ms. Carol Hamilton, Ms. Evette Whatley, Ms. Paula Frankel, view LVSA, (Launch Vehicle Stage Adapter), and Orion Stage Adapter. Members were escorted to buildings 4707 and 4708 by Andrew Schorr, Deputy Manager for Spacecraft/Payload Integration & Evolution Office (SPIE)

Secretary Gale Norton, left, on tour of the Mount Graham International Observatory, near Safford, Arizona. During the visit, Secretary Norton discussed forest management issues relevant to the area, affected by the summer's massive Nuttall and Gibson forest fires

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Fla., technicians complete placing the protective bag around the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, before it is mated with NASA's Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite, known as LCROSS, spacecraft. The satellite's primary mission is to search for water ice on the moon in a permanently shadowed crater near one of the lunar poles. LCROSS is a low-cost, accelerated-development, companion mission to NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO. LCROSS and LRO are the first missions in NASA's plan to return humans to the moon and begin establishing a lunar outpost by 2020. Launch is targeted for no earlier than June 2 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

The Orion crew module flown on NASAs Pad Abort-1 (PA-1) flight test is shown on display and NASA Astronaut Nicholas Patrick speaks at an event at the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona, on June 16, 2011. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.

T&R/Atlantis, Window #4 installation and Inspection

JSC2008-E-118378 (25 Sept. 2008) --- Astronauts Mike Massimino and Michael Good (partially obscured), both STS-125 mission specialists, are about to be submerged in the waters of the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL) near NASA's Johnson Space Center. Massimino and Good are attired in training versions of their Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) spacesuit. SCUBA-equipped divers (out of frame) are in the water to assist the crewmembers in their rehearsal, intended to help prepare them for work on the Hubble Space Telescope.

Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. - Inside a processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians assist as a crane moves the wing closer for a fit check with the Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL launch vehicle.NASAs Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS, spacecraft will launch aboard the Pegasus XL in late 2012. 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 heliosphere, or region around the sun.

NEA (Near Earth Asteroid) Scout Hot Box - Repress Chamber V-15 and removal of Optical Witness Samples, (OWS), for analysis

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Orbiter Processing Facility, STS-122 Commander Stephen Frick checks out the cockpit on space shuttle Atlantis. He and other crew members are at Kennedy Space Center to take part in a crew equipment interface test, which helps familiarize them with equipment and payloads for the mission. Among the activities standard to a CEIT are harness training, inspection of the thermal protection system and camera operation for planned extravehicular activities, or EVAs. The mission will carry and install the Columbus Lab, a multifunctional, pressurized laboratory that will be permanently attached to Node 2 of the space station to carry out experiments in materials science, fluid physics and biosciences, as well as to perform a number of technological applications. It is Europes largest contribution to the construction of the International Space Station and will support scientific and technological research in a microgravity environment. STS-122 is targete

STS-133 DISCOVERY ENGINE-1 TURBO PUMP REMOVAL

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- During a Crew Equipment Interface Test (CEIT) at SPACEHAB, in Cape Canaveral, Fla., STS-101 crew members check out some of the cargo that will be carried on their mission. From left are Pilot Scott J. "Doc" Horowitz (Ph.D.) and Mission Specialists Mary Ellen Weber, (Ph.D.), Jeffrey N. Williams, and Boris W. Morukov, who is with the Russian Space Agency (RSA). Other crew members are Commander James Donald Halsell Jr., Edward Tsang Lu (Ph.D.) and Yuri Malenchenko, also with RSA. The primary objective of the STS-101 mission is to complete the initial outfitting of the International Space Station, making it fully ready for the first long-term crew. The seven-member crew will transfer almost two tons of equipment and supplies from SPACEHAB's Logistics Double Module. Additionally, they will unpack a shipment of supplies delivered earlier by a Russian Progress space tug and begin outfitting the newly arrived Zvezda Service Module. Three astronauts will perform tw

DATE: 5-21-13LOCATION: NBL - Pool TopsideSUBJECT: Mike Hopkins during INCR-37 ISS EVA Maintenance 95027 run with astronaut Kathleen Rubins.

Engineers evaluate early space suit designs in an Orion mockup at Lockheed Martins Exploration Development Lab (EDL) in Houston on July 1, 2011. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.

S95-09163 (27 Apr. 1995) --- Payload specialist Albert Sacco Jr. rappels from the top of a Shuttle mockup-trainer using a Sky-genie device during emergency egress training with his six STS-73 crew mates. The seven will fly aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia later this year to support the United States Microgravity Laboratory (USML-2) mission.

Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) Project in Building 45 Modular Common Spacecraft Bus as a hover test vehicle, here they are installing spacecraft electronics & payloads. with Chris Boshuizen (in plaid) and Eleanor Crane (in red)

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians install the wing on the Orbital Sciences Corp. Pegasus XL rocket which will launch the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS, spacecraft.Scheduled for launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base no earlier than Feb. 27, 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.

Engineers at NASAs Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, install test dummies into the seats of an Orion test article on Feb. 26, 2016. The capsule, coupled with the heat shield from the spacecrafts first flight, will be used for water-impact testing to simulate what astronauts will experience when landing in the Pacific Ocean during a real mission.

Date: 03-14-12Location: NBLSubject: Expedition 35 (Soyuz 33S) crew members Tom Marshburn and Chris Hadfield during EVA training at the NBL.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility, United Space Alliance workers Mike Hyatt (left), Saul Ngy (center) and Jerry Belt (right) prepare to install a Reinforced Carbon Carbon (RCC) panel to the leading edge of the wing of the orbiter Atlantis. The gray carbon composite RCC panels have sufficient strength to withstand the aerodynamic forces experienced during launch and reentry, which can reach as high as 800 pounds per square foot. The operating range of RCC is from minus 250º F to about 3,000º F, the temperature produced by friction with the atmosphere during reentry.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility, United Space Alliance worker Ross Neubarth checks the monitor during thermography of Discoverys nose cap. Thermography is one type of inspection to verify integrity of hardware before flight. This procedure uses high intensity light to heat areas that are immediately scanned with an infrared camera to check for internal flaws. Discovery is the vehicle assigned to the Return to Flight mission, STS-114.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility,Scott Thurston (far left), Crew Exploration Vehicle manager in the Shuttle Processing Directorate, gives a personal tour to U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney (center) and his family. They are walking underneath the orbiter Atlantis. Thurston previously was the NASA flow director for Atlantis. Walking next to Cheney is Shana Dale, NASA deputy administrator. Cheney flew in to view the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery on mission STS-121.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians prepare the Project Morpheus prototype lander to be transported from a support building to a launch platform at the north end of the Shuttle Landing Facility. Testing of the prototype lander was performed at NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston in preparation for tethered and free flight testing at Kennedy.The landing facility will provide the lander with the kind of field necessary for realistic testing, complete with rocks, craters and hazards to avoid. Morpheus utilizes an autonomous landing and hazard avoidance technology, or ALHAT, payload that will allow it to navigate to clear landing sites amidst rocks, craters and other hazards during its descent. Project Morpheus is being managed under the Advanced Exploration Systems, or AES, Division in NASAs Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. The efforts in AES pioneer new approaches for rapidly developing prototype systems, demonstrating

JSC2010-E-193901 (1 Dec. 2010) --- NASA astronaut Andrew Feustel, STS-134 mission specialist, participates in an extravehicular activity (EVA) training session in the Partial Gravity Simulator (POGO) test area in the Space Vehicle Mock-up Facility at NASAs Johnson Space Center.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- The Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS, is being readied for mating to the Orbital Sciences Corp. Pegasus XL rocket that will launch the spacecraft. A fairing will be fitted to the nose of the Pegasus to protect the spacecraft from atmospheric heating and stress during launch. Upcoming work includes electrical verification testing.IRIS will open a new window of discovery by tracing the flow of energy and plasma through the chromospheres and transition region into the suns corona using spectrometry and imaging. IRIS fills a crucial gap in our ability to advance studies of the sun-to-Earth connection by tracing the flow of energy and plasma through the foundation of the corona and the region around the sun known as the heliosphere.

STS-133 Discovery X-ray scans ET-137 in VAB

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Space shuttle Atlantis STS-122 Mission Specialist Hans Schlegel exits Atlantis' fight deck following a simulated launch countdown at Launch Pad 39A. Schlegel is with the European Space Agency. The exercise is part of terminal countdown demonstration test, or TCDT, activities at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The TCDT is a dress rehearsal for launch and also provides astronauts and ground crews with equipment familiarization and emergency egress training. On mission STS-122, Atlantis will deliver the Columbus module to the International Space Station. The European Space Agency's largest single contribution to the station, Columbus is a multifunctional, pressurized laboratory that will be permanently attached to U.S. Node 2, called Harmony. The laboratory will expand the research facilities aboard the station, providing crew members and scientists from around the world the ability to conduct a variety of experiments in the physical, materials and life scie

VANDENBERG ABF, Calif. - The Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL rocket that will lift NASA's IRIS solar observatory into orbit in June is seen in a hangar at Vandenberg Air Force Base. IRIS, short for Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, is being prepared for launch from Vandenberg June 26. 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.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. Inside Orbital Sciences’ Building 1555 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, workers attach the wires to lift the shipping container surrounding the Space Technology 5 (ST5) spacecraft. ST5 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. With such missions, NASA hopes to improve scientists’ abi

PHOTO DATE: 01-11-13LOCATION: Bldg. 9NW - SARJ SUBJECT: Expedition 36 crew members Chris Cassidy and ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano during SARJ Ops training.

jsc2018e043417 (May 10, 2018) --- At the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, Expedition 56 prime crew members Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency (left) and Serena Aunon-Chancellor of NASA (right) review procedures in a Russian segment mockup May 10 as part of their final flight qualification exams. Gerst, Aunon-Chancellor and Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos will launch June 6 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft for a six-month mission on the International Space Station...NASA/Elizabeth Weissinger.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville, Fla., workers place the first segments of the transportation canister around the base of the Space Tracking and Surveillance System - Demonstrators, or STSS Demo, spacecraft. 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)

The crew of the STS-87 mission, scheduled for launch Nov. 19 aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia from Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), participates in the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT) at KSC. Getting a close look at one of the Space Shuttles main engines are, from right, Commander Kevin Kregel, Payload Specialist Leonid Kadenyuk of the National Space Agency of Ukraine (NSAU), and Kadenyuks back-up, Yaroslav Pustovyi, Ph.D., also of NSAU. The TCDT is held at KSC prior to each Space Shuttle flight, providing the crew of each mission opportunities to participate in simulated countdown activities. The TCDT ends with a mock launch countdown culminating in a simulated main engine cut-off. The crew also spends time undergoing emergency egress training exercises at the pad and has an opportunity to view and inspect the payloads in the orbiter's payload bay

jsc2018e094967 - At the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, Expedition 58 crewmember Anne McClain of NASA is seen in a Russian space station trainer Nov. 13 during final qualification exams. McClain, Oleg Kononenko of Roscosmos and David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency will launch Dec. 3 on the Soyuz MS-11 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for a six-and-a-half month mission on the International Space Station...NASA/Sarah Volkman.

of 2