Spacecraft Propulsion Components Handling

Images depict the handling and transportation of large rocket components. Workers, cranes, and booster segments illustrate the engineering and preparation process for space missions.

BOEING HIGH CAPACITY FUEL TANK BEING READIED FOR PLACEMENT ON WEST TEST AREA TEST STAND IN ANTICIPATION OF FURTHER TESTING.

TWO CRANES LIFT THE APPROXIMATELY 8,000-POUND INTERIM CRYOGENIC PROPULSION STAGE TEST ARTICLE OUT OF ITS CRATE AT MARSHALL. THE TEST ARTICLE ARRIVED AT MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER VIA BARGE ON THE TENNESSEE RIVER AND WAS TRANSPORTED TO BUILDING 4649 WHERE TESTING WILL BEGIN.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Workers at the hoisting slip at the Solid Rocket Booster Disassembly Facility at Hangar AF on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, monitor the lifting of the left spent booster, used during space shuttle Discovery's final launch.The shuttle's two solid rocket booster casings and associated flight hardware are recovered in the Atlantic Ocean after every launch by Freedom Star and Liberty Star. The boosters impact the Atlantic about seven minutes after liftoff and the retrieval ships are stationed about 10 miles from the impact area at the time of splashdown. After the spent segments are processed, they will be transported to Utah, where they will be refurbished and stored, if needed.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- At the Railroad yard at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, solid rocket booster segments from the STS-122 mission are being loaded onto railroad cars and covered for transportation to Utah. After a mission, the spent boosters are recovered, cleaned, disassembled, refurbished and reused after each launch. After hydrolasing the interior of each segment, they are placed on flatbed trucks. The individual booster segments are transferred to a railhead located at the railroad yard. The covered segments will be moved to Titusville for interchange with Florida East Coast Railway to begin the trip back to the Thiokol plant in Wa¬satch, Utah.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At the dock at Hangar AF at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, two spent solid rocket boosters begin moving to the hangar for the safing process. They will be driven through the washing bay for a cleaning and rinsing. The boosters are from space shuttle Endeavour, which launched Nov. 14 on the STS-126 mission. The space shuttles solid rocket booster casings and associated flight hardware are recovered at sea. The boosters impact the Atlantic Ocean approximately seven minutes after liftoff. The splashdown area is a square of about six by nine nautical miles located about 140 nautical miles downrange from the launch pad. The retrieval ships are stationed approximately 8 to 10 nautical miles from the impact area at the time of splashdown. As soon as the boosters enter the water, the ships accelerate to a speed of 15 knots and quickly close on the boosters. The pilot chutes and main parachutes are the first items to be brought on board. With the chutes a

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At the NASA Railroad yard at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, a protective cover is being placed over the solid rocket booster, or SRB, segment from the STS-126 launch. The segments will be taken to Utah. After a mission, the spent boosters are recovered, cleaned, disassembled, refurbished and reused for another launch. After the segments are hydrolased inside, they are placed on flatbed trucks and transferred to the NASA Railroad yard. The NASA Railroad locomotive backs up the rail cars and the segments are lowered onto the car. After being covered for the trip, the segments will be moved to Titusville for interchange with Florida East Coast Railway to begin the trip back to Utah.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At the Solid Rocket Booster Disassembly Facility at Hangar AF on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, one of the solid rocket boosters used during space shuttle Discovery's STS-133 launch is moved to a tracked dolly for processing. Following the launch from NASA Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A on Feb. 24, the shuttle's two boosters fell into the Atlantic Ocean. There, the booster casings and associated flight hardware were recovered by Liberty Star and Freedom Star.The boosters impact the Atlantic about seven minutes after liftoff and the retrieval ships are stationed about 10 miles from the impact area at the time of splashdown. After the spent segments are processed, they will be transported to Utah, where they will be refurbished and stored, if needed.

The first stage of the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket arrives at the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The rocket is being prepared for Orbital ATK's seventh commercial resupply mission, CRS-7, to the International Space Station. Orbital ATK's CYGNUS pressurized cargo module is scheduled to launch atop ULA's Atlas V rocket from Pad 41 on March 19, 2017. CYGNUS will deliver thousands of pounds of supplies, equipment and scientific research materials to the space station.

BOEING HIGH CAPACITY FUEL TANK BEING READIED FOR PLACEMENT ON WEST TEST AREA TEST STAND IN ANTICIPATION OF FURTHER TESTING.

The 212-foot-long Space Launch System (SLS) rocket core stage pathfinder is moved inside the Pegasus barge at the Launch Complex 39 turn basin wharf at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 28, 2019. The core stage pathfinder is a full-scale mock-up of the rocket's core stage. It was used by the Exploration Ground Systems Program and their contractor, Jacobs, to practice offloading, moving and stacking maneuvers inside the Vehicle Assembly Building, using important ground support equipment to train employees and certify all the equipment works properly. The pathfinder was at Kennedy for about a month. It will make the trek back to NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana.

NASA AND BOEING ENGINEERS INSPECT AND PREPARE ONE OF THE LARGEST COMPSITE ROCKET PROPELLANT TANKS EVER MANUFACTURED. THE COMPOSITE CRYOTANK PROMISES A 30% WEIGHT REDUCTION AND A 25 % COST REDUCTION OVER THE PREVIOUSLY USED METAL TANKS.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- At the railroad yard at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, covers are being placed over solid rocket booster segments that will be transported to Utah. The yellow transportation end covers have already been inserted and are secure, as seen on the segment at left. The spent segments are part of the booster used to launch space shuttle Discovery in October. After a mission, the spent boosters are recovered, cleaned, disassembled, refurbished and reused after each launch. After hydrolasing the interior of each segment, they are placed on flatbed trucks. The individual booster segments are transferred to a railhead located at the railroad yard at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The long train of segments is part of the twin solid rocket boosters used to launch space shuttle Discovery in October. The NASA Railroad locomotive backs up the rail cars and the segment is lowered onto the car. The covered segments are moved to Titusville for interchange with Florida Ea

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- At the NASA Railroad yard at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, workers lower a transportation cover over another solid rocket booster segment from the STS-122 mission. Loaded on the railroad cars, the segments will be transported to Utah. After a mission, the spent boosters are recovered, cleaned, disassembled, refurbished and reused after each launch. After hydrolasing the interior of each segment, they are placed on flatbed trucks. The individual booster segments are transferred to a railhead located at the railroad yard. The covered segments will be moved to Titusville for interchange with Florida East Coast Railway to begin the trip back to the Thiokol plant in Wa¬satch, Utah.

The Liquid Oxygen Test Article was lifted onto the Kmag. Various electronic components will be installed then the article will be moved into test stand 4697.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Ares I-X center forward segment is prepared for lifting from the transporter. Once vertical, the segment will be moved to a stand. The booster used for the Ares I-X launch is being modified by adding new forward structures and a fifth segment simulator. The stacking operations are scheduled to begin in the Vehicle Assembly Building in April. Launch of the Ares I-X flight test is targeted for July 2009.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Workers at the railroad yard at NASA's Kennedy Space Center stand ready to secure the transportation cover over the solid rocket booster segment that is being transported to Utah. The spent segments are part of the booster used to launch space shuttle Discovery in October. After a mission, the spent boosters are recovered, cleaned, disassembled, refurbished and reused after each launch. After hydrolasing the interior of each segment, they are placed on flatbed trucks. The individual booster segments are transferred to a railhead located at the railroad yard at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The long train of segments is part of the twin solid rocket boosters used to launch space shuttle Discovery in October. The NASA Railroad locomotive backs up the rail cars and the segment is lowered onto the car. The covered segments are moved to Titusville for interchange with Florida East Coast Railway to begin the trip back to Utah.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- An overhead crane lowers a solid rocket booster segment toward a railroad car at the railroad yard at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The yellow transportation end cover has already been inserted and is secure. The spent segment is part of the booster used to launch space shuttle Discovery in October. The segment will be placed on the car and covered for the long trip back to Utah. After a mission, the spent boosters are recovered, cleaned, disassembled, refurbished and reused after each launch. After hydrolasing the interior of each segment, they are placed on flatbed trucks. The individual booster segments are transferred to a railhead located at the railroad yard at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The long train of segments is part of the twin solid rocket boosters used to launch space shuttle Discovery in October. The NASA Railroad locomotive backs up the rail cars and the segment is lowered onto the car. The covered segments are moved to Titusville f

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, cranes attached to the Ares I-X center forward segment lift it off the transporter to raise it to vertical. Once vertical, the segment will be moved to a stand. The booster used for the Ares I-X launch is being modified by adding new forward structures and a fifth segment simulator. The stacking operations are scheduled to begin in the Vehicle Assembly Building in April. Launch of the Ares I-X flight test is targeted for July 2009.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- The Stage 0 motor of the Orbital Sciences Corp. Taurus XL is hoisted into launch position by crane at Space Launch Complex 576-E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. As part of the four-stage Taurus XL rocket that will carry NASA's Glory spacecraft into low Earth orbit, stages 1, 2 and 3 will join Stage 0 at the launch pad about a week later.Once Glory reaches orbit, it will collect data on the properties of aerosols and black carbon. It also will help scientists understand how the sun's irradiance affects Earth's climate. Launch is scheduled for 5:09 a.m. EST Feb. 23. For information, visit www.nasa.gov/glory.

The Liquid Oxygen (LOX) tank was moved from the Pegasus barge to the west test area for placement in test stand.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At the Solid Rocket Booster Disassembly Facility at Hangar AF on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, one of the solid rocket boosters used during space shuttle Discovery's STS-133 launch is moved to a tracked dolly for processing. Following the launch from NASA Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A on Feb. 24, the shuttle's two boosters fell into the Atlantic Ocean. There, the booster casings and associated flight hardware were recovered by Liberty Star and Freedom Star.The boosters impact the Atlantic about seven minutes after liftoff and the retrieval ships are stationed about 10 miles from the impact area at the time of splashdown. After the spent segments are processed, they will be transported to Utah, where they will be refurbished and stored, if needed.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- At the Railroad yard at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, one of the spent segments of a solid rocket booster from the STS-122 mission is lifted off the flatbed truck. The segment will be placed onto a railroad car for transportation to Utah. After a mission, the spent boosters are recovered, cleaned, disassembled, refurbished and reused after each launch. After hydrolasing the interior of each segment, they are placed on flatbed trucks. The individual booster segments are transferred to a railhead located at the railroad yard. The covered segments will be moved to Titusville for interchange with Florida East Coast Railway to begin the trip back to the Thiokol plant in Wa¬satch, Utah.

The 212-foot-long Space Launch System (SLS) rocket core stage pathfinder is moved into the low bay of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 1, 2019. NASA's Pegasus Barge arrived at the Launch Complex 39 turn basin wharf on Sept. 30, 2019, making its first delivery to Kennedy in support of the agency's Artemis missions. The upgraded 310-foot-long barge arrived Sept. 27, 2019, ferrying the SLS core stage pathfinder, a full-scale mock-up of the rocket's core stage. The pathfinder will be used by the Exploration Ground Systems Program and their contractor, Jacobs, to practice offloading, moving and stacking maneuvers, using important ground support equipment to train employees and certify all the equipment works properly. The pathfinder will stay at Kennedy for approximately one month before trekking back to NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana.

Atlas Rocket in Cradle

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- On Launch Complex 576-E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, workers prepare NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory, or OCO, upper stack for attachment to the Stage 0. Orbital Sciences workers put the non-flight environmental shield over the fairing prior to erection. A portion of the umbilical tower (above it) is attached to the upper stack. The umbilical tower will be erected along with the upper stack. The spacecraft is scheduled for launch aboard Orbital Sciences' Taurus XL rocket Feb. 24 from Vandenberg. The spacecraft will collect precise global measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth's atmosphere. Scientists will analyze OCO data to improve our understanding of the natural processes and human activities that regulate the abundance and distribution of this important greenhouse gas.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At the turn basin at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, external fuel tank ET-131 is moved out of the Pegasus barge. The tank, which will be used on the STS-127 mission, will be transported to a high bay in the Vehicle Assembly Building for checkout. The Japanese Experiment Module's Experiment Logistics Module-Exposed Section, or ELM-ES, is part of the payload on the STS-127 mission, targeted for launch in June.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- At the NASA Railroad yard at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, workers lower a transportation cover over a solid rocket booster segment from the STS-122 mission. Loaded on the railroad cars, the segments will be transported to Utah. After a mission, the spent boosters are recovered, cleaned, disassembled, refurbished and reused after each launch. After hydrolasing the interior of each segment, they are placed on flatbed trucks. The individual booster segments are transferred to a railhead located at the railroad yard. The covered segments will be moved to Titusville for interchange with Florida East Coast Railway to begin the trip back to the Thiokol plant in Wa¬satch, Utah.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- At NASA's Space Launch Complex-2 on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, workers prepare to lift the first stage of a United Launch Alliance Delta II that will carry NASA's National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project (NPP) satellite into space.NPP will be positioned 512 miles above the Earth's surface and will orbit about 16 times each day to observe nearly the entire globe. The NPP mission for NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is to measure Earth's atmospheric and sea surface temperatures, humidity sounding, land and ocean biological activity, and cloud and aerosol properties.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, engineers and technicians prepare the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket for stacking in the Vertical Integration Facility at Launch Complex 41. The vehicle will be used to boost the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, or TDRS-L, spacecraft to orbit.TDRS-L is the second of three next-generation satellites designed to ensure vital operational continuity for the NASA Space Network. It is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral's Space Launch Complex 41 atop an Atlas V rocket in January 2014. The current Tracking and Data Relay Satellite system consists of eight in-orbit satellites distributed to provide near continuous information relay service to missions such as the Hubble Space Telescope and International Space Station.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In Hangar M on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, an overhead crane lifts the Delta II first stage off its stand. It will be placed onto a transporter for its move to the launch pad. Dawn's mission is to explore two of the asteroid belt's most intriguing and dissimilar occupants: asteroid Vesta and the dwarf planet Ceres. Dawn is scheduled to launch June 30 from Launch Complex 17-B.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, a crane lowers the Stage 0 motor for the Taurus XL launch vehicle to the ground for its move into Orbital Sciences' Hangar 1555. The motor will help carry NASA's Glory satellite into low Earth orbit. Glory is scheduled to launch in November from Vandenberg's Launch Pad SLC 576-E. Once Glory reaches orbit, it will collect data on the properties of aerosols and black carbon. It also will help scientists understand how the sun's irradiance affects Earth's climate.

The liquid hydrogen tank that will be part of the Space Launch System rockets core stage is being prepared for the Artemis III mission at NASAs Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. Eventually, the tank will be connected to the engine section that will house the four RS-25 engines. Once the aft simulator is attached, the LH2 tank undergoes non-destructive evaluation, which will test weld strength and ensure the tank is structurally sound. The SLS core stage is made up of five unique elements: the forward skirt, liquid oxygen tank, intertank, liquid hydrogen tank, and the engine section. The tank holds 537,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen cooled to minus 432 degrees Fahrenheit and sits between the core stages intertank and engine section. The liquid hydrogen hardware, along with the liquid oxygen tank, will provide propellant to the four RS-25 engines at the bottom of the core stage to produce more than two million pounds of thrust to help launch the Artemis III mission to the Mo

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Cranes remove a full-size replica of a space shuttle external fuel tank from the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex as the space-themed attraction makes way for a new exhibit featuring space shuttle Atlantis, which is currently undergoing preparations to go on public display. The tank is being placed into temporary storage at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The tank was part of a mockup of the external tank and two solid rocket boosters at the visitor complex that were used to show visitors the size of actual space shuttle components. A space shuttle rode piggyback on the tank and boosters at liftoff and during the ascent into space. The tank, which held propellants for the shuttle's three main engines, was not reused, but burned up in the atmosphere and fell into the ocean.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, a crane lifts the Taurus XL Stage 0 motor to move it to a flatbed truck. The motor will be transported to Orbital Sciences' Hangar 1555. The Taurus XL will launch NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory, or OCO, spacecraft targeted for Jan. 15. The OCO is a new Earth-orbiting mission sponsored by NASA's Earth System Science Pathfinder Program.

At NASA's Building 836, the Spacecraft Labs Telemetry Station at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, a United Launch Alliance Delta II booster has been removed from its shipping container. Preliminary checkouts and preflight processing will begin leading to launch of the agency's Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2, or ICESat-2. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex-2 at Vandenberg is scheduled for Sept. 12, 2018, and will be the last for the venerable Delta II rocket. Once in orbit, the satellite is designed to measure the height of a changing Earth, one laser pulse at a time, 10,000 laser pulses a second. The satellite will carry a single instrument, the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System. ICESat-2 will help scientists investigate why, and how much, Earth's frozen and icy areas are changing. These area make up Earth's the cryosphere.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Workers at the Solid Rocket Booster Disassembly Facility at Hangar AF on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, accompany the left spent booster, used during space shuttle Discovery's final launch, into the building for processing.The shuttle's two solid rocket booster casings and associated flight hardware are recovered in the Atlantic Ocean after every launch by Freedom Star and Liberty Star. The boosters impact the Atlantic about seven minutes after liftoff and the retrieval ships are stationed about 10 miles from the impact area at the time of splashdown. After the spent segments are processed, they will be transported to Utah, where they will be refurbished and stored, if needed.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, employees prepare to move the United Launch Alliance Atlas V first stage booster into the Atlas Spaceflight Operations Center, or ASOC. The booster, which was delivered by barge to nearby Port Canaveral, will be used to launch NASA's Radiation Belt Storm Probes mission.The Radiation Belt Storm Probes, or 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.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The Long Spacer (LS), the second and final piece of the Starboard 6 (S6) Integrated Truss Segment, is secured on a flatbed truck for transport to the Space Station Processing Facility where it will undergo inspections and verification tests. Eventually the LS will be integrated with the S6 Integrated Equipment Assembly already at KSC and will fly as one segment to the International Space Station on Space Shuttle mission STS-119 in early 2004. Together the segment pieces weigh 26,000 pounds and measure 45 feet long. .

Technicians ready two NASA Space Launch System (SLS) solid rocket boosters for mating to the rockets two aft skirts on June 19, 2020, inside Kennedy Space Centers Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility. Together, the twin boosters provide more than 75 percent of the total SLS thrust at launch. Manufactured by Northrop Grumman in Promontory, Utah, the boosters arrived at Kennedy via train. The cross-country journey was an important milestone for the agencys Artemis I launch. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system prior to crewed missions to the Moon. Once the boosters are mated with the aft skirts, they will be moved to the Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking on the mobile launcher.

The 212-foot-long Space Launch System (SLS) rocket core stage pathfinder has been offloaded from NASAs Pegasus Barge at Kennedy Space Centers Launch Complex 39 turn basin wharf on Oct. 1, 2019. The Pegasus Barge made its first delivery to Kennedy in support of the agency's Artemis missions. The upgraded 310-foot-long barge arrived Sept. 27, 2019, ferrying the SLS core stage pathfinder, a full-scale mock-up of the rocket's core stage. It will be used by Exploration Ground Systems and its contractor, Jacobs, to practice offloading, moving and stacking maneuvers, using important ground support equipment to train employees and certify all the equipment works properly. The pathfinder will stay at Kennedy for approximately one month before trekking back to NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the Stage 0 motor for the Taurus XL launch vehicle is prepared for transportation into Orbital Sciences' Hangar 1555. The motor will help carry NASA's Glory satellite into low Earth orbit. Glory is scheduled to launch in November from Vandenberg's Launch Pad SLC 576-E. Once Glory reaches orbit, it will collect data on the properties of aerosols and black carbon. It also will help scientists understand how the sun's irradiance affects Earth's climate.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the Stage 0 motor for the Taurus XL launch vehicle is readied for its move into Orbital Sciences' Hangar 1555. The motor will help lift NASA's Glory satellite into low Earth orbit. Glory is scheduled to launch in November from Vandenberg's Launch Pad SLC 576-E. Once Glory reaches orbit, it will collect data on the properties of aerosols and black carbon. It also will help scientists understand how the sun's irradiance affects Earth's climate.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- At the railroad yard at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, a cover is lowered over the solid rocket booster segment being transported to Utah. The yellow transportation end cover has already been inserted and is secure. The spent segments are part of the booster used to launch space shuttle Discovery in October. After a mission, the spent boosters are recovered, cleaned, disassembled, refurbished and reused after each launch. After hydrolasing the interior of each segment, they are placed on flatbed trucks. The individual booster segments are transferred to a railhead located at the railroad yard at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The long train of segments is part of the twin solid rocket boosters used to launch space shuttle Discovery in October. The NASA Railroad locomotive backs up the rail cars and the segment is lowered onto the car. The covered segments are moved to Titusville for interchange with Florida East Coast Railway to begin the trip back to Ut

Chile, Baquedano, huge 140 ton mining truck being transported.

A new liquid hydrogen separator tank arrives at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The tank has been lifted and rotated by crane and lowered back onto the flatbed truck for transport to Launch Pad 39B. The new separator/storage tank will be added to the pad's existing hydrogen vent system to assure gaseous hydrogen is delivered downstream to the flare stack. The 60,000 gallon tank was built by INOXCVA, in Baytown, Texas, a subcontractor of Precision Mechanical Inc. in Cocoa Florida. The new tank will support all future launches from the pad.

A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket is seen as it is rolled from the Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF) to Pad-0A, Monday, Nov. 12, 2018 at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Northrop Grumman's 10th contracted cargo resupply mission for NASA to the International Space Station will deliver about 7,500 pounds of science and research, crew supplies and vehicle hardware to the orbital laboratory and its crew. Launch is scheduled for Nov. 15 at 4:49 a.m. EST.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - Under the watchful eye of technicians, crane is used to offload the first stage of a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket following its arrival at NASA hangar 836 on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The launch vehicle will be used to deliver NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive mission, or SMAP, into orbit.SMAP will provide global measurements of soil moisture and its freeze/thaw state. These measurements will be used to enhance understanding of processes that link the water, energy and carbon cycles, and to extend the capabilities of weather and climate prediction models. SMAP data also will be used to quantify net carbon flux in boreal landscapes and to develop improved flood prediction and drought monitoring capabilities. Launch is scheduled for November 2014.

The 212-foot-long Space Launch System (SLS) rocket core stage pathfinder is being transported back to the Pegasus barge at the Launch Complex 39 turn basin wharf at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 28, 2019. The core stage pathfinder is a full-scale mock-up of the rocket's core stage. It was used by the Exploration Ground Systems Program and their contractor, Jacobs, to practice offloading, moving and stacking maneuvers inside the Vehicle Assembly Building, using important ground support equipment to train employees and certify all the equipment works properly. The pathfinder was at Kennedy for about a month. It will make the trek back to NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana.

This image shows technicians and engineers moving the liquid oxygen tank (LOX) into position as they continue the process of the forward join on the core stage of NASAs Space Launch System rocket for Artemis II, the first crewed mission of NASAs Artemis program at NASAs Michoud Assembly Facility. The forward join connects the forward skirt, the liquid oxygen tank (LOX) and the intertank structures to form the top part of the SLS rockets core stage. Now, NASA and Boeing, the SLS prime contractor, will continue to integrate various systems inside the forward part of the core stage and prepare for structural joining of the liquid hydrogen tank and engine section to form the bottom of the stage. Together with its four RS-25 engines, the rockets massive 212-foot-tall core stage — the largest stage NASA has ever built — and its twin solid rocket boosters will produce 8.8 million pounds of thrust to send NASAs Orion spacecraft, astronauts and supplies beyond Earths orbit to the Moon a

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Launch Complex 39 Area at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, a transporter offloads the external tank for space shuttle Atlantis' STS-125 mission to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope off the Pegasus barge. The tank, which arrived earlier in the day, will be moved to the Vehicle Assembly Building. Inside the building, the tank will be raised to vertical, lifted and moved into a checkout cell. Stacking of the tank and solid rocket boosters is scheduled for Aug. 7. Atlantis is targeted to launch Oct. 8.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Inside the Hangar M on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, United Launch Alliance workers help guide the Delta II first stage onto its transporter. The Delta will be moved to the launch pad for the future launch of a Global Positioning Satellite.

These images show the first core stage for NASAs Space Launch System rocket inside NASAs Pegasus barge on Jan. 8 ahead of its forthcoming journey to NASAs Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Teams rolled out, or moved, the completed core stage from NASAs Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans to the barge in preparation for the SLS rockets core stage Green Run test series at Stennis. Pegasus, which was modified to ferry SLS rocket hardware, will transport the core stage more than 40 miles from Michoud to Stennis for the comprehensive core stage Green Run test series. Green Run, named for its testing of new, or green, hardware progressively is the final test campaign ahead of the first Artemis launch.Assembly and integration of the core stage and its four RS-25 engines has been a collaborative, multistep process for NASA and its partners Boeing, the core stage lead contractor, and Aerojet Rocketdyne, the RS-25 engines lead contractor. Together with four RS-25

Ares I, Largest Rocket in the World, Ready for First Test Firing

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane is used to load a space shuttle solid rocket booster and an external fuel tank on trucks for transport to separate museums.The solid rocket boosters, or SRBs, will be displayed at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. The external tank soon will be transported for display at the Wings of Dreams Aviation Museum at Keystone Heights Airport between Gainesville and Jacksonville, Fla. The 149-foot SRBs together provided six million pounds of thrust. The external fuel tank contained over 500,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellant for the shuttle orbiters' three main engines. The work is part of Transition and Retirement of the space shuttle.

Technicians and engineers at Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, prepare to lift a United Launch Alliance/Orbital ATK solid rocket motor for mating to a Delta II rocket in preparation for launch of the Joint Polar Satellite System-1 (JPSS-1) later this year. JPSS, a next-generation environmental satellite system, is a collaborative program between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Workers in the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building check the progress of External Tank 118 (ET-118) as it is lowered onto the transporter below it. The tank will be transferred to NASAs Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The tank is being installed with an improved bipod fitting, which connects the external fuel tank to the Shuttle during launch. The new design, a significant milestone in the effort to return the Shuttle to safe flight, replaces the foam that was used to prevent ice buildup on the tanks bipod fittings with four rod-shaped heaters. The heaters are being retrofitted on the 11 existing tanks and incorporated into the manufacture of all new tanks.

PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. - An Atlas V rocket is off loaded from the United Launch Alliance barge Delta Mariner that just arrived at Port Canaveral, Fla. The launch vehicle will boost the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, spacecraft to the Red Planet. The rocket will be transported to the Atlas Spaceflight Operations Center, or ASOC, at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station to begin processing.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. - On Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the 80-foot lightning mast removed from the top of the fixed service structure (behind it) is lowered onto the pad surface. The mast is no longer needed with the erection of the three lightning towers around the pad. Pad 39B will be the site of the first Ares vehicle launch, including the Ares I-X test flight that is targeted for July 2009. The three new lightning towers are 500 feet tall with an additional 100-foot fiberglass mast atop supporting a wire catenary system. This improved lightning protection system allows for the taller height of the Ares I rocket compared to the space shuttle.

The Liquid Oxygen (LOX) tank was moved from the Pegasus barge to the west test area for placement in test stand 4697.

USA, Seattle, water pipes installation, building site , workers putting pipe on truck

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The nozzles of two orbital maneuvering system pods and three space shuttle main engines protrude from the aft end of space shuttle Discovery as it is pulled by a "towback" vehicle toward Orbiter Processing Facility-2 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Discovery touched down on the Shuttle Landing Facility's Runway 15 at 11:57 a.m., bringing an end to its 39th and final spaceflight mission, STS-133. Discovery and its six-member STS-133 crew delivered the Permanent Multipurpose Module, packed with supplies and critical spare parts, as well as Robonaut 2, the dexterous humanoid astronaut helper, to the International Space Station.Inside the processing facility, Discovery will be prepared for future public display.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- The Stage 0 motor of the Orbital Sciences Corp. Taurus XL is hoisted into launch position by crane at Space Launch Complex 576-E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. As part of the four-stage Taurus XL rocket that will carry NASA's Glory spacecraft into low Earth orbit, stages 1, 2 and 3 will join Stage 0 at the launch pad about a week later. Once Glory reaches orbit, it will collect data on the properties of aerosols and black carbon. It also will help scientists understand how the sun's irradiance affects Earth's climate. Launch is scheduled for 5:09 a.m. EST Feb. 23.

Technicians work on the Soyuz rocket after it is rolled out by train to the launch pad at Site 31, Tuesday, April 6, 2021, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Expedition 65 NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei, Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Oleg Novitskiy are scheduled to launch aboard their Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft on April 9.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the Taurus XL rocket's Stage 3 motor is on a stationary rail in a temporary processing tent near the pad at Space Launch Complex 576-E. Orbital Sciences' Taurus XL is a four-stage rocket that will carry NASA's Glory spacecraft into low Earth orbit. In early February, the spacecraft is scheduled to arrive at the pad, where it will be attached to the third stage and then stacked atop the remaining stages.Once Glory reaches orbit, it will collect data on the properties of aerosols and black carbon. It also will help scientists understand how the sun's irradiance affects Earth's climate. Launch is scheduled for 5:09 a.m. EST Feb. 23. For information, visit www.nasa.gov/glory.

A900767 U12P DISTANT ZENITH FAC DELIVERY GEORGE STALLER (Project Engineer) NOV 16 90 EG&G/NTS PHOTO LAB Publication Date: 11/16/1990 DELIVERING; DISTANT ZENITH; EDGERTON, GERMESHAUSEN & GRIER; EG&G; EQUIPMENT; EQUIPMENT & INSTRUMENTS; FAC DELIVERY; INSTRUMENTS & EQUIPMENT; INSTRUMENTS AND EQUIPMENT; NEVADA; NEVADA TEST SITE; NTS; NUCLEAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGY; P-TUNNEL; TEST SITES; TUNNELS; UGT; UNDERGROUND TESTING; WEAPONS EFFECTS historical images. 1972 - 2012. Department of Energy. National Nuclear Security Administration. Photographs Related to Nuclear Weapons Testing at the Nevada Test Site.

The core stage liquid hydrogen tank for the Artemis III mission completed proof testing, and technicians returned it to the main factory building at NASAs Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans where it will undergo more outfitting. As part of proof testing, technicians apply a simple soap solution and check for leaks by observing any bubble formation on the welds. The technician removed the bubble solution with distilled water and then dried the area of application to prevent corrosion. To build the Space Launch System (SLS) rockets 130-foot core stage liquid hydrogen tank, engineers use robotic tools to weld five-barrel segments. This process results in a tank with around 1,900 feet, or more than six football fields, of welds that must be tested by hand. After the leak tests, the core stage lead, Boeing, pressurized the SLS tank to further ensure there were no leaks. After it passed proof testing, technicians moved the Artemis III liquid hydrogen tank to Michouds main factory. S

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The first stage of the SpaceX COTS-2 Falcon 9 rocket is being moved into a SpaceX hangar at Pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Once assembled, it will be a two-stage fully integrated launch vehicle, consisting of a first stage powered by nine SpaceX-developed Merlin 1C engines, a second stage, an interstage, an unpressurized trunk and the Dragon spacecraft qualification unit. SpaceX was awarded procurement for three demonstration flights under the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services, or COTS, program managed by NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. A subsequent contract for Commercial Resupply Services, or CRS, was awarded in late 2008 to resupply the International Space Station. The SpaceX CRS contract provides for 12 missions to resupply the station from 2011 through 2015.

TWO CRANES LIFT THE APPROXIMATELY 8,000-POUND INTERIM CRYOGENIC PROPULSION STAGE TEST ARTICLE OUT OF ITS CRATE AT MARSHALL.

A new liquid hydrogen separator tank arrives at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A crane is used to lift and rotate the tank before delivery to Launch Pad 39B. The new separator/storage tank will be added to the pad's existing hydrogen vent system to assure gaseous hydrogen is delivered downstream to the flare stack. The 60,000 gallon tank was built by INOXCVA, in Baytown, Texas, a subcontractor of Precision Mechanical Inc. in Cocoa Florida. The new tank will support all future launches from the pad.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the early evening hours at the Shuttle Landing Facility, cranes maneuver the canister containing the U.S. laboratory module onto the bed of a trailer, waiting with its lights on. Intended for the International Space Station, the lab is being moved to the Space Station Processing Facility for pre-launch preparations. Scheduled for launch aboard the Shuttle Endeavour on mission STS-98, the laboratory comprises three cylindrical sections with two end cones. Each end-cone contains a hatch opening for entering and exiting the lab. The lab will provide a shirtsleeve environment for research in the areas of life science, microgravity science, Earth science and space science. Designated Flight 5A, this mission is targeted for launch in early 2000

edmonton, alberta, canada, a construction site with an excavator

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- An overhead crane lifts a solid rocket booster segment off a truck bed at the railroad yard at NASA's Kennedy Space Center for transfer to a railroad car. The yellow transportation end cover has already been inserted and is secure. The spent segment is part of the booster used to launch space shuttle Discovery in October. The segment will be covered for the long trip back to Utah. After a mission, the spent boosters are recovered, cleaned, disassembled, refurbished and reused after each launch. After hydrolasing the interior of each segment, they are placed on flatbed trucks. The individual booster segments are transferred to a railhead located at the railroad yard at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The long train of segments is part of the twin solid rocket boosters used to launch space shuttle Discovery in October. The NASA Railroad locomotive backs up the rail cars and the segment is lowered onto the car. The covered segments are moved to Titusville

TWO CRANES LIFT THE APPROXIMATELY 8,000-POUND INTERIM CRYOGENIC PROPULSION STAGE TEST ARTICLE OUT OF ITS CRATE AT MARSHALL. THE TEST ARTICLE ARRIVED AT MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER VIA BARGE ON THE TENNESSEE RIVER AND WAS TRANSPORTED TO BUILDING 4649 WHERE TESTING WILL BEGIN.

The Liquid Oxygen (LOX) tank was moved from the Pegasus barge to the west test area for placement in test stand.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- The Stage 1, 2 and 3 motors of the Taurus XL rocket are being prepared for transfer to Space Launch Complex 576-E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The Taurus is the launch vehicle for NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory, or OCO, which is a new Earth-orbiting mission sponsored by NASA's Earth System Science Pathfinder Program. The observatory is scheduled to launch Feb. 23 from Vandenberg. The spacecraft will collect precise global measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth's atmosphere. Scientists will analyze OCO data to improve our understanding of the natural processes and human activities that regulate the abundance and distribution of this important greenhouse gas. This improved understanding will enable more reliable forecasts of future changes in the abundance and distribution of CO2 in the atmosphere and the effect that these changes may have on the Earth's climate.

TWO CRANES LIFT THE APPROXIMATELY 8,000-POUND INTERIM CRYOGENIC PROPULSION STAGE TEST ARTICLE OUT OF ITS CRATE AT MARSHALL. THE TEST ARTICLE ARRIVED AT MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER VIA BARGE ON THE TENNESSEE RIVER AND WAS TRANSPORTED TO BUILDING 4649 WHERE TESTING WILL BEGIN.

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

The Liquid Oxygen (LOX) tank was moved from the Pegasus barge to the west test area for placement in test stand 4697.

The Northrop Grumman-provided ascent test booster for the Orion Ascent Abort-2 (AA-2) Flight Test is secured on a work stand inside the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility (RPSF) at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Jan. 29, 2019. The booster will be outfitted for flight. AA-2 is a full-stress test of the Launch Abort System, scheduled for April 2019. AA-2 will launch from Space Launch Complex 46, carrying a fully functional LAS and a 22,000-pound Orion test vehicle to an altitude of 31,000 feet and traveling at more than 1,000 miles an hour. The test will verify the LAS can steer the crew module and astronauts aboard to safety in the event of an issue with the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket when the spacecraft is under the highest aerodynamic loads it will experience during a rapid climb into space. NASA's Orion and Exploration Ground Systems programs and contractors from Jacob's and Northrup Grumman in conjunction with the Air Force Space and Missile Center's Launch Ope

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Workers help secure one of two solid rocket boosters to a mooring at Port Canaveral in Florida. Liberty Star, one of NASAs two booster retrieval ships, towed the spent booster from space shuttle Atlantis final launch to the port. The shuttles two solid rocket booster casings and associated flight hardware are recovered in the Atlantic Ocean after every launch by Freedom Star and Liberty Star. The boosters impact the Atlantic about seven minutes after liftoff, and the retrieval ships are stationed about 10 miles from the impact area at the time of splashdown.After the spent segments are processed, they will be transported to Utah, where they will be deserviced and stored, if needed. Atlantis began its final flight, STS-135, at 11:29 a.m. EDT on July 8 to deliver the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module packed with supplies and spare parts to the International Space Station.

041113-M-1250B-028. Base: Lutafiyah State: Babil Country: Iraq (IRQ)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The United Launch Alliance Atlas V first stage booster that will boost the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, or TDRS-L, spacecraft into orbit is being transported from the hangar at the Atlas Spaceflight Operations Center on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station to Launch Complex 41.TDRS-L is the second of three next-generation satellites designed to ensure vital operational continuity for the NASA Space Network. It is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral's Space Launch Complex 41 atop an Atlas V rocket in January 2014. The current Tracking and Data Relay Satellite system consists of eight in-orbit satellites distributed to provide near continuous information relay service to missions such as the Hubble Space Telescope and International Space Station.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Workers at the Railroad yard at NASA's Kennedy Space Center lift the transportation cover that will be used on solid rocket booster segments being transported to Utah. After a mission, the spent boosters are recovered, cleaned, disassembled, refurbished and reused after each launch. After hydrolasing the interior of each segment, they are placed on flatbed trucks. The individual booster segments are transferred to a railhead located at the railroad yard. The covered segments will be moved to Titusville for interchange with Florida East Coast Railway to begin the trip back to the Thiokol plant in Wa¬satch, Utah.

The Liquid Oxygen (LOX) tank was moved from the Pegasus barge to the west test area for placement in test stand.

041113-M-1250B-009. Base: Lutafiyah State: Babil Country: Iraq (IRQ)

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- At Vandenberg AFB, the first stage of the Taurus rocket is being moved onto the stationary rails in Building 1555's west bay. The Taurus will launch the Orbiting Carbon Observatory, or OCO, in 2009. The OCO is a new Earth-orbiting mission sponsored by NASA's Earth System Science Pathfinder Program.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. --- A tow vehicle prepares to offload external tank No. 128 from the Pegasus barge in the Launch Complex 39 Area at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The tank is scheduled for space shuttle Discovery's STS-124 mission. After offloading, the tank will be transported to the Vehicle Assembly Building. On the STS-124 mission, Discovery will transport the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module - Pressurized Module and the Japanese Remote Manipulator System to the International Space Station. Discovery is targeted for launch on May 25.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A crane lifts and transfers an Ares I-X upper stage simulator segment from the Delta Mariner at Port Canaveral, Fla., onto a flatbed truck. They will be transported to the Vehicle Assembly Building's high bay 4 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The upper stage simulators will be used in the test flight identified as Ares I-X in 2009. The Ares I-X test flight will provide NASA an early opportunity to test and prove hardware, facilities and ground operations associated with the Ares I crew launch vehicle. It also will allow NASA to gather critical data during ascent of the integrated Orion crew exploration vehicle and the Ares I rocket. The data will ensure the entire vehicle system is safe and fully operational before astronauts begin traveling to orbit. The simulator segments will simulate the mass and the outer mold line and will be more than 100 feet of the total vehicle height of 327 feet. The simulator comprises 11 segments that are approximate

Three personnel spheres in storage for use on the MYSTIC (DSRV-1) Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle. Base: Naval Air Station, North Island State: California (CA) Country: United States Of America (USA)

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- A worker at the railroad yard at NASA's Kennedy Space Center secures the transportation cover over the solid rocket booster segment that is being transported to Utah. After a mission, the spent boosters are recovered, cleaned, disassembled, refurbished and reused after each launch. After hydrolasing the interior of each segment, they are placed on flatbed trucks. The individual booster segments are transferred to a railhead located at the railroad yard at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The long train of segments is part of the twin solid rocket boosters used to launch space shuttle Discovery in October. The NASA Railroad locomotive backs up the rail cars and the segment is lowered onto the car. The covered segments are moved to Titusville for interchange with Florida East Coast Railway to begin the trip back to Utah.

An empty first stage MX missile booster is prepared for loading aboard the Coast Guard buoy tender Fir (WLM-212). The booster will be dropped in the ocean at the Pacific Missile Test Center Range for Diver Recovery Gear training. State: California (CA) Country: United States Of America (USA)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers check the "beanie cap" and the gaseous oxygen vent arm removed from Launch Pad 39B's fixed service structure. A portion of the service structure is being removed for the pad's conversion as launch site for the Constellation Program's Ares I-X. The launch of the Ares I-X flight test is targeted for August 2009.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Technicians remove the crane straps from a jacking, equalization and leveling (JEL) cylinder and bearing from Crawler-Transporter No. 2 after it is lowered by a crane to a resting position on the ground. During routine maintenance inspections last week, technicians removed two of the 16 JEL cylinders on the crawler to gain access to the bearings and found three of the four bearings cracked. Further eddy current inspections indicated that cracks are present on 15 of the bearings. There are 16 cylinders and 32 bearings per crawler. Engineers are evaluating the situation to determine the cause of the cracks and an appropriate solution to the problem.

030805-O-0000X-003. Base: Groton Shipyard State: Connecticut (CT) Country: United States Of America (USA)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Modifications continue on the Mobile Launcher, or ML, at the Mobile Launcher Park Site at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A section of the metal structure is lowered by crane to the ground near the ML. The ML is being modified and strengthened to accommodate the weight, size and thrust at launch of NASA's Space Launch System, or SLS, and Orion spacecraft.In 2013, the agency awarded a contract to J.P. Donovan Construction Inc. of Rockledge, Fla., to modify the ML, which is one of the key elements of ground support equipment that is being upgraded by the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program office at Kennedy. The existing 24-foot exhaust hole is being enlarged and strengthened for the larger, heavier SLS rocket. The ML will carry the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft to Launch Pad 39B for its first mission, Exploration Mission-1, in 2017.

STS-123 SRB LIFT OPS AT HANGAR AF

A900771 U12P DISTANT ZENITH FAC DELIVERY GEORGE STALLER (Project Engineer) NOV 16 90 EG&G/NTS PHOTO LAB Publication Date: 11/16/1990 DELIVERING; DISTANT ZENITH; EDGERTON, GERMESHAUSEN & GRIER; EG&G; EQUIPMENT; EQUIPMENT & INSTRUMENTS; FAC DELIVERY; INSTRUMENTS & EQUIPMENT; INSTRUMENTS AND EQUIPMENT; MALE; MALES; MEN; MEN (ADD MALE MODIFIER); NEVADA; NEVADA TEST SITE; NTS; NUCLEAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGY; P-TUNNEL; TEST SITES; TUNNELS; UGT; UNDERGROUND TESTING; WEAPONS EFFECTS historical images. 1972 - 2012. Department of Energy. National Nuclear Security Administration. Photographs Related to Nuclear Weapons Testing at the Nevada Test Site.

Loading with cable drums, Antonow An-225, Cologne Bonn Airport, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A crane lifts a segment for a set of twin, full-size replica Solid Rocket Boosters SRBs in front of the Space Shuttle Atlantis exhibit under construction at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. Atlantis is housed in the building behind the SRB stack. An external tank replica will be added later to the middle of the SRBs to complete the display. The SRBs stand 150 feet tall, while the external tank will reach 184 feet when it is finished. The shuttle was mounted to the stack and depended on the power of the SRBs to lift it off the launch pad and start it on its way to space. The external tank was loaded with liquid propellants for the shuttle's three main engines.

Open bucket wagon type Fzz, two-axle carrying wagon with three briquette buckets, used for transporting lignite briquettes, Westkai transhipment terminal, Cologne-Niehl, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- The first, second and third stages of the Orbital Sciences Corp. Pegasus XL rocket that will launch the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) to orbit are moved from the west high bay to the east high bay of Building 1555 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The move will allow technicians to process the spacecraft and fairing in the clean rooms of the east high bay before attaching it to the rocket.After the rocket and spacecraft are processed at Vandenberg, they will be flown on the Orbital Sciences' L-1011 carrier aircraft to the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site located at the Pacific Oceans Kwajalein Atoll for launch. The high-energy X-ray telescope will conduct a census for black holes, map radioactive material in young supernovae remnants, and study the origins of cosmic rays and the extreme physics around collapsed stars.

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