Astronauts in Training and Events

Images of astronauts participating in training and events, showcasing teamwork and preparation for space missions in formal attire.

. SpaceX USCV-7 (Crew 7)Imagery provided by SpaceX

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Inside the MILA Spaceflight Tracking and Data Network Station during a visit to Kennedy, STS-114 Mission Specialist Wendy Lawrence and Commander Eileen Collins sign crew photos and logos. Behind Lawrence is Anthony Ippolito, current director of MILA_PDL, and William Foster, Johnson Space Center ground controller. (MILA refers to Merritt Island Launch Area; PDL designates the Ponce De Leon Inlet site.) The tracking station serves as the primary voice, data and telemetry communications link between the Shuttle and the ground from launch until 7-1_2 minutes into the flight. Millions of clues about the performance of the Space Shuttles main engines and other components are communicated to launch managers, technicians and engineers on the ground, who must keep their fingers on the pulse of the Space Shuttle during the critical ascent period. In a typical year, MILA provides through KSC more than 10,000 hours of data between spacecraft and data users. MILA is als

NASA Astronaut Mike Hopkins explains what it was like to live on the International Space Station for 6 months to seventh graders from Clear Spring Middle School at the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore, MD on Monday, June 9, 2014. Hopkins served on Expeditions 37 and 38 with Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy and returned home in March, 2014. (

New Horizons project manager Helene Winters of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory speaks at a press conference prior to the flyby of Ultima Thule by the New Horizons spacecraft, Monday, Dec. 31, 2018 at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Stephanie Abrams, a meteorologist with The Weather Channel, prepares for a live interview with Ed Mango, manager of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, or CCP, in front of the Atlantis display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. During the interview, Mango explained the program is working with the commercial aerospace industry to return America's domestic capability to launch astronauts from U.S. soil to the International Space Station around the middle of the decade. He also discussed the program's role in helping NASA reach its deep-space exploration goals.

Artemis II Crew Media Availability. NASA astronaut Victor Glover speaks during a media gather, as CSA (Canadian Space Agency) President Lisa Campbell, left, NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman, and NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, right, look on, Thursday, May 18, 2023, on Capitol Hill grounds in Washington. NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Hammock Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, who will fly around the Moon on NASAs Artemis II flight test, visited Washington to discuss their upcoming mission with members of Congress and others.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, left, and SpaceX CEO and Chief Designer Elon Musk, view the historic Dragon capsule that returned to Earth on May 31 following the first successful mission by a private company to carry supplies to the International Space Station on Wednesday, June 13, 2012 at the SpaceX facility in McGregor, Texas. Bolden and Musk also thanked the more than 150 SpaceX employees working at the McGregor facility for their role in the historic mission.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The STS-122 crew returns to NASA's Kennedy Space Center for a presentation in the Training Auditorium. Having completed their successful 13-day mission to the International Space Station, (from left) Commander Steve Frick, Pilot Alan Poindexter, and Mission Specialists Leland Melvin, Rex Walheim, Hans Schlegel and Stanley Love share personal stories, photos and videos of their challenging mission.

Date: 03-27-15Location: Bldg 30 South, FCR-1Subject: Former Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords with Astronaut Mike Fossum and JSC Center Director Ellen Ochoa

Secretary Gale Norton inspecting picture with Doug Brown, brother of the late astronaut David Brown, along with David's mother, Dorothy, and astronaut Scott Parazynski, far right, at Department of Interior event marking naming of Colorado's Columbia Point in honor of Space Shuttle Columbia's last voyage

At the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, Expedition 59 crewmembers Christina Koch of NASA (left), Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos (center) and Nick Hague of NASA (right) report to Russian space officials Feb. 20 during the second day of final pre-launch qualifications exams. They will launch March 14, U.S. time, in the Soyuz MS-12 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for a six-and-a-half month mission on the International Space Station.NASA/Beth Weissinger

Col. Michael Hough, Commander 30th Space Wing, Vandenberg Air Force Base, left, and 1st Lieutenant Kristina Williams, weather officer, 30th Space Wing, Vandenberg Air Force Base, discuss NASA's InSight mission during a prelaunch media briefing, Thursday, May 3, 2018, at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. InSight, short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, is a Mars lander designed to study the "inner space" of Mars: its crust, mantle, and core.

jsc2019e051811 - At the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, United Arab Emirates spaceflight participant Hazzaa Ali Almansoori signs in Aug. 29 for the first day of qualification exams for flight. Looking on are Expedition 61 crewmembers Oleg Skripochka of Roscosmos and Jessica Meir of NASA. They will launch Sept. 25 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft for a mission on the International Space Station...NASA/Beth Weissinger.

NASA astronaut Drew Feustel speaks to students at John Burroughs Elementary School about his experiences on two space shuttle missions, STS-125 and STS-134, and a long duration mission onboard the International Space Station, Tuesday, May 7, 2019 in Washington, DC. Feustel most recently spent 197 days living and working onboard the International Space Station as part of Expedition 55 and as commander of Expedition 56. Feustel ventured outside the space station on three spacewalks, moving him up to second among U.S. spacewalkers with a cumulative time of 61 hours 48 minutes over nine spacewalks.

NASA astronaut Scott Tingle helps conduct an experiment about sound waves in a vacuum during a taping of STEM in 30 with Beth Wilson and Marty Kelsey, Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2018 at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va. Tingle spent 168 days onboard the International Space Station as part of Expeditions 54 and 55.

2022 Holiday Coffee. Kennedy Space Center employee Dean Pettit takes a selfie with Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complexs Space Person, at the 2022 Center Directors Holiday Coffee on Dec. 7, 2022, at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The annual holiday event is an opportunity for Kennedy employees and NASA retirees to exchange holiday greetings with center leaders and fellow support staff.

Former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, left, gives video replies to questions from social media, Wednesday, May 25, 2016, in Washington.

A visitor poses for a photo with NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik at the LEGO exhibit at the Apollo 11 50th Anniversary celebration on the National Mall, Friday, July 19, 2019 in Washington. Apollo 11 was the first mission to land astronauts on the Moon and launched on July 16, 1969 with astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin.

Acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot discusses the fiscal year 2019 budget proposal during a State of NASA address Monday, Feb. 12, 2018 at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

JSC2006-E-28463 (18 July 2006) --- Astronaut Steven W. Lindsey (left), STS-121 commander, and flight director Steve Stich visit in Ellington Field's Hangar 276 near JSC during the STS-121 crew return ceremonies.

STS-95 Payload Specialist John H. Glenn Jr., a senator from Ohio and one of the original seven Project Mercury astronauts, participates in a media briefing at the Kennedy Space Center Press Site Auditorium before returning to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. The STS-95 mission ended with landing at Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility at 12:04 p.m. EST on Nov. 7. Also participating in the briefing were the other STS-95 crew members: Mission Commander Curtis L. Brown Jr.; Pilot Steven W. Lindsey; Mission Specialist and Payload Commander Stephen K. Robinson; Mission Specialist Scott E. Parazynski; Mission Specialist Pedro Duque, with the European Space Agency (ESA); and Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai, with the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA). The mission included research payloads such as the Spartan-201 solar-observing deployable spacecraft, the Hubble Space Telescope Orbital Systems Test Platform, the International Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhike

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Space Station Processing Facility, STS-117 Mission Specialist James Reilly (center) and STS-115 Mission Specialist Joseph Tanner (right) talk with a worker about the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM). Equipment familiarization is a routine part of astronaut training and launch preparations.

NASA FAMILY EDUCATION NIGHT

NASA astronaut Shannon Walker speaks to workers and guests during an employee event for the mobile launcher move to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) on Sept. 7, 2018, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mobile launcher, atop crawler-transporter 2, began its trek from Launch Pad 39B along the crawlerway after undergoing a fit check and several days of systems testing with the pad. This is the first time that the modified mobile launcher made the trip to the pad. The 380-foot-tall mobile launcher is equipped with the crew access arm and several umbilicals that will provide power, environmental control, pneumatics, communication and electrical connections to the agency's Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft. The mobile launcher will spend seven months in the VAB undergoing testing. Exploration Ground Systems is preparing the ground systems necessary to launch SLS and Orion on Exploration Mission-1, missions to the Moon and on to Mars.

Spaceflight participant Hazzaa Ali Almansoori of the United Arab Emirates, left, and Expedition 61 prime crew members Oleg Skripochka of Roscosmos and Jessica Meir of NASA, pose for a photograph at the conclusion of a press conference, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2019 at the Cosmonaut Hotel in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Meir, Skripochka, and Almansoori will launch September 25th on the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome to the International Space Station.

JSC2001-E-25822 (23 August 2001) --- Daniel T. Barry (foreground) and Patrick G. Forrester, STS-105 mission specialists, sign autographs for the assembled crowd in Hangar 990 at Ellington Field during the STS-105 and Expedition Two crew return ceremonies. The STS-105 crew delivered the Expedition Three crew and supplies to the International Space Station (ISS) and brought the Expedition Two crew back to Earth.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio makes his opening remarks to the audience at a post-flight presentation on the Expedition 38 mission to the International Space Station.The Space Flight Awareness Program hosted Mastracchio's presentation for employees in the KSC Training Auditorium at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. An Expedition 38/39 crew member, Mastracchio launched to the station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Nov. 6, 2013, and returned to Earth on May 13, 2014, after 188 days in space. Following Mastracchio's remarks, employees were given the opportunity to ask questions and to meet him in person. To read Mastracchio's biography, visit http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/mastracc.html.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, STS-133 Mission Specialist Alvin Drew talks to media at Launch Pad 39A, where space shuttle Discovery is poised for launch next month. The six-member STS-133 crew is at Kennedy for the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT), which provides each shuttle crew and launch team an opportunity to participate in various simulated activities, including equipment familiarization and emergency training at the launch pad.Discovery and its crew will deliver 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. Launch is targeted for Nov. 1 at 4:40 p.m.

Artemis II Crew Canadian Embassy Reception. NASA astronaut Christina Hammock Koch, center, joined by NASA astronaut Victor Glover, left, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, right, delivers remarks, Wednesday, May 17, 2023, during a reception at the Canadian Embassy in Washington. Wiseman, Glover, Koch, and Hansen, who will fly around the Moon on NASAs Artemis II flight test, visited Washington to discuss their upcoming mission with members of Congress and others.

Astronauts selected to train for the flight tests of NASAs Commercial Crew Program talked to members of the media at the News Center at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. From left are astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA Kennedy Space Center's Apollo/Saturn V Center, Jerry Hartman, Education Lead with the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters and Susan Sawyer, Lunabotics Project Coordinator with ReDe/Critique, display the trophy the winning team will receive at the award ceremony for NASA's second annual Lunabotics Mining Competition.Thirty-six teams of undergraduate and graduate students from the United States, Bangladesh, Canada, Colombia and India participated in NASA's Lunabotics Mining Competition May 26 - 28 at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The competition is designed to engage and retain students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Teams will maneuver their remote controlled or autonomous excavators, called lunabots, in about 60 tons of ultra-fine simulated lunar soil, called BP-1. The competition is an Exploration Systems Mission Directorate project managed by Kennedy's Education Division. The even

A tweetuup participant videotapes with her iPhone and tweets as astronaut Doug Wheelock discusses his experiences while living on the International Space Station during a tweetup at NASA Headquarters in Washington, Wednesday, March 16, 2011. Wheelock, who has accumulated a total of 178 days in space, assumed command of the International Space Station and the Expedition 25 crew. During Expedition 25, there were more than 120 microgravity experiments in human research; biology and biotechnology; physical and materials sciences; technology development; and Earth and space sciences. Wheelock also responded to an emergency shutdown of half of the station's external cooling system and supported three unplanned spacewalks to replace the faulty pump module that caused the shutdown. His efforts restored the station's critical cooling system to full function. The mission duration was 163 days.

JSC2010-E-185486 (10 Nov. 2010) --- NASA astronauts Chris Ferguson (left), STS-135 commander; and Doug Hurley, pilot, participate in a food tasting session in the Habitability and Environmental Factors Office at NASA's Johnson Space Center. STS-135 is planned to be the final mission of the space shuttle program.

Summer Moon Festival, Wapakoneta, Ohio, Apollo 11 Moon Landing 50th Anniversary

Crew-4 Employee Event. From left, NASA astronauts Bob Hines, Jessica Watkins, and Kjell Lindgren prepare to serve cake to Kennedy Space Center employees during an appreciation event held at the Florida spaceports KARS Park on March 22, 2023. Hines, Watkins, and Lindgren, along with ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, launched to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft on April 27, 2022, from Kennedys Launch Complex 39A. The crew remained at the orbiting laboratory for approximately six months, conducting critical science as part of the fourth crew rotation mission for NASAs Commercial Crew Program.

Founder and CEO of Future Engineers, Deanne Bell, speaks at a pop-up makerspace hosted by Future Engineers with support from NASA and The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, Thursday, September 21, 2017 in Chantilly, Virginia. Participants were able to create digital 3D models using Autodesk Tinkercad and watch objects being printed with Makerbot 3D printers.

Astronaut Rex Walheim meets students at the USA Science and Engineering Festival in Washington on April 25, 2014. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.

Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff meet with NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik, NASA astronaut candidate Andre Douglas, NASA astronaut Jessica Meir, NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, and NASA STEM interns, Monday, Aug. 29, 2022, at the Operations and Support Building II at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Vice President was to watch the launch of NASAs Space Launch System rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft on the Artemis I flight test, however the launch attempt was halted at approximately 8:30 a.m. ET.

. jsc2023e017059 (April 4, 2023) - NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, are announced as members of the Artemis II crew that will travel around the Moon during a Monday, April 3, 2023, crew announcement news conference at Ellington Field near NASAs Johnson Space Center. The crew is comprised of Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen. The four astronauts will venture around the Moon on Artemis II, the first crewed mission on NASAs path to establishing a long-term presence at the Moon for science and exploration through Artemis. Photo by James Blair.

Jon McBride, retired NASA astronaut, is interviewed in front of the Mars rover concept, developed by vehicle designers, the Parker Brothers, with advice from NASA, during the Smithsonian Institutions National Air and Space Museums Mars Day, Friday, July 21, 2017 in Washington. The Mars rover concept is currently on an East Coast tour from its home base at the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Center in Florida, and is designed to engage and educate the public by demonstrating the types of features and equipment a future human exploration vehicle may need.

Amy Ross, a spacesuit engineer at NASAs Johnson Space Center, left, and NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, second from left, watch as Kristine Davis, a spacesuit engineer at NASAs Johnson Space Center, wearing a ground prototype of NASAs new Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU), and Dustin Gohmert, Orion Crew Survival Systems Project Manager at NASAs Johnson Space Center, wearing the Orion Crew Survival System suit, right, wave after being introduced by the administrator, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The xEMU suit improves on the suits previous worn on the Moon during the Apollo era and those currently in use for spacewalks outside the International Space Station and will be worn by first woman and next man as they explore the Moon as part of the agencys Artemis program. The Orion suit is designed for a custom fit and incorporates safety technology and mobility features that will help protect astronauts on launch day, in emergency situatio

Date: 12-05-11Location: Bldg 17, Food LabSubject: Expedition 34 Soyuz crew Tom Marshburn and Chris Hadfield during their food tasting

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - STS-114 Mission Specialists Wendy Lawrence (far left) speaks to Kennedy employees in the Space Station Processing Facility while Mission Specialist Charles Camarda (left) listens. They and the other crew members visited several sites during their return to the Center. Their return is being celebrated at a gathering at the KSC Visitor Complex later this evening.

Jeff Fox, Christie Sauers, and Phillip Reyes present the Students Shaping America's Next Spacecraft (SSANS) program to NASA center directors in front of the Orion mockup in Building 9 at Johnson Space Center in Houston on Nov. 10, 2011. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.

NASA astronaut Ricky Arnold is interviewed for a Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum production of Stem in 30, Friday, May 3, 2019 at Six Flags America theme park in Upper Marlboro, MD. During Expedition 55/56, Arnold completed three spacewalks for a total of 19.5 hours outside the space station, and concluded his 197 day mission when he landed in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan in Oct. 2018. He also flew to the space station on shuttle mission STS-119 to deliver the final pair of power-generating solar array wings.

A NASA staff member describes the Global Precipitation Measurement Mission. The GPM Core Observatory satellite was launched into space on February 27, 2014 and will measure rain and snow worldwide every three hours. The GPM mission will help advance our understanding of Earth's water and energy cycles, improve the forecasting of extreme events that cause natural disasters, and extend current capabilities of using satellite precipitation information. The USA Science and Engineering Festival took place at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC on April 26 and 27, 2014.

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - NASA astronaut Nicole Stott talks to members of the U.S. Navy inside the USS Anchorage during the Orion Underway Recovery Test 3 mission simulation day in the Pacific Ocean. The Orion boilerplate test vehicle is secured in the well deck of the ship.NASA, Lockheed Martin and U.S. Navy personnel are conducting the recovery test using the test vehicle to prepare for recovery of the Orion crew module on its return from a deep space mission. The test allows the teams to demonstrate and evaluate the recovery processes, procedures, hardware and personnel in open waters. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is conducting the underway recovery tests. Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to destinations not yet explored by humans, including an asteroid and Mars. It will have emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. The first unpiloted test flight

Artemis II Crew Senate Meet and Greet. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson gives remarks as Senator Ben Cardin, D-MD., left, CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, NASA astronaut Christina Hammock Koch, CSA (Canadian Space Agency) President Lisa Campbell, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., NASA astronauts Victor Glover, and Reid Wiseman, look on during a meet and greet, Wednesday, May 17, 2023, at the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington. Wiseman, Glover, Hammock Koch, and Hansen, who will fly around the Moon on NASAs Artemis II flight test, visited Washington to discuss their upcoming mission with members of Congress and others.

Astronaut Doug Wheelock discusses his experiences while living on the International Space Station during a tweetup at NASA Headquarters in Washington, Wednesday, March 16, 2011. Wheelock, who has accumulated a total of 178 days in space, assumed command of the International Space Station and the Expedition 25 crew. During Expedition 25, there were more than 120 microgravity experiments in human research; biology and biotechnology; physical and materials sciences; technology development; and Earth and space sciences. Wheelock also responded to an emergency shutdown of half of the station's external cooling system and supported three unplanned spacewalks to replace the faulty pump module that caused the shutdown. His efforts restored the station's critical cooling system to full function. The mission duration was 163 days.

JSC2007-E-03715 (19 Jan. 2007) --- Barbara R. Morgan, educator astronaut, is pictured with a number of students during a demonstration at Space Center Houston. Morgan has been named as a crew member for the STS-118 mission, scheduled to launch in the summer of 2007.

NASA astronaut Eric Boe recently toured Boeings spacecraft testing facilities in Huntington Beach and El Segundo, Calif., along with fellow commercial crew astronauts Nicole Mann and Chris Ferguson. All three will fly on Boeings CST-100 Starliner in an upcoming Crew Flight Test to the International Space Station. Structural testing in Huntington Beach confirms the spacecraft can withstand the pressures it will experience during flight. Environmental qualification testing in El Segundo ensures the spacecraft can withstand the extreme environments of space.

The winner of the high school portion of the Exploration Design Challenge is announced at the USA Science and Engineering Festival in Washington on April 25, 2014. Astronaut Rex Walheim speaks to event participants. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.

A large TV screen in Russian Mission Control Center in Korolev, Russia shows Expedition 23 Commander Oleg Kotov, right, welcoming NASA astronaut and Flight Engineer Tracy Caldwell Dyson onboard the International Space Station after she and fellow crew members Expedition 23 Soyuz Commander Alexander Skvortsov and Flight Engineer Mikhail Kornienko docked their Soyuz TMA-18 spacecraft on Sunday, April 4, 2010.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- On the NASA Causeway at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a 40- by 70-foot activity tent chock full of LEGO bricks hosts children, adults and a space person. There, they are building their vision of the future with LEGO bricks, marking the beginning of a three-year Space Act Agreement between NASA and The LEGO Group. The partnership is meant to spark the interest of children in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). To commemorate the partnership, two small LEGO space shuttles will launch aboard space shuttle Discovery's STS-133 mission to the International Space Station and the company will release four NASA-inspired products in its LEGO CITY line next year. LEGO sets also will fly to the space station aboard Endeavour's STS-134 mission, and will be put together on orbit to demonstrate the challenges faced while building things in microgravity.

NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough, blue flight suit, listens to a presentation in Kennedy Space Centers Training Auditorium on April 12, 2019, during “Columbia: The Mission Continues,” an event organized by the Apollo Challenger Columbia Lessons Learned Program (ACCLLP). Kimbrough also was a speaker at the event, which is part of the Space Shuttle Columbia national tour and took place on the 38th anniversary of STS-1, the first orbital spaceflight of NASAs Space Shuttle Program. The tour launched at Kennedy and will make its way to each of the 10 NASA centers.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Fla., NASA astronaut Mike Fincke introduces toy space ranger Buzz Lightyear to students and teachers attending an education presentation, as Veronica Franco of NASA's Education Office at Kennedy Space Center looks on. The event is part of the festivities to welcome Lightyear home from space. Fincke was commander of the International Space Station from October 2008 to April 2009.The 12-inch-tall action figure spent more than 15 months aboard the International Space Station and returned to Earth aboard space shuttle Discovery on Sept. 11 with the STS-128 crew. Lightyear's space adventure, a collaboration between NASA and Disney Parks, is intended to share the excitement of space exploration with students around the world and encourage them to pursue studies in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. For additional information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/buzzoniss.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Following the presentation in the Training Auditorium at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the STS-122 crew signs autographs for employees. At right is Mission Specialist Hans Schlegel; behind him is Mission Specialist Rex Walheim. The crew members shared personal stories, photos and videos of their challenging mission.

NASA Astronaut Mike Hopkins explains what it was like to live on the International Space Station for 6 months to visitors at the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore, MD on Monday, June 9, 2014. Hopkins served on Expeditions 37 and 38 with Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy and returned home in March, 2014. (

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Astronaut Catherine Cady Coleman is interviewed in the NASA News Center at NASA Kennedy Space Center by a television reporter during launch activities for Return to Flight mission STS-114. Coleman has flown on two Shuttle missions, STS-73 and STS-93. More than a thousand media representatives from 36 states, the District of Columbia and 32 countries converged on the News Center for the historic launch.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Matt Lauer, co-anchor of NBC News Today, talks with astronaut Pam Melroy about the pending launch at 3 51 p.m. of Space Shuttle Discovery on the historic Return to Flight mission STS-114. Melroy has flown on two missions, STS-92 and STS-112. STS-114 is the 114th Space Shuttle flight and the 31st for Discovery. The 12-day mission is expected to end with touchdown at the Shuttle Landing Facility at 11 06 a.m. July 25.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA astronauts, Wendy Lawrence, left, and Jon McBride address students and teachers involved with the NASA OPTIMUS PRIME Spinoff Video Contest in the Rocket Garden of the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. The contest challenged students in grades three through 12 to study NASA spinoff technologies and produce short, creative videos promoting their favorites. The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's Innovative Partnerships Office in Greenbelt, Md., designed the contest to help students see the benefits of NASA technology here on Earth. NASA collaborated with Hasbro in using the OPTIMUS PRIME character.

Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff meet with NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik, NASA astronaut candidate Andre Douglas, NASA astronaut Jessica Meir, NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, and NASA STEM interns, Monday, Aug. 29, 2022, at the Operations and Support Building II at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Vice President was to watch the launch of NASAs Space Launch System rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft on the Artemis I flight test, however the launch attempt was halted at approximately 8:30 a.m. ET.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- STS-120 mission specialist Doug Wheelock answers a question from a reporter during a news conference after the crew's successful landing aboard space shuttle Discovery at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. At left is mission specialist Stephanie Wilson. The crew completed a 15-day mission to the International Space Station with a smooth landing on Runway 33. Main gear touchdown was 1:01:16 p.m. Wheel stop was at 1:02:07 p.m. Mission elapsed time was 15 days, 2 hours, 24 minutes and 2 seconds. Mission STS-120 continued the construction of the station with the installation of the Harmony Node 2 module and the relocation of the P6 truss.

NASA astronauts Nicole Mann (left) and Kjell Lindgren participate in a press briefing inside the Press Site auditorium on May 26, 2020, at the agencys Kennedy Space Center in Florida ahead of NASAs SpaceX Demo-2 launch, slated for Wednesday, May 27. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft are scheduled to lift off from Kennedys Launch Complex 39A, carrying NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley to the International Space Station. This will mark the first launch of astronauts from U.S. soil to the space station since the conclusion of the Space Shuttle Program in 2011. Part of the agencys Commercial Crew Program, this will be SpaceXs final flight test, paving the way for NASA to certify the crew transportation system for regular, crewed flights to the orbiting laboratory. Liftoff is scheduled for 4:33 p.m. EDT.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida, Camp Kennedy Space Center participants get an up-close look at the space shuttle Atlantis during a weeklong summer activity for students entering second through ninth grades. Their tour took place just as final preparations were underway for the opening of the "Space Shuttle Atlantis" facility.The new $100 million facility will include interactive exhibits that tell the story of the 30-year Space Shuttle Program and highlight the future of space exploration. The "Space Shuttle Atlantis" exhibit is scheduled to open June 29, 2013.

PHOTO DATE:04-23-09LOCATION: PRESS BRIEFING ROOMSUBJECT: Photographic coverage of STS-125 Press Conference

NASAs Crew-4 STEM Event at James W. Robinson Secondary School. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, left, and NASA Astronaut Kjell Lindgren, right, are seen prior to a STEM event at James W. Robinson Secondary School, Friday, March 31, 2023, in Fairfax, Virginia. Lindgren spent 170 days in space as part of Expeditions 67 and 68 aboard the International Space Station.

Expedition 37 Crew News Conference (Oleg Kotov, Sergey Ryazansky, Michael Hopkins). Photo Date: July 17, 2013. Location: Building 2N - Press Conference Room.

Expedition 59 Astronaut David Saint-Jaques visits Marshall Space Flight Center's Payload Operations Integration Center where Operations Controller Halley Chang hangs the Expedition 59 plaque with the help of Timeline Change Officer Kira Thomas along with David Saint-Jaques.

NASA astronaut Ricky Arnold speaks with Beth Wilson of Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Stem in 30 production, Friday, May 3, 2019 at Six Flags America theme park in Upper Marlboro, MD. During Expedition 55/56, Arnold completed three spacewalks for a total of 19.5 hours outside the space station, and concluded his 197 day mission when he landed in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan in Oct. 2018. He also flew to the space station on shuttle mission STS-119 to deliver the final pair of power-generating solar array wings.

Head of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Anatoly Perminov holds a poster given to him by the crew of Expedition 24 during the State Commission meeting to approve the Soyuz launch of Expedition 24 Flight Engineers Doug Wheelock, Shannon Walker and Soyuz Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin on Monday, June 14, 2010 in Baikonur, Kazakhstan.

Outside their Cosmonaut Hotel crew quarters in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, Expedition 32 prime crew member Flight Engineer Sunita Williams of NASA (left) and backup Flight Engineer Tom Marshburn of NASA (right) raise the Stars and Stripes on the 4th of July, 2012 in a traditional flag-raising ceremony that was part of the pre-launch activities leading up to the launch of the next crew to the International Space Station. Williams, Soyuz Commander Yuri Malenchenko and Flight Engineer Aki Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency will launch to the station July 15 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in their Soyuz TMA-05M spacecraft.NASA/Victor Zelentsov

Vice President Harris and President Yoon at GSFC. Vice President Kamala Harris and President Yoon Suk Yeol of the Republic of Korea speak with Korean-American scientists during a tour of NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center, Tuesday, April 25, 2023, in Greenbelt, Md.

NASA Leadership Meets with NASAs SpaceX Crew-4 Astronauts. From left to right, NASA Administrator, Bill Nelson, NASA Deputy Administrator, Pam Melroy, and NASAs SpaceX Crew-4 NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren are seen during a meeting, Monday, March 27, 2023, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington DC.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, center, visits with NASA astronaut Jessica Meir, at right, and astronaut candidate Andre Douglas, during launch countdown activities for NASAs Artemis I mission on Aug. 29, 2022, at the agencys Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The launch was waved off for the day. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration and demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human presence to the Moon and beyond. The primary goal of Artemis I is to thoroughly test the integrated systems before crewed missions by operating the spacecraft in a deep space environment, testing Orions heat shield, and recovering the crew module after reentry, descent, and splashdown.

NASAs SpaceX Crew-5 Astronauts with Agency Leadership. NASAs SpaceX Crew-5 astronauts Josh Cassada, left, and Nicole Mann of NASA, second from left, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Koichi Wakata, right, pose for a picture with NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy second from right, after being presented with a montage from their flight, Monday, June 5, 2023 at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. Mann, Cassada, and Wakata spent 157 days in space as part of Expedition 68 aboard the International Space Station.

Artemis Departure Media Event

STS-61 astronauts Kathryn Thornton, Jeffrey Hoffman and Thomas Akers (standing) sign autographs in Marshall Space Flight Center's Morris Auditorium, January 19, 1994. Space Shuttle crews traditionally visited NASA field centers following each mission to present mission highlights and recognize employees who made contributions to the Shuttle program. Many of the techniques used during the STS-61 Hubble Space Telescope Servicing mission were rehearsed at the Center's Neutral Buoyancy Simulator.

NASA-USAID MoU Signing Ceremony. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson meets with USAID Administrator Samantha Power and staff prior to signing a NASA-USAID Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) Friday, Nov. 4, 2022, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. The MoU will enhance and expand the Agencies longstanding partnership that promotes science and technology solutions to address international development challenges in areas such as global health, climate change, food security, disaster mitigation and response, biodiversity conservation, and environmental management for sustainable development.

NASA astronaut Anne McClain waves during an announcement Dec. 9, 2020, that she is one of the initial team of 18 astronauts eligible for early Artemis missions on and around the Moon. A Washington native, McClain was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2013 and has spent 204 days in space on one previous flight. Joining her at the event were fellow astronauts Joseph Acaba, Matthew Dominick, Jessica Meir, and Jessica Watkins. Vice President Mike Pence made the announcement at the close of a National Space Council meeting he chaired in the Apollo/Saturn V Center at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon in 2024.

NASA astronaut Ricky Arnold speaks about his time onboard the International Space Station (ISS) during Expeditions 55 and 56, Friday, May 3, 2019 at the Challenger Center in Lanham, MD. During Expedition 55/56, Arnold completed three spacewalks for a total of 19.5 hours outside the space station, and concluded his 197 day mission when he landed in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan in Oct. 2018. He also flew to the space station on shuttle mission STS-119 to deliver the final pair of power-generating solar array wings.

Expedition 39 Flight Engineer Steve Swanson of NASA, performs the traditional door signing at the Cosmonaut hotel prior to departing the hotel for launch in a Soyuz rocket with fellow crew mates, Soyuz Commander Alexander Skvortsov of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, and Flight Engineer Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos, Tuesday, March 25, 2014, in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Swanson, Skvortsov and, and Artemyev will launch in their Soyuz TMA-12M spacecraft to the International Space Station to begin a six-month mission.

Among several other NASA dignitaries, former astronaut Neil A. Armstrong visited the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in attendance of the annual NASA Advisory Council Meeting. While here, Mr. Armstrong was gracious enough to allow the casting of his footprint. This casting will join those of other astronauts on display at the center. Armstrong was first assigned to astronaut status in 1962. He served as command pilot for the Gemini 8 mission, launched March 16, 1966, and performed the first successful docking of two vehicles in space. In 1969, Armstrong was commander of Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing mission, and gained the distinction of being the first man to land a craft on the Moon and the first man to step on its surface. Armstrong subsequently held the position of Deputy Associate Administrator for Aeronautics, NASA Headquarters Office of Advanced Research and Technology, from 1970 to 1971. He resigned from NASA in 1971. Pictured with Armstrong is MSFC employee Dan

NASAs SpaceX Crew-2 ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet, left, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, right, speak during a meet and greet with employees Tuesday, June 7, 2022, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters Building in Washington. Kimbrough, McArthur, Hoshide, and Pesquet completed the second crew rotation mission to the International Space Station as part of the agencys Commercial Crew Program and spent 198 days aboard the orbiting laboratory as part of Expeditions 65 and 66.

Our Blue Planet Concert at the Kennedy Center. NASA astronaut Victor Glover is seen on screen in a video, Wednesday, April 5, 2023, during the Our Blue Planet concert at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington. Jeannie Schulz, widow of Peanuts gang creator Charles M. Schulz, was awarded a NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal by NASA Administrator Bill Nelson at the concert. Snoopy rode along as the zero gravity indicator on NASAs Artemis I mission as part of a partnership with the agency and continues to help NASA inspire kids of all ages to follow along with Artemis missions.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Press Site bull pen at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA's Associate Administrator for Education Leland Melvin talks about the LEGO sets going up to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard space shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 mission. NASA and The LEGO Group will send 23 LEGO sets to the station and some of those sets include a space shuttle, an ISS model, a Global Positioning Satellite and NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. The sets will be used for NASA's Teaching From Space Project, which is part of a three-year Space Act Agreement with the toy maker to spark the interest of children in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Liftoff is scheduled for April 29 at 3:47 p.m. EDT. This will be the final spaceflight for Endeavour.

NASA TV producer of The Color of Space” Jori Kates gives remarks prior to the screening of the documentary at Howard University’s Cramton Auditorium in Washington, Saturday, June 18, 2022. Premiering on Juneteenth, the federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States, The Color of Space” is an inspirational documentary that tells the stories of NASA’s Black astronauts determined to reach the stars.

Barbara Nucera, ESA (European Space Agency) Houston Office team leader, welcomes the crew members of NASAs SpaceX Crew-4 mission after their arrival at the Launch and Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 18, 2022. NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines and Jessica Watkins, and ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, will launch aboard SpaceXs Crew Dragon on the companys Falcon 9 rocket. Launch is targeted for 5:26 a.m. EDT on April 23, 2022, from Kennedys Launch Complex 39A.

Photographic documentation of the STS-109 Crew Return Ceremony. The events take place at Hangar 990 at Ellington Field. Views include: Overall view of crewmembers 09319; View of crewmembers standing on stage talking to group 09320; Unidentified crewmember waving to crowd 09321; Unidentified crewmember autographing photo 09322; Mission Specialist Michael J. Massimino holding crew photo as he talks to child in group 09323; Pilot Duane G. Carey signing a crew photo for a visitor 09324; Unidentified crewmember signing a photo for visitor 09325; Commander Scott D. Altman talking to child in group 09326; Unidentified crewmember giving a photo to visitor 09327; Crewmembers exiting plane 09328; Duane G. Carey shaking hands with visitor. Astronaut Scott Altman smiling in the background 09329); Astronaut Jim Newman kissing his child 09330; Jim Newman holding his daughter as his son grabs at his pant leg 09331; Close-up view of Payload Commander John Grunsfeld h

OSIRIS-REx Sample Return Training. University of Arizona OSIRIS-REx Principal Investigator Dante Lauretta, right, answers questions from reporters during an OSIRIS-REx sample return press conference, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023, at the Department of Defense's Utah Test and Training Range. The sample was collected from the asteroid Bennu in October 2020 by NASAs OSIRIS-REx spacecraft and will return to Earth on September 24th, landing under parachute at the Utah Test and Training Range.

NASA Booth at the NBA Jam Session

Astronaut Rex Walheim meets students at the USA Science and Engineering Festival in Washington on April 25, 2014. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.

On July 16, 2019, the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 launch, astronaut Michael Collins, left, speaks to Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana at Launch Complex 39A. During his visit to the Florida spaceport, Collins discussed the moments leading up to launch at 9:32 a.m. on July 16, 1969, and what it was like to be part of the first crew to land on the Moon.

The crews of Expedition 24 and Expedition 25 are seen on a video monitor at Russian Mission Control in Korolev, Russia shortly after crew members of Expedition 25 docked to and entered the International Space Station on Sunday, Oct. 10, 2010.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Following the presentation in the Training Auditorium at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the STS-122 crew signs autographs for employees. At front is Commander Steven Frick. The crew members shared personal stories, photos and videos of their challenging mission.

NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps, right, spoke about her time in space at a STEM day session with students during the 70th International Astronautical Congress, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington.

NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson tapes a segment for STEM in 30 with Marty Kelsey, left, and Beth Wilson, Friday, March 2, 2018 at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Whitson spent 288 days onboard the International Space Station as a member of Expedition 50, 51, and 52, conducting four spacewalks and contributing to hundreds of experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science during her stay.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Former NASA astronaut Tom Jones discusses the characteristics of asteroids and meteors with a young guest during the grand opening of the Great Balls of Fire exhibit at NASAs Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida.Great Balls of Fire shares the story of the origins of our solar system, asteroids and comets and their possible impacts and risks. The 1,500-square-foot exhibit, located in the East Gallery of the IMAX theatre at the visitor complex, features several interactive displays, real meteorites and replica asteroid models. The exhibit is a production of The Space Science Institute's National Center for Interactive Learning. It is a traveling exhibition that also receives funding from NASA and the National Science Foundation.

Vice President Mike Pence, as seen on the monitor at right, addresses NASA employees, Thursday, July 6, 2017, at the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The Vice President thanked employees for advancing American leadership in space, before going on a tour of the center that highlighted the public-private partnerships at KSC, as both NASA and commercial companies prepare to launch American astronauts from the multi-user spaceport.

Cassini program manager at JPL, Earl Maize, left, and spacecraft operations team manager for the Cassini mission at Saturn, Julie Webster, right, embrace after the Cassini spacecraft plunged into Saturn, Friday, Sept. 15, 2017 at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Since its arrival in 2004, the Cassini-Huygens mission has been a discovery machine, revolutionizing our knowledge of the Saturn system and captivating us with data and images never before obtained with such detail and clarity. On Sept. 15, 2017, operators will deliberately plunge the spacecraft into Saturn, as Cassini gathered science until the end. The plunge” ensures Saturn’s moons will remain pristine for future exploration. During Cassini’s final days, mission team members from all around the world gathered at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, to celebrate the achievements of this historic mission.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida, Camp Kennedy Space Center participants get an up-close look at the space shuttle Atlantis during a weeklong summer activity for students entering second through ninth grades. Their tour took place just as final preparations were underway for the opening of the "Space Shuttle Atlantis" facility.The new $100 million facility will include interactive exhibits that tell the story of the 30-year Space Shuttle Program and highlight the future of space exploration. The "Space Shuttle Atlantis" exhibit is scheduled to open June 29, 2013.

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