Laboratory Investigations and Equipment Testing

Images of scientists in protective gear examining space mission equipment and conducting inspections in a high-tech laboratory setting with sterilized conditions.

Two scientists working in laboratory

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Workers in the Space Station Processing Facility close the access hatch to the Unity connecting module, part of the International Space Station, before its launch aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour on STS-88 in December. Unity will now undergo a series of leak checks before a final purge of clean, dry air inside the module to ready it for initial operations in space. Other testing includes the common berthing mechanism to which other space station elements will dock and the Pad Demonstration Test to verify the compatibility of the module with the Space Shuttle as well as the ability of the astronauts to send and receive commands to Unity from the flight deck of the orbiter. The next time the hatch will be opened it will be by astronauts on orbit. Unity is expected to be ready for installation into the payload canister on Oct. 25, and transported to Launch Pad 39-A on Oct. 27. The Unity will be mated to the Russian-built Zarya control module which should alread

Tissue engineering laboratory

VIPER MSolo Preparation for Packing. Technicians prepare the Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations (MSolo) for NASAs Volatile Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) mission for packing inside a laboratory in the Space Station Processing Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Feb. 21, 2023. MSolo will be shipped to Johnson Space Center in Houston for integration into VIPER. MSolo is a commercial off-the-shelf mass spectrometer modified to work in space and it will help analyze the chemical makeup of landing sites on the Moon, as well as study water on the lunar surface. MSolo will be part of NASAs first Commercial Lunar Payload Delivery Service (CLPS) mission where under the Artemis program, commercial deliveries will be used to perform science experiments, test technologies, and demonstrate capabilities to help NASA explore the Moon and prepare for human missions. VIPER is scheduled to be delivered to the Moons South Pole in late 2024 by Astrobotics Griffin

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- As part of the Crew Equipment Interface Test, members of the STS-112 crew look at the S1 Integrated Truss Structure, part of the payload for their mission to the International Space Station. From left are Pilot Pamela Melroy and Mission Specialists Piers Sellers and Sandra Magnus. At right, looking up, is Commander Jeffrey Ashby. The S1 truss is the first starboard (right-side) truss segment, whose main job is providing structural support for the orbiting research facility's radiator panels that cool the Space Station's complex power system. The S1 truss segment also will house communications systems, external experiment positions and other subsystems. The S1 truss will be attached to the S0 truss. Launch of STS-112 is scheduled for Aug. 22, 2002

STS-131 CREW CEIT - DISCOVERY

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- On NASA Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A, STS-123 Commander Dominic Gorie takes a close look at the payload in space shuttle Endeavour's payload bay. He and other STS-123 crew members are at Kennedy for a full launch dress rehearsal, known as the terminal countdown demonstration test, or TCDT. The TCDT provides astronauts and ground crews with an opportunity to participate in various simulated countdown activities, including equipment familiarization and emergency training. Endeavour is targeted to launch March 11 at 2:28 a.m. EDT on the 16-day STS-123 mission to the International Space Station. Endeavour and its crew will deliver the first section of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory and the Canadian Space Agency's two-armed robotic system, Dextre.

Engineer holding wafer chip sitting in laboratory

Inside a laboratory in the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a quality technician checks the control panel on hardware for the Advanced Plant Habitat flight unit. The flight unit is an exact replica of the APH that was delivered to the International Space Station. Validation tests and post-delivery checkout was performed to prepare for space station in-orbit APH activities. The flight unit will be moved to the International Space Station Environmental Simulator to begin an experiment verification test for the science that will fly on the first mission, PH-01. Developed by NASA and ORBITEC of Madison, Wisconsin, the APH is the largest plant chamber built for the agency. It is a fully automated plant growth facility that will be used to conduct bioscience research on the space station.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians garbed in protective wear, commonly known as 'bunny suits,' install cargo inside the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module for shuttle Atlantis' flight to the International Space Station.Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley and Mission Specialists Sandra Magnus and Rex Walheim are targeted to lift off on July 8, taking with them the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module packed with supplies, logistics and spare parts. The STS-135 mission also will fly a system to investigate the potential for robotically refueling existing spacecraft and return a failed ammonia pump module to help NASA better understand the failure mechanism and improve pump designs for future systems. STS-135 will be the 33rd flight of Atlantis, the 37th shuttle mission to the space station, and the 135th and final mission of NASA's Space Shuttle Program.

From left, Giovanni Minelli with the NASA's Ames Research Center; Center Kitty Sedam with Aerospace Corp.; and Charlie Friedericks with Ames inspect the packing list and instructions for the Ames-managed O/OREOS and NanoSail-D from NASA's Marshall Space Flgith Center nano satellites at Kodiak Launch Complex, Alaska .

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

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - At Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Fla., a worker checks wiring on the Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft. Two solar arrays will be installed June 24-25, followed by a deployment test. Launch is scheduled for July 30, 2004 from Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The spacecraft will fly past Earth once, Venus twice and Mercury three times before starting a year-long orbital study of Mercury in March 2011. MESSENGER was built for NASA by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md.

In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, some of the STS-103 crew look over lubrication devices to be used during their mission. The seven-member crew are Commander Curtis L. Brown Jr., Pilot Scott J. Kelly, and Mission Specialists Steven L. Smith, C. Michael Foale (Ph.D.), John M. Grunsfeld (Ph.D.), Claude Nicollier of Switzerland, and Jean-François Clervoy of France. Nicollier and Clervoy are with the European Space Agency. Mission STS-103 is a "call-up" due to the need to replace portions of the pointing system, the gyros, which have begun to fail on the Hubble Space Telescope. Although Hubble is operating normally and conducting its scientific observations, only three of its six gyroscopes are working properly. The gyroscopes allow the telescope to point at stars, galaxies and planets. The STS-103 crew will not only replace gyroscopes, it will also replace a Fine Guidance Sensor and an older computer with a new enhanced model, an older data tape recorder with a solid state digi

Mission engineers receive and prepare science and research and food items for the final cargo load into the Cygnus resupply spacecraft onboard the Northrop Grumman Antares rocket, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2020 at the Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF) of NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Northrop Grummans 13th contracted cargo resupply mission with NASA to the International Space Station will deliver more than 7,500 pounds of science and research, crew supplies and vehicle hardware to the orbital laboratory and its crew.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility, a worker checks the U.S. Laboratory Destiny as it rotates. A component of the International Space Station, Destiny is scheduled to fly on mission STS-98 in early 2001. During the mission, the crew will install the Lab during a series of three space walks. The STS-98 mission will provide the station with science research facilities and expand its power, life support and control capabilities. The U.S. Lab module continues a long tradition of microgravity materials research, first conducted by Skylab and later Shuttle and Spacelab missions. Destiny is expected to be a major feature in future research, providing facilities for biotechnology, fluid physics, combustion, and life sciences research.<font size="3"

(Foreground) STS-95 Mission Commander Curtis L. Brown Jr. inspects equipment in the orbiter Discovery during a Crew Equipment Interface Test (CEIT) for their mission. The CEIT gives astronauts an opportunity for a hands-on look at the payloads on which they will be working on orbit. The launch of the STS-95 mission, aboard Space Shuttle Discovery, is scheduled for Oct. 29, 1998. The mission includes research payloads such as the Spartan solar-observing deployable spacecraft, the Hubble Space Telescope Orbital Systems Test Platform, the International Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker, as well as the SPACEHAB single module with experiments on space flight and the aging process

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the clean room at NASAs Hangar AE on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS), a Spectrolab technician, Anna Herrera, places a new solar cell on the Swift spacecrafts solar array. Swift is a first-of-its-kind, multi-wavelength observatory dedicated to the study of gamma-ray burst (GRB) science. Its three instruments will work together to observe GRBs and afterglows in the gamma-ray, X-ray, ultraviolet and optical wavebands. The main mission objectives for Swift are to determine the origin of gamma-ray bursts, classify gamma-ray bursts and search for new types, determine how the blast wave evolves and interacts with the surroundings, use gamma-ray bursts to study the early universe and perform the first sensitive hard X-ray survey of the sky. Swift is scheduled to launch Oct. 26 from Launch Pad 17-A, CCAFS, on a Boeing Delta 7320 rocket.

This is the James Webb Space Telescope ETU (engineering test unit) primary mirror segment returning to the cleanroom at NASA Goddard after undergoing some tests at our new Calibration, Integration, and Alignment Facility (CIAF).

Scientist working in lab

VANDENBERG AFB, Calif. - Technicians perform thermal blanket closeouts on the fuel servicing valves on the Landsat Data Continuity Mission, or LDCM, spacecraft in the Astrotech processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in Calif., following fueling operations. The Landsat Data Continuity Mission is the future of Landsat satellites. It will continue to obtain valuable data and imagery to be used in agriculture, education, business, science, and government. The Landsat Program provides repetitive acquisition of high resolution multispectral data of the Earth's surface on a global basis. The data from the Landsat spacecraft constitute the longest record of the Earth's continental surfaces as seen from space. It is a record unmatched in quality, detail, coverage, and value. Launch is planned for Feb. 11, 2013.

Press tour as part of SPIN2030, a campaign to highlight the diversity, excellence and attractiveness of Saxony as a centre of science, Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems IPMS (CNT) Wafer production in the clean room

NICER engineer Steven Kenyon prepares seven of the 56 X-ray concentrators for installation in the NICER instrument. The payloads 56 mirror assemblies concentrate X-rays onto silicon detectors to gather data that will probe the interior makeup of neutron stars, including those that appear to flash regularly, called pulsars. The Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) is a NASA Explorer Mission of Opportunity dedicated to studying the extraordinary environments — strong gravity, ultra-dense matter, and the most powerful magnetic fields in the universe — embodied by neutron stars. An attached payload aboard the International Space Station, NICER will deploy an instrument with unique capabilities for timing and spectroscopy of fast X-ray brightness fluctuations. The embedded Station Explorer for X-ray Timing and Navigation Technology demonstration (SEXTANT) will use NICER data to validate, for the first time in space, technology that exploits pulsars as natural navigation beaco

Workers in the Space Assembly and Encapsulation Building 2 prepare the overhead crane that will lift and move the 2001 Mars Odyssey Orbiter to the spin table for testing. The orbiter carries three science instruments THEMIS, the Gamma Ray Spectrometer (GRS), and the Mars Radiation Environment Experiment (MARIE) that will map the mineralogy and morphology of the Martian surface, the elemental composition of the surface and determine the abundance of hydrogen in the shallow subsurface, and characterize aspects of the near-space radiation environment with regards to the radiation-related risk to human explorers. The Mars Odyssey Orbiter is scheduled for launch on April 7, 2001, aboard a Delta II rocket from Launch Pad 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the clean room of the Payload Hazardous Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, workers from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center use black light inspection for a thorough cleaning of the protective carrier for the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph, or COS. Black light inspection uses UVA fluorescence to detect possible particulate microcontamination, minute cracks or fluid leaks. The COS will be installed on the Hubble Space Telescope on space shuttle Atlantis' STS-125 mission. COS will be the most sensitive ultraviolet spectrograph ever flown on Hubble and will probe the "cosmic web" - the large-scale structure of the universe whose form is determined by the gravity of dark matter and is traced by galaxies and intergalactic gas. The COS far-ultraviolet channel has a sensitivity 30 times greater than that of previous spectroscopic instruments for the detection of extremely low light levels. Launch of Atlantis on the STS-125 mission is targeted for Oct. 8.

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

NASA release July 19, 2011The secondary mirror (shown here) was polished at the L3 Integrated Optical Systems - Tinsley in Richmond, Calif. to accuracies of less than one millionth of an inch. That accuracy is important for forming the sharpest images when the mirrors cool to -400°F (-240°C) in the cold of space. The Webb's secondary mirror was recently completed, following polishing and gold-coating. "Secondary" may not sound as important as "primary" but when it comes to the next-generation James Webb Space Telescope a secondary mirror plays a critical role in ensuring the telescope gathers information from the cosmos. The Webb's secondary mirror was recently completed, following polishing and gold-coating.There are four different types of mirrors that will fly on the James Webb Space Telescope, and all are made of a light metal called beryllium. It is very strong for its weight and holds its shape across a range of temperatures.There are primary mirror segments (18 total tha

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Inside the U.S. Lab, called "Destiny," which is in the Space Station Processing Facility, U.S. Rep. Dave Weldon (right) looks over equipment. In the background (center) is Thomas R. "Randy" Galloway, with the Space Station Hardware Integration Office. Weldon is on the House Science Committee and vice chairman of the Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee. Destiny is scheduled to be launched on Space Shuttle Endeavour in early 2000. It will become the centerpiece of scientific research on the ISS, with five equipment racks aboard to provide essential functions for station systems, including high data-rate communications, and to maintain the station's orientation using control gyroscopes launched earlier. Additional equipment and research racks will be installed in the laboratory on subsequent Shuttle flights

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Spacecraft Assembly and Encapsulation Facility -2 (SAEF-2), a JPL worker checks the Mars microprobe. Two microprobes will hitchhike on the Mars Polar Lander, scheduled to be launched Jan. 3, 1999, aboard a Delta II rocket. The solar-powered spacecraft is designed to touch down on the Martian surface near the northern-most boundary of the south pole in order to study the water cycle there. The lander also will help scientists learn more about climate change and current resources on Mars, studying such things as frost, dust, water vapor and condensates in the Martian atmosphere. The Mars microprobes, called Deep Space 2, are part of NASA's New Millennium Program. They will complement the climate-related scientific focus of the lander by demonstrating an advanced, rugged microlaser system for detecting subsurface water. Such data on polar subsurface water, in the form of ice, should help put limits on scientific projections for the global abundance of

science, chemistry and people concept - close up of scientists with chemical samples in petri dish making test or research at laboratory

VIPER MSolo Preparation for Packing. Technicians prepare the Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations (MSolo) for NASAs Volatile Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) mission for packing inside a laboratory in the Space Station Processing Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Feb. 21, 2023. MSolo will be shipped to Johnson Space Center in Houston for integration into VIPER. MSolo is a commercial off-the-shelf mass spectrometer modified to work in space and it will help analyze the chemical makeup of landing sites on the Moon, as well as study water on the lunar surface. MSolo will be part of NASAs first Commercial Lunar Payload Delivery Service (CLPS) mission where under the Artemis program, commercial deliveries will be used to perform science experiments, test technologies, and demonstrate capabilities to help NASA explore the Moon and prepare for human missions. VIPER is scheduled to be delivered to the Moons South Pole in late 2024 by Astrobotics Griffin

In a clean-room environment at North Vandenberg Air Force Base, technicians look at part of the AIM spacecraft. AIM will fly three instruments designed to study polar mesospheric clouds located at the edge of space, 50 miles above the Earth's surface in the coldest part of the planet's atmosphere. The mission's primary goal is to explain why these clouds form and what has caused them to become brighter and more numerous and appear at lower latitudes in recent years. AIM's results will provide the basis for the study of long-term variability in the mesospheric climate and its relationship to global climate change. AIM is scheduled to be mated to the Pegasus XL during the second week of April, after which final inspections will be conducted. Launch is scheduled for April 25.

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

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - During a Crew Equipment Interface Test (CEIT) inside the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, STS-121 Mission Specialist Piers Sellers works with a strap on the trailing umbilical system reel assembly that will be installed on the International Space Station during their mission. A CEIT provides hands-on experiences with equipment used on-orbit. Mission STS-121 is the second in the Return to Flight sequence and will carry on improvements that debuted during last year's STS-114 mission and build upon those tests. Launch is scheduled in July.

At Astrotech in Titusville, Fla., STS-96 Mission Speciaists Daniel T. Barry (left), Julie Payette (center, with camera), and Tamara E. Jernigan (right, pointing) get a close look at one of the payloads on their upcoming mission. Other crew members are Commander Kent V. Rominger, and Mission Specialists Ellen Ochoa and Valery Ivanovich Tokarev, with the Russian Space Agency. Payette is with the Canadian Space Agency. For the first time, STS-96 will include an Integrated Cargo Carrier (ICC) that will carry a Russian cargo crane, the Strela, to be mounted to the exterior of the Russian station segment on the International Space Station (ISS); the SPACEHAB Oceaneering Space System Box (SHOSS), which is a logistics items carrier; and a U.S.-built crane (ORU Transfer Device, or OTD) that will be stowed on the station for use during future ISS assembly missions. The ICC can carry up to 6,000 lb of unpressurized payload. It was built for SPACEHAB by DaimlerChrysler and RSC Energia of Korolev,

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Space Station Processing Facility, technicians check the hatch on the multi-purpose logistics module Leonardo after its closing. The module is part of the payload for Space Shuttle Discovery on mission STS-121 to the International Space Station. Discovery is scheduled to launch in July.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, STS-115 Mission Specialist Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper is practicing folding a sequential shunt unit launch to activation multilayer installation blanket. She and other crew members are at the center for Crew Equipment Interface Test activities. Equipment familiarization is a routine part of astronaut training and launch preparations. The mission will deliver the second port truss segment, the P3/P4 Truss, to attach to the first port truss segment, the P1 Truss, as well as deploy solar array set 2A and 4A. Launch on Space Shuttle Atlantis is scheduled for late August.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Inside the mobile service tower of Launch Pad 17-A at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, workers removed the plastic covering from NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander. Phoenix is scheduled to launch on the Delta II launch vehicle no earlier than Aug. 3. Phoenix will land in icy soils near the north polar permanent ice cap of Mars and explore the history of the water in these soils and any associated rocks, while monitoring polar climate. Landing on Mars is planned in May 2008 on arctic ground where a mission currently in orbit, Mars Odyssey, detected high concentrations of ice just beneath the top layer of soil. NASA/George Shelton

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- During a bench review in the Space Station Processing Facility, astronaut Koicki Wakata gets hands-on experience on hardware he will be using in orbit. Wakata, with the Japanese Aerospace and Exploration Agency, will join the Expedition 18 crew in 2008, flying on mission STS-126.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians garbed in protective wear, commonly known as 'bunny suits,' check out the installation plans for the correct placement of the cargo inside the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module for shuttle Atlantis' flight to the International Space Station.Atlantis and its payload is being prepared for the STS-135 mission, which will deliver the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module packed with supplies and spare parts to the station. Atlantis is targeted to launch June 28, and will be the last shuttle flight for the Space Shuttle Program.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Astronauts are in the Space Station Processing Facility to familiarize themselves with the various elements to be installed on the International Space Station on future spaceflights. Seen here in the Columbus module are (front) Michael Fincke, Frank DeWinne and Sandra Magnuson; (back) Salizhan Sharipov, Soichi Noguchi and Tim Kopra. With construction of the Space Station the primary focus of future shuttle missions, astronaut crews will be working with one or more of the elements and hardware already being processed in the SSPF.

Developed by Boeing, at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Space Station Manufacturing building, the Window Observational Rack Facility (WORF) will help Space Station crews take some of the best photographs ever snapped from an orbiting spacecraft by eliminating glare and allowing researchers to control their cameras and other equipment from the ground. The WORF is designed to make the best possible use of the high-quality research window in the Space Station's U.S. Destiny laboratory module. Engineers at the MSFC proposed a derivative of the EXPRESS (Expedite the Processing of Experiments to the Space Station) Rack already used on the Space Station and were given the go-ahead. The EXPRESS rack can hold a wide variety of experiments and provide them with power, communications, data, cooling, fluids, and other utilities - all the things that Earth-observing experiment instruments would need. WORF will supply payloads with power, data, cooling, video downlink, and stable, standardiz

Laboratory assistant researching a vaccine, CureVac GmbH in the Tuebingen-Reutlingen Technology Park, Biotechnology Start-up Centre, Stuttgart, Germany, Europe

SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) primary mirror being coated in the Ames N-211 Vacuum Chamber.

Cropped image of scientist holding frozen storage compartment at laboratory

STS-100 Mission Specialist Chris Hadfield (Canada), Salimbeti Andrea (of Alenia Aerospazio), observers Astronaut Winston Scott and Scott McIntyre, and Mission Specialist Robert Curbeam take a close look at the opening of the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) that will be launched on STS-100 on Dec. 2, 1999. Behind them is Paolo Prato , a systems engineer with Alenia. The MPLM will be carried in the payload bay of the Shuttle orbiter, and will provide storage and additional work space for up to two astronauts when docked to the International Space Station. Named Leonardo, the MPLM is the first of three modules being provided by Alenia Aerospazio. The second MPLM, to be handed over in April 1999, is named Raffaello. A third module, to be named Donatello, is due to be delivered in October 2000 for launch in January 2001

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, members of space shuttle Endeavour's STS-126 crew participate in a crew equipment interface test, or CEIT. Here, from left, Mission Specialists Sandra Magnus and Donald Pettit, and Commander Chris Ferguson are dressed in clean room attire for a walkthrough of the multi-purpose logistics module. The CEIT provides hands-on experience with hardware and equipment slated to fly on their mission. Endeavour will deliver a multi-purpose logistics module to the International Space Station on the STS-126 mission. Launch is targeted for Nov. 10.

Laboratory technicians working on a device in laboratory of science center

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

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, STS-130 Mission Specialist Kathryn "Kay" Hire, at left, and Pilot Terry Virts Jr. participate in a bench review, standard familiarization training on the hardware and equipment that will fly on their mission, during the crew equipment interface test.Tranquility, the payload for the STS-130 mission, is a pressurized module that will provide room for many of the International Space Station's life support systems. The module was built for the European Space Agency by Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy. The cupola, a unique work station with six windows on its sides and one on top, is attached to the end of Tranquility. It resembles a circular bay window and will provide a vastly improved view of the station's exterior. Just under 10 feet in diameter, the module will accommodate two crew members and portable workstations that can control station and robotic activities. The multi-di

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- At SPACEHAB, STS-102 Mission Specialist Andrew S.W. Thomas reaches up to the Integrated Cargo Carrier overhead. Behind him, at right, is Susan Helms, who is part of the Expedition Two crew traveling on the mission. They and other crew members are at SPACEHAB to get acquainted with tools and equipment they will be using on their mission. STS-102 is the 8th construction flight to the International Space Station and will carry the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo. On that flight, Leonardo will be filled with equipment and supplies to outfit the U.S. laboratory module Destiny. The mission will also be carrying the Expedition Two crew to the Space Station, replacing the Expedition One crew who will return on Shuttle Discovery. STS-102 is scheduled for launch March 8, 2001

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians prepare a mobile stand for the transfer of NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer, or IBEX, mission spacecraft. The IBEX satellite will make the first map of the boundary between the Solar System and interstellar space. IBEX is the first mission designed to detect the edge of the Solar System. As the solar wind from the sun flows out beyond Pluto, it collides with the material between the stars, forming a shock front. IBEX contains two neutral atom imagers designed to detect particles from the termination shock at the boundary between the Solar System and interstellar space. IBEX also will study galactic cosmic rays, energetic particles from beyond the Solar System that pose a health and safety hazard for humans exploring beyond Earth orbit. IBEX will make these observations from a highly elliptical orbit that takes it beyond the interference of the Earth's magnetosphere. IBEX is targeted for

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, STS-127 mission crew members inspect the installation of the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency's Visual Equipments, or VE, to its final spot since they will have to do this as part of an EVA on the mission. The VE has to be installed to the final position on orbit because it is outside of the payload bay envelope. The mission payload includes the Japanese Experiment Module, or JEM, Extended Facility and the Inter-orbit Communication System Extended Facility, or ICS-EF. Equipment familiarization is part of a Crew Equipment Interface Test. The payload will be launched to the International Space Station aboard the space shuttle Endeavour on the STS-127 mission, targeted for launch on May 15, 2009.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Orbiter Processing Facility, STS-111 Mission Specialists Philippe Perrin, with the French Space Agency, and Franklin Chang-Diaz pause during their checkout of the payload installed in Endeavour's payload bay. The crew is at KSC for Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test activities, which include payload familiarization and a simulated launch countdown. The crew also comprises Commander Kenneth Cockrell and Pilot Paul Lockhart. The payload on the mission to the International Space Station includes the Mobile Base System, an Orbital Replacement Unit and Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo. Traveling on Endeavour is also the Expedition 5 crew - Commander Valeri Korzun, Peggy Whitson and Sergei Treschev -- who will replace the Expedition 4 crew on the Station. Korzun and Treschev are with the Russian Space Agency. Launch of Endeavour is scheduled for May 30, 2002.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- At SPACEHAB in Cape Canaveral, Fla., members of the STS-107 crew pose outside of the Double Module, one of the mission payloads. From left to right are Mission Specialist David Brown, Commander Rick D. Husband, Pilot William "Willie" McCool and Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon, from Israel. A research mission, the mission will be the first flight of the Double Module and will also carry a Hitchhiker payload. The experiments range from material sciences to life sciences (many rats). The Hitchhiker carrier system is modular and expandable in accordance with payload requirements. Hitchhiker experiments are housed in canisters or attached to mounting plates. The Hitchhiker canister comes in two varieties--the Hitchhiker Motorized Door Canister and the Sealed Canisters

Members of the European Service Module processing team from the European Space Agency and Airbus inspect the insulation on the underside of the Orion service module for Artemis I inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sept. 23, 2020. Work is also underway to attach protective covers over the solar arrays wings that were installed on the service module. Each solar array panel will generate 11 kilowatts of power and span about 63 feet. The array is a component of Orions service module, which is provided by the European Space Agency and built by Airbus Defence and Space to supply Orions power, propulsion, air and water. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon in 2024.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Space Station Processing Facility, STS-130 Commander George Zamka (left), Mission Specialist Kathryn Hire and Pilot Terry Virts Jr. look at a notebook of data for the Cupola, part of the payload on their mission to the International Space Station. The seven-windowed module will be used as a control room for robotics on the station. Endeavour will also deliver the final connecting node, Node 3.

Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory are dressed head to toe in 'bunny suits' only their eyes and foreheads can be seen. They are huddled around the base of the rover Curiosity's 'neck' (its Mast).

NASA EVOLUTIONARY XENON THRUSTER - NEXT - ION ENGINE WEAR TEST

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken tours the University of Pittsburgh Biomedical Research Facility, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on September 30, 2021.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, STS-124 Mission Specialist Michael Fossum (facing camera) gets hands-on experience with equipment that is part of the Kibo pressurized module. He and other crew members are at Kennedy for a crew equipment interface test that includes familiarization with tools and equipment that will be used on the mission, targeted for launch no earlier than April 24. The STS-124 mission is the second of three flights that will launch components to complete the Japanese pressurized module, the Kibo laboratory. The mission will include two spacewalks to install the new lab and its remote manipulator system. The lab's logistics module, which will have been installed in a temporary location during STS-123, will be attached to the new lab.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Multi-Payload Processing Facility, workers check a GetAway Special canister (GAS can) being moved onto the Hitchhiker Bridge. The bridge is a carrier for the Fast Reaction Experiments Enabling Science, Technology, Applications and Research (FREESTAR) that incorporates eight high priority secondary attached shuttle experiments on mission STS-107. A research mission, the primary payload is the first flight of the SHI Research Double Module (SHI/RDM), also known as SPACEHAB. The experiments range from material sciences to life sciences (many rats). STS-107 is scheduled to launch July 11, 2002

OSIRIS-REx Sample Return. Curation teams process the sample return capsule from NASAs OSIRIS-REx mission in a cleanroom, Sunday, Sept. 24, 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.

In the Space Station Processing Facility, members of the STS-98 crew check out components inside the U.S. Lab, Destiny, under the watchful eye of trainers. The crew comprises Commander Ken Cockrell, Pilot Mark Polansky and Mission Specialists Robert Curbeam, Thomas Jones and Marsha Ivins. They are taking part in Crew Equipment Interface Test activities, becoming familiar with equipment they will be handling during the mission. The mission will be transporting the Lab to the International Space Station with five system racks already installed inside of the module. With delivery of electronics in the lab, electrically powered attitude control for Control Moment Gyroscopes will be activated. The STS-98 launch is scheduled for Jan. 18, 2001

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Space Station Processing Facility, technicians remove the cover from the Minus Eighty Lab Freezer for ISS(MELFI) provided as Laboratory Support Equipment by the European Space Agency for the International Space Station. The lab will provide cooling and storage for reagents, samples and perishable materials in four insulated containers called dewars with independently selectable temperatures of -80°C, -26°C, and +4°C. It also will be used to transport samples to and from the station. The MELFI is planned for launch on the ULF-1 mission.

In the Spacecraft Assembly and Encapsulation Facility 2, a Russian scientist (SAEF-2) looks over the High Energy Neutron Detector (HEND), part of the Gamma Ray Spectrometer (GRS), after its removal from the 2001 Mars Odyssey Orbiter. The HEND was built by Russias Space Research Institute (IKI). The GRS will achieve global mapping of the elemental composition of the surface and determine the abundance of hydrogen in the shallow subsurface. The orbiter will carry two other science instruments: THEMIS and the Mars Radiation Environment Experiment (MARIE). THEMIS will map the mineralogy and morphology of the Martian surface using a high-resolution camera and a thermal infrared imaging spectrometer. The MARIE will characterize aspects of the near-space radiation environment with regards to the radiation-related risk to human explorers. The Mars Odyssey Orbiter is scheduled for launch April 7, 2001, aboard a Delta 7925 rocket from Launch Pad 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Space Station Processing Facility, workers guide one of the hatches from the Node-2 module onto a shipping container. The hatches are being removed in preparation for shipment to the Marshall Space Flight Center, Ala., for re-balance certification. The Node-2 will launch on mission 10A, STS-120, to the International Space Station (ISS) currently scheduled for Fall 2006. The installation of the Node-2 on the ISS will signify the completion of the U.S. stage of assembly and increase the living and working space inside the Station to approximately 18,000 cubic feet. Under contract to the Italian Space Agency (ASI), Alenia Spazio in Turin, Italy, led a consortium of European subcontractors to build Node-2. The module was built for NASA under an agreement with the European Space Agency (ESA) in exchange for launch of the European Columbus Laboratory.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Members of the STS-122 crew look over the Columbus Research Laboratory in the Space Station Processing Facility. The crew is at Kennedy to take part in a crew equipment interface test, which helps familiarize them with equipment and payloads for the mission. Among the activities standard to a CEIT are harness training, inspection of the thermal protection system and camera operation for planned extravehicular activities, or EVAs. The crew comprises Commander Stephen Frick, Pilot Alan Poindexter, and Mission Specialists Rex Walheim, Stanley Love, Leland Melvin and Hans Schlegel, who represents the European Space Agency. The Columbus Lab is Europes largest contribution to the construction of the International Space Station. It will support scientific and technological research in a microgravity environment. Columbus, a program of ESA, is a multifunctional, pressurized laboratory that will be permanently attached to Node 2 of the space station to carry out

STS-97 Mission Specialists Joseph R. Tanner and Carlos I. Noriega check equipment of the International Space Station inside the Space Station Processing Facility. STS-97, targeted to launch on Aug. 5, 1999, is scheduled to carry integrated truss structure P6, photovoltaic module and radiators

Experiments to seek solutions for a range of biomedical issues are at the heart of several investigations that will be hosted by the Commercial Instrumentation Technology Associates (ITA), Inc. Biomedical Experiments (CIBX-2) payload. CIBX-2 is unique, encompassing more than 20 separate experiments including cancer research, commercial experiments, and student hands-on experiments from 10 schools as part of ITA's ongoing University Among the Stars program. Student Marnix Aklian and ITA's Mark Bem prepare biological samples for flight as part of ITA's hands-on student outreach program on STS-95. Similar activities are a part of the CIBX-2 payload. The experiments are sponsored by NASA's Space Product Development Program (SPD).

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, STS-124 Mission Specialist Michael Fossum gets a close look at the Remote Manipulator System, or RMS, two robotic arms that support operations on the outside of the Japanese Experiment Module, called Kibo. They will be used to exchange experiment payloads or hardware located on the Exposed Facility and Experiment Logistics Module - Exposed Section and from inside the pressurized module through a scientific airlock, support maintenance tasks of Kibo and handle orbital replacement units. Crew members are at Kennedy for a crew equipment interface test that includes familiarization with tools and equipment that will be used on the mission. The STS-124 mission is the second of three flights that will launch components to complete the Japanese pressurized module, the Kibo laboratory. The mission will include two spacewalks to install the new lab and its remote manipulator system. The lab's

Portrait of confident team of scientists in laboratory

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, STS-133 Mission Specialist Nicole Stott checks out her mission's payload while at Launch Pad 39A for the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT). Discovery and its STS-133 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 4:40 p.m. EDT, Nov. 1.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Space Station Processing Facility, a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) technician inspects the wiring on the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM). The JEM, developed by JAXA for use on the International Space Station, is named Kibo -- which means "hope" in Japanese -- and will enhance the unique research capabilities of the orbiting complex by providing an additional environment for astronauts to conduct science experiments. Research conducted in Kibo will focus on space medicine, biology, Earth observations, material production, biotechnology and communications.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Inside the mobile service tower on Launch Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, workers begin removing the lower segment of the transportation canister that encloses the STEREO spacecraft. The spacecraft is being prepared for launch, scheduled for Oct. 25. STEREO stands for Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory and comprises two spacecraft that will launch in a piggyback mode, separating after reaching the appropriate orbit. The STEREO mission is the first to take measurements of the sun and solar wind in 3-dimension. This new view will improve our understanding of space weather and its impact on the Earth. The STEREO mission is managed by Goddard. The Applied Physics Laboratory designed and built the spacecraft. The laboratory will maintain command and control of the observatories throughout the mission, while NASA tracks and receives the data, determines the orbit of the satellites, and coordinates the science results.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- At Astrotech, technicians begin securing the sun shade over the high gain antenna on the Dawn spacecraft. Made of germanium kapton, the shade, which is RF transparent, is placed over the sensitive antenna to reflect and emit harmful solar radiation to prevent the antenna from being excessively heated. Dawn is scheduled to launch July 7 from Pad 17-B on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Dawn's goal is to characterize the conditions and processes of the solar system's earliest epoch by investigating in detail the largest protoplanets that have remained intact since their formations: asteroid Vesta and the dwarf planet Ceres. They reside in the extensive zone between Mars and Jupiter together with many other smaller bodies, called the asteroid belt.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, a technician secures the overhead crane that will lift NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer, or IBEX, mission spacecraft and move it to a nearby mobile stand. The IBEX satellite will make the first map of the boundary between the Solar System and interstellar space. IBEX is the first mission designed to detect the edge of the Solar System. As the solar wind from the sun flows out beyond Pluto, it collides with the material between the stars, forming a shock front. IBEX contains two neutral atom imagers designed to detect particles from the termination shock at the boundary between the Solar System and interstellar space. IBEX also will study galactic cosmic rays, energetic particles from beyond the Solar System that pose a health and safety hazard for humans exploring beyond Earth orbit. IBEX will make these observations from a highly elliptical orbit that takes it beyond the interference of the Earth'

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - At Astrotech in Titusville, Fla., technicians with The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) prepare one of two solar array panels on the MESSENGER spacecraft for deployment. The panels will provide MESSENGERs power on its journey to Mercury. MESSENGER is scheduled to launch Aug. 2 aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket from Pad 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. It will return to Earth for a gravity boost in July 2005, then fly past Venus twice, in October 2006 and June 2007. The spacecraft uses the tug of Venus gravity to resize and rotate its trajectory closer to Mercurys orbit. Three Mercury flybys, each followed about two months later by a course-correction maneuver, put MESSENGER in position to enter Mercury orbit in March 2011. During the flybys, MESSENGER will map nearly the entire planet in color, image most of the areas unseen by Mariner 10, and measure the composition of the surface, atmosphere and magnetosphere. It

In Orbiter Processing Facility bay 3, STS-106 Mission Specialists Yuri I. Malenchenko (left) and Edward T. Lu (beside him) familiarize themselves with equipment in the payload bay of Space Shuttle orbiter Atlantis with the help of KSC employees as part of Crew Equipment Interface Test (CEIT) activities for their mission. The other crew members are Commander Terrence W. Wilcutt, Pilot Scott D. Altman, and Mission Specialists Daniel C. Burbank, Boris V. Morukov and Richard A. Mastracchio. Malenchenko and Morukov represent the Russian Aviation and Space Agency. On the 11-day mission, the seven-member crew will perform support tasks on orbit, transfer supplies and prepare the living quarters in the newly arrived Zvezda Service Module for the first long-duration crew, dubbed "Expedition One," which is due to arrive at the Station in late fall. STS-106 is scheduled to launch Sept. 8, 2000, at 8:31 a.m. EDT from Launch Pad 39B

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. --At Astrotech, engineers from Dutch Space prepare materials to make repairs on the slight damage done by a technician's tool to the back of a solar array panel of the Dawn spacecraft on June 11 during a procedure to prepare Dawn for spin-balance testing. The size of the affected area is about 2.5 inches by 2 inches. There is no impact to the launch date of July 7. Dawn's goal is to characterize the conditions and processes of the solar system's earliest epoch 4.5 billion years ago by investigating in detail two of the largest asteroids, Ceres and Vesta. They reside between Mars and Jupiter in the asteroid belt.

During the STS-97 Crew Equipment Interface Test (CEIT), Mission Specialist Carlos Noriega (right) gets hands-on experience with parts of the Orbital Docking System in Endeavours payload bay. The CEIT provides an opportunity for crew members to check equipment and facilities that will be on board the orbiter during their mission. The STS-97 mission will be the sixth construction flight to the International Space Station. The payload includes a photovoltaic (PV) module, providing solar power to the Station. STS-97 is scheduled to launch Nov. 30 from KSC for the 10-day mission

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - STS-118 Mission Specialist Barbara Morgan (left) listens to a technician in the Space Station Processing Facility during Crew Equipment Interface Test activities. Morgan was selected by NASA in January 1998 as the first Educator Astronaut. The mission to the International Space Station will be delivering the third starboard truss segment, the ITS S5, which will be attached to the station, and a SPACEHAB Single Cargo Module with supplies and equipment. Launch aboard Space Shuttle Columbia is scheduled for Nov. 13, 2003.

San Luis Obispo, Calif. -- 101116-F-8290C-054 -- Roland Coelho and Ryan Nugent, students at California Polytechnic State University Cal Poly, integrate miniature research satellites called CubeSats into a Poly Picosatellite Orbital Deployer PPOD container. The PPOD and CubeSat Project were developed by Cal Poly and Stanford Universitys Space Systems Development Lab for use on NASAs Educational Launch of Nanosatellite ELaNa missions. Each CubeSat measures about 4-inches cubed and is about the same volume as a quart. The CubeSats weigh about 2.2 pounds, must conform to standard aerospace materials and must operate without propulsion.The satellites are being prepared to launch with NASA's Glory spacecraft aboard an Orbital Sciences Corp. Taurus XL rocket, targeted to lift off Feb. 23, 2011, from Vandenberg's Space Launch Complex 576-E. Glory is scheduled to collect data on the properties of aerosols and black carbon from its place in low Earth orbit. It also will help scientists und

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - STS-120 Mission Specialists Piers Sellers and Michael Foreman check out the inside of the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) Pressurized Module located in the Space Station Processing Facility. Known as Kibo, the JEM consists of six components: two research facilities -- the Pressurized Module and Exposed Facility; a Logistics Module attached to each of them; a Remote Manipulator System; and an Inter-Orbit Communication System unit. Kibo also has a scientific airlock through which experiments are transferred and exposed to the external environment of space. The various components of JEM will be assembled in space over the course of three Space Shuttle missions. The STS-120 mission will deliver the second of three Station connecting modules, Node 2, which attaches to the end of U.S. Lab. It will provide attach locations for the JEM, European laboratory, the Centrifuge Accommodation Module and later Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules. The addition of Node 2

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

STS-132 LAUNCH L-3 CREW - PAYLOAD WALKDOWN

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a technician repairs a cell from one of the electricity-producing solar arrays for the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, spacecraft. 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.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. - In the Vertical Processing Facility, members of the STS-109 crew practice on some of the equipment for their Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Servicing mission. Seen in the foreground are (left) Payload Commander John Grunsfeld and (right) Mission Specialist James Newman. The rest of the crew are Commander Scott Altman, Pilot Duane Carey, and Mission Specialists Nancy Currie, Richard Linnehan and Michael Massimino. The goal of the mission is to service the HST, replacing Solar Array 2 with Solar Array 3, replacing the Power Control Unit, removing the Faint Object Camera and installing the Advanced Camera for Surveys, installing the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) Cooling System, and installing New Outer Blanket Layer insulation on bays 5 through 8. Mission STS-109 is scheduled for launch Feb. 14, 2002

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, STS-134 Mission Specialists Roberto Vittori, front left, and Greg Chamitoff check out the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2 (AMS) with the experiment's technicians. The six-member STS-134 crew is at Kennedy participating in the Crew Equipment Interface Test (CEIT), which gives them an opportunity for hands-on training with tools they'll be using in space and familiarization of the payload they'll be delivering to the International Space Station. Space shuttle Endeavour is targeted to launch on the STS-134 mission Feb. 27, 2011.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility, STS-120 Mission Specialist Daniel Tani (left) and Commander Pamela Melroy learn some details about the Node 2, another element to be added to the International Space Station. With them, at right, is astronaut Peggy Whitson, who served on Expedition 5 aboard the space station. During her 6-month stay aboard the space station, Dr. Whitson installed the Mobile Base System, the S1 truss segment, and the P1 truss segment. Tani, Melroy and other crew members are at KSC for equipment familiarization. Tani will be joining the Expedition 15 crew on the space station as flight engineer. Node 2 will provide a passageway between three station science experiment facilities: the U.S. Destiny Laboratory, the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module, and the European Columbus Laboratory. STS-120 is targeted for launch on October 20.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The STS-98 crew looks over components of the equipment already installed in the payload bay of orbiter Atlantis, which is in the Orbiter Processing Facility bay 3. The crew is at KSC for Crew Equipment Interface Test activities. Launch on mission STS-98 is scheduled for Jan. 18, 2001. It will be transporting the U.S. Lab, Destiny, to the International Space Station with five system racks already installed inside of the module. After delivery of electronics in the lab, electrically powered attitude control for Control Moment Gyroscopes will be activated

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - STS-114 Mission Specialist Charles Camarda (left) watches as Mission Specialist Andrew Thomas manipulates equipment that will be used on the mission. Crew members are at KSC for equipment familiarization. STS-114 is classified as Logistics Flight 1 to the International Space Station, delivering new supplies and replacing one of the orbital outposts Control Moment Gyroscopes (CMGs). STS-114 will also carry a Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module and the External Stowage Platform-2. The crew is slated to conduct at least three spacewalks: They will demonstrate repair techniques of the Shuttles Thermal Protection System, replace the failed CMG with one delivered by the Shuttle, and install the External Stowage Platform.

Carrying a neutron radiation detector, Fred Sanders (at center), a health physicist with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and other health physics personnel monitor radiation in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility after three radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) were installed on the Cassini spacecraft for mechanical and electrical verification tests. The RTGs will provide electrical power to Cassini on its 6.7-year trip to the Saturnian system and during its four-year mission at Saturn. RTGs use heat from the natural decay of plutonium to generate electric power. The generators enable spacecraft to operate at great distances from the Sun where solar power systems are not feasible. The Cassini mission is targeted for an Oct. 6 launch aboard a Titan IVB/Centaur expendable launch vehicle. Cassini is built and managed by JPL

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- During a discussion with a worker inside Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo, STS-102 Mission Specialist Andrew S.W. Thomas (left) reviews paperwork, while Expedition Two member James S. Voss (center) listens. The MPLM, part of the payload on the STS-102 mission, is the first of three pressurized modules that will serve as the International Space Stations moving vans, carrying laboratory racks filled with equipment, experiments and supplies to and from the Space Station aboard the Space Shuttle. STS-102 is scheduled for launch March 1, 2001. On that flight, Leonardo will be filled with equipment and supplies to outfit the U.S. laboratory module Destiny. The mission will also be carrying the Expedition Two crew to the Space Station, replacing the Expedition One crew who will return on Shuttle Discovery

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Technicians from Boeing and Alenia Aerospazio work to remove the end cap from the first Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) for the International Space Station (ISS) during testing in the Space Station Processing Facility. The Italian-built module, named Leonardo, is one of three from Alenia Aerospazio, and will be operated by NASA and supported by ASI, the Italian space agency. The MPLMs will be carried in the payload bay of a Shuttle orbiter, and will provide storage and additional work space for up to two astronauts when docked to the ISS. Leonardo is scheduled to be launched on STS-100 in December 1999. The second MPLM, named Raffaello, is scheduled to be handed over in April 1999. A third module, to be named Donatello, is due to be delivered in October 2000 for launch in January 2001

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - STS-118 Mission Specialists Dafydd Williams (left) and Scott Parazynski (center) look at equipment during training in the Space Station Processing Facility. They and other crew members are at KSC to become familiar with equipment for their mission. The mission will be delivering the third starboard truss segment, the ITS S5, to the International Space Station, and a SPACEHAB Single Cargo Module with supplies and equipment. Launch date is under review.

NASA Kennedy lift team observing the movement of Ares 1-X segment US-5 before its critical lift to the Super Stack

Matt Romeyn, a NASA biologist, secures seeds in plant pillows for the Veggie plant growth system inside a laboratory in the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The plant pillows, containing Outredgeous lettuce, Mizuna Mustard and Waldmann's green lettuce seeds, were packed for delivery to Veggie on SpaceX's 12th commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station.

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