NASA Construction and Demolition

Photos of ongoing construction and demolition at NASA facilities, featuring mobile launchers and the dismantling of old structures.

Mobile Launcher 1 (ML-1) Rolls to Launch Pad 39B for Artemis ll Testing. The mobile launcher, carried by the crawler-transporter 2, arrives at the pad at Launch Complex 39B at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Aug. 17, 2023. While at the pad, the mobile launcher will undergo testing for the agencys Artemis II mission. Under Artemis, the mobile launcher will transport NASAs Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft to pad 39B for liftoff.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers demolish the Vertical Processing Facility, or VPF. The demolition, which started in February and is about half done, is scheduled to be finished by July. About 90 percent of the debris will be recycled.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the seventh tower segment of a new mobile launcher, or ML, being constructed to support the Constellation Program, is hoisted by crane toward the six segments already secured to the launcher's surface.When completed, the tower will be approximately 345 feet tall and have multiple platforms for personnel access. The construction is under way at the mobile launcher park site area north of Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building. The launcher will provide a base to launch the Ares I rocket, designed to transport the Orion crew exploration vehicle, its crew and cargo to low Earth orbit. Its base is being made lighter than space shuttle mobile launcher platforms so the crawler-transporter can pick up the heavier load of the tower and taller rocket.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - The mobile service tower at Space Launch Complex 2 on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California is rolled back in preparation for the arrival of the first stage of the United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket for NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive mission, or SMAP.SMAP will provide global measurements of soil moisture and its freeze/thaw state. These measurements will be used to enhance understanding of processes that link the water, energy and carbon cycles, and to extend the capabilities of weather and climate prediction models. SMAP data also will be used to quantify net carbon flux in boreal landscapes and to develop improved flood prediction and drought monitoring capabilities. Launch is scheduled for November 2014.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - Workers oversee the rollback of the mobile service tower at Space Launch Complex 2 on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in preparation for the arrival of the first stage of the United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket for NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive mission, or SMAP.SMAP will provide global measurements of soil moisture and its freeze/thaw state. These measurements will be used to enhance understanding of processes that link the water, energy and carbon cycles, and to extend the capabilities of weather and climate prediction models. SMAP data also will be used to quantify net carbon flux in boreal landscapes and to develop improved flood prediction and drought monitoring capabilities. Launch is scheduled for November 2014.

After successfully arriving at Kennedy Space Centers Launch Complex 39B, Exploration Ground Systems mobile launcher is photographed at the pad surface on June 28, 2019. The mobile launcher began its final solo trek to the pad at midnight on June 27, departing from NASAs Vehicle Assembly Building. The mobile launcher will remain at the pad over the summer, undergoing final testing and checkouts. Its next roll to the pad will be with the agencys Space Launch System rocket and Orion in preparation for the launch of Artemis 1.

Cape Canaveral, Fla. -- Workers using a large crane dismantle the final sections of the rotating service structure on Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. In 2009, the pad was no longer needed for the shuttle program, so it is being restructured for future use. Its new design will feature a "clean pad" for rockets to come with their own launcher, making it more versatile for a number of vehicles. The new lightning protection system, which was in place for the October 2009 launch of Ares I-X, will remain.

Mobile Launcher 1 (ML-1) Rolls to Launch Pad 39B for Artemis ll Testing. The mobile launcher, carried by the crawler-transporter 2, arrives at the pad at Launch Complex 39B at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Aug. 17, 2023. While at the pad, the mobile launcher will undergo testing for the agencys Artemis II mission. Under Artemis, the mobile launcher will transport NASAs Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft to pad 39B for liftoff.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a space shuttle era mobile launcher platform, on the left, sits on pedestals outside the Vehicle Assembly Building. To the right is the mobile launcher that will support the space agency's Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket and Orion spacecraft.NASA's Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is leading the 20-year life-extension project for the crawler. A pair of behemoth machines called crawler-transporters has carried the load of taking rockets and spacecraft to the launch pad for more than 40 years at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Each the size of a baseball infield and powered by locomotive and large electrical power generator engines, the crawler-transporters will stand ready to keep up the work for the next generation of launch vehicles projects to lift astronauts into space.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers monitor the lift of the fifth segment of the tower of a new mobile launcher, or ML, being constructed to support the Constellation Program.When completed, the tower will be approximately 345 feet tall and have multiple platforms for personnel access. The construction is under way at the mobile launcher park site area north of Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building. The launcher will provide a base to launch the Ares I rocket, designed to transport the Orion crew exploration vehicle, its crew and cargo to low Earth orbit. Its base is being made lighter than space shuttle mobile launcher platforms so the crawler-transporter can pick up the heavier load of the tower and taller rocket.

Lit by sunlight filtered through the smoke of a distant forest fire, the Space Shuttle Atlantis receives post-flight servicing in the Mate-Demate Device (MDD), following its landing at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. The gantry-like MDD structure is used for servicing the shuttle orbiters in preparation for their ferry flight back to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, including mounting the shuttle atop NASA's modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.

EXPLORATION - Pad 39B Deconstruction

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The deconstruction of Launch Pad 39B at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida is complete. Still remaining are remnants of the fixed service structure and the water tower used for sound suppression.In 2009, the structure at the pad was no longer needed for NASA's Space Shuttle Program, so it is being restructured for future use. The new design will feature a "clean pad" for rockets to come with their own launcher, making it more versatile for a number of vehicles.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Workers on Pad 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, work on the bottom of the first stage of the Delta II rocket being lifted up the launch tower. The Delta will launch the Mars Exploration Rover (MER-A) vehicle. The MER Mission consists of two identical rovers designed to cover roughly 110 yards each Martian day over various terrain. Each rover will carry five scientific instruments that will allow it to search for evidence of liquid water that may have been present in the planet's past. Identical to each other, the rovers will land at different regions of Mars. Launch date for this first of NASA's two Mars Exploration Rover missions is scheduled no earlier than June 6.

Artemis I Post-Launch Mobile Launcher Rollback. A view from inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Dec. 9, 2022, as the mobile launcher, carried atop the crawler-transporter 2, arrives at the entrance to the transfer aisle, following the successful launch of the agencys Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft on the Artemis I flight test on Nov. 16, 2022. The mobile launcher will stay inside the VAB and remain there for several weeks as teams get it ready for the Artemis II crewed mission. Following its stay in the VAB, it will go to the mobile launcher park site location at Kennedy where it will undergo emergency egress modifications and testing to support future Artemis missions.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, this aerial view of the mobile launcher park site area north of the 525-foot-tall Vehicle Assembly Building, in the background, shows a new mobile launcher, or ML, under construction to support the Constellation Program.When completed, the tower will be approximately 345 feet tall and have multiple platforms for personnel access. Its base is being made lighter than space shuttle mobile launcher platforms so the crawler-transporter can pick up the heavier load of the tower and a taller rocket.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - On NASA Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39B, a second stabilizing arm is lifted for installation at the top of the fixed service structure. The hardware is being reconfigured for launch of NASA's Ares I-X rocket, part of the agency's Constellation Program. The Ares I-X flight test is targeted for Oct. 31.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, launch pad 39A looks much like it did after the liftoff of STS-135, the final space shuttle mission, on July 8, 2011. Both launch pad 39A and 39B pad 39A was originally built for the Apollo/Saturn V rockets that launched American astronauts on their historic journeys to the moon and later modified to support the 30-year shuttle program.

On Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, pilings are being pounded into the ground to help construct lightning towers for the Constellation Program and Ares/Orion launches. Pad B will be the site of the first Ares vehicle launch, including Ares I-X which is scheduled for April 2009.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, CALIF. - On Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the first stage of a Boeing Delta 2 rocket is being raised to a vertical position for erection in the launch service tower. The Delta 2 is the launch vehicle for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA-N) spacecraft. The NOAA-N satellite will be placed into a polar orbit aboard a Boeing Delta 2 rocket. The spacecraft will continue to provide a polar-orbiting platform to support (1) environmental monitoring instruments for imaging and measuring the Earth's atmosphere, its surface, and cloud cover, including Earth radiation, atmospheric ozone, aerosol distribution, sea surface temperature, and vertical temperature and water profiles in the troposphere and stratosphere; (2) measurement of proton and electron flux at orbit altitude; (3) data collection from remote platforms; and (4) the Search and Rescue Satellite-Aided Tracking (SARSAT) system. Additionally, NOAA-N i

A plume of steam signals a successful engine start of the J-2X rocket engine on the A-3 Test Stand at Stennis Space Center on July 26. The 3.7-second test was the second on the next-generation engine, which is being developed for NASA by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne.

Special ground support equipment is used to move the side flame deflectors into place during a countdown demonstration test using the mobile launcher for the Artemis I mission at Launch Pad 39B at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 23, 2020. The nearly 400-foot-tall mobile launcher is at the pad while engineers with Exploration Ground Systems and Jacobs complete several tasks, including a timing test to validate the launch teams countdown timeline, and a thorough, top-to-bottom wash down of the mobile launcher to remove any debris remaining from construction and installation of the umbilical arms. 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. - The Ares I-X forward segment leaves the Rotation, Surge and Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It is being transported to the Vehicle Assembly Building, which is in the background, for mating with the aft center and aft segments already stacked. Part of the Constellation Program, the Ares I-X is the test vehicle for the Ares I, which is the essential core of a space transportation system that eventually will carry crewed missions back to the moon, on to Mars and out into the solar system . The Ares I-X flight test is targeted for no earlier than Aug. 30.

A water tank is lifted into place at the A-3 Test Stand being built at NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center. Fourteen water, liquid oxygen (LOX) and isopropyl alcohol (IPA) tanks are being installed to support the chemical steam generators to be used on the A-3 Test Stand. The IPA and LOX tanks will provide fuel for the generators. The water will allow the generators to produce steam that will be used to reduce pressure inside the stand's test cell diffuser, enabling operators to simulate altitudes up to 100,000 feet. In that way, operators can perform the tests needed on rocket engines being built to carry humans back to the moon and possibly beyond. The A-3 Test Stand is set for completion and activation in 2011.

NASAs upgraded crawler-transporter 2 (CT-2) begins its trek from the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at the agencys Kennedy Space Center in Florida to Launch Pad 39B to test recently completed upgrades and modifications for NASAs journey to Mars. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program at Kennedy oversaw upgrades to the crawler in the VAB. The crawler will carry the mobile launcher with Orion atop the Space Launch System rocket to Pad 39B for Exploration Mission-1, scheduled for 2018.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A worker is dwarfed by the giant crawler-transporter and mobile launcher platform moving along the crawlerway toward the Vehicle Assembly Building. The platform will be rolled into the VAB's High Bay 3 in preparation for the Ares I-X flight test this summer. Ares I-X is the test vehicle for the Ares I, which is part of the Constellation Program to return men to the moon and beyond. Ground Control System hardware was installed in MLP-1 in December 2008. The platform was moved to the launch pad to check out the installed hardware with the Launch Control Center Firing Room 1 equipment, using the actual circuits that will be used when the fully stacked Ares I-X vehicle is rolled out later this year for launch.

A new service platform for NASA's Space Launch System booster engines has been offloaded from a flatbed truck and is being prepared for the move into the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The platform was transported from fabricator Met-Con Inc. in Cocoa, Florida. It will be stored in the VAB, and used for processing and checkout of the engines for the rocket's twin five-segment solid rocket boosters for Exploration Mission-1. EM-1 will launch an uncrewed Orion spacecraft to a stable orbit beyond the Moon and bring it back to Earth for a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- On Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, segments are being added to the crane (foreground) that will be used to finish erecting the lightning towers (one is at left) on the pad. In the background is the 290-foot-high tower that holds 300,000 gallons of water used for sound suppression during shuttle launches. Lightning towers are being constructed to hold centenary wires as part of the new lightning protection system for the Constellation Program and Ares/Orion launches.

Cape Canaveral, Fla. -- Workers using a large crane dismantle the final sections of the rotating service structure on Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. In 2009, the pad was no longer needed for the shuttle program, so it is being restructured for future use. Its new design will feature a "clean pad" for rockets to come with their own launcher, making it more versatile for a number of vehicles. The new lightning protection system, which was in place for the October 2009 launch of Ares I-X, will remain.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, this long range view shows the progress of the rotating service structure (RSS) on Launch Pad 39B as it is being dismantled. Sand, reinforcing steel and large wooden mats were put down under the RSS to protect the structure's concrete from falling debris during deconstruction. Starting in 2009, the structure at the pad was no longer needed for NASA's Space Shuttle Program, so it is being restructured for future use. The new design will feature a "clean pad" for rockets to come with their own launcher, making it more versatile for a number of vehicles. The new lightning protection system, consisting of three lightning towers and a wire catenary system will remain.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians use instrumentation to ensure accuracy as crawler-transporter No. 2 moves a space shuttle era mobile launcher platform into position for placement at Launch Pad 39A. The activity was part of testing to check out recently completed modifications to ensure its ability to carry launch vehicles such as the space agency's Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket to the pad.NASA's Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is leading the 20-year life-extension project for the crawler. A pair of behemoth machines called crawler-transporters has carried the load of taking rockets and spacecraft to the launch pad for more than 40 years at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Each weighing six and a half million pounds and larger in size than a professional baseball infield, the crawler-transporters are powered by locomotive and large electrical power generator engines. The crawler-transporters will stand re

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The locomotive and rail cars carrying solid rocket booster motor segments and two aft exit cone segments roll past the Vehicle Assembly Building to the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility (RPSF) in Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39 Area. The RPSF is used for solid rocket motor receiving, rotation and inspection, and supports aft booster buildup. When live solid rocket motor segments arrive at the processing facility, they are positioned under one of the cranes. Handling slings are then attached to and remove the railcar cover. The segment is inspected while it remains horizontal. The two overhead cranes hoist the segment, rotate it to a vertical position and place it on a fixed stand. The aft handling ring is then removed. The segment is hoisted again and lowered onto a transportation and storage pallet, and the forward handling ring is removed to allow inspections. It is then transported to one of the surge buildings and temporarily store

A heavy load transport truck arrives at the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying the second half of the F-level work platforms for the agencys Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. The platform will be delivered to the VAB staging area in the west parking lot. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to VAB High Bay 3 to support processing of the SLS and Orion spacecraft. A total of 10 levels of new platforms, 20 platform halves altogether, will surround the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft and provide access for testing and processing. Delivery of this platform brings the total to 10 platforms, or half of the work platforms delivered to Kennedy.

Exploration - 1st Floor Removed from Top of Gantry

Rocket engine test stand at the John C. Stennis Space Center, in Hancock County Mississippi.

A brilliant sunrise serves as the backdrop in this panoramic view of the mobile launcher at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mobile launcher is equipped with a number of lines, called umbilicals, which will connect to NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion spacecraft. Exploration Ground Systems is preparing the mobile launcher and ground systems necessary to process and launch the SLS and Orion spacecraft on Exploration Mission-1 and deep space missions.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- For the fourth time in Space Shuttle Program history, 350,000 gallons of water are released on a Mobile Launcher Platform (MLP) at Launch Pad 39A during a water sound suppression test. This test is being conducted following the replacement of the six main system valves, which had been in place since the beginning of the Shuttle Program and had reached the end of their service life. Also, the hydraulic portion of the valve actuators has been redesigned and simplified to reduce maintenance costs. The sound suppression water system is installed on the launch pads to protect the orbiter and its payloads from damage by acoustical energy reflected from the MLP during launch. The system includes an elevated water tank with a capacity of 300,000 gallons. The tank is 290 feet high and stands on the northeast side of the Pad. The water is released just before the ignition of the orbiter's three main engines and twin solid rocket boosters, and flows through parallel

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Main engine No. 1, which was removed from space shuttle Discovery, is transported from Orbiter Processing Facility-2 to the Space Shuttle Main Engine Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The removal was part of Discovery's transition and retirement processing. Work performed on Discovery is expected to help rocket designers build next-generation spacecraft and prepare the shuttle for future public display.

Cape Canaveral, Fla. -- Workers using a large crane dismantle the final sections of the rotating service structure on Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.In 2009, the pad was no longer needed for the shuttle program, so it is being restructured for future use. Its new design will feature a "clean pad" for rockets to come with their own launcher, making it more versatile for a number of vehicles. The new lightning protection system, which was in place for the October 2009 launch of Ares I-X, will remain.

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

A92669 NRDS BUILDINGS & EQUIPMENT DON COLLINS (Project Engineer) MAR 17 92 EG&G/NTS PHOTO LAB Publication Date: 3/17/1992 BUILDINGS; BUILDINGS & EQUIPMENT; EDGERTON, GERMESHAUSEN & GRIER; EG&G; EQUIPMENT; EQUIPMENT & FACILITIES; EQUIPMENT & INSTRUMENTS; EQUIPMENT (SNL); INSTRUMENTS & EQUIPMENT; LANL; NEVADA; NEVADA TEST SITE; NRDS; NTS; NUCLEAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGY; NUCLEAR ROCKET DEVELOPMENT STA; NUCLEAR TESTING; SANDIA EQUIPMENT & FACILITIES; TEST SITES; TOWERS; UGT; UNDERGROUND TESTING; NRDS-BUILDINGS & EQUIPMENT historical images. 1972 - 2012. Department of Energy. National Nuclear Security Administration. Photographs Related to Nuclear Weapons Testing at the Nevada Test Site.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The Ares I-X aft skirt moves past the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on its way to the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility. In the RPSF, it will be stacked with the aft motor to form the aft assembly. The complete Ares I-X will be assembled in the Vehicle Assembly Building. The launch of Ares I-X is targeted for August 2009.

NASAs mobile launcher is photographed on the pad surface at Launch Pad 39B on Nov. 8, 2019, at the agencys Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The 380-foot-tall mobile launcher is the ground structure that will support the assembly and launch of NASAs Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft for the uncrewed Artemis I mission.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, crawler-transporter No. 2 arrives at Launch Pad 39A to check out recently completed modifications to ensure its ability to carry launch vehicles such as the space agency's Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket to the pad.NASA's Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is leading the 20-year life-extension project for the crawler. A pair of behemoth machines called crawler-transporters has carried the load of taking rockets and spacecraft to the launch pad for more than 40 years at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Each the size of a baseball infield and powered by locomotive and large electrical power generator engines, the crawler-transporters will stand ready to keep up the work for the next generation of launch vehicles to lift astronauts into space.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crawler-transporter moves NASA's new mobile launcher (ML) support structure from a construction site, north of the Vehicle Assembly Building (background), to the Mobile Launcher east park site. The base of the launcher is lighter than space shuttle mobile launcher platforms so the crawler-transporter can pick up the heavier load of the tower and a taller rocket. Once there, the ML can be outfitted with ground support equipment, such as umbilicals and access arms, for future rocket launches. It took about two years to construct the 355-foot-tall structure, which will support NASA's future human spaceflight program.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The mobile launcher, or ML, begins to move off Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Nov. 30, 2011. Data on the ML was collected from structural and functional engineering tests and will be used for the next phases of construction overseen by NASAs 21st Century Ground Systems Program. The 355-foot-tall ML structure, which took about two years to construct, is being modified to support NASAs Space Launch System, the heavy-lift rocket that will launch astronauts farther into space than ever before.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. Two 34-year-old towers on Launch Complex 41, Cape Canaveral Air Station, fall to the ground amid the black smoke from explosives set to topple them. Weighing two million pounds, the umbilical tower (left) was approximately 200 feet high. The taller 300-foot Mobile Service Tower (right) weighs five million pounds. About 200 pounds of linear-shaped charges were used to topple the towers so that the materials can be recycled. Adjacent to the towers are lightning protection structures, which will remain on the site. The towers are being demolished to make room for Lockheed Martin's 14-acre Vehicle Integration Facility (VIF), under construction. The implosion and removal of the tower debris is expected to be completed in two months. The VIF will be used for Lockheed Martin's Atlas V Launch System.

Work continues on the A-3 Test Stand at Stennis Space Center. The new stand will allow operators to test next-generation rocket engines at simulated altitudes up to 100,000 feet. The test stand is scheduled for completion and activation in 2013.

CONSTELLATION - NEW MLP CONSTRUCTION PROGRESS - 10TH TOWER SEGMENT LIFT

DN-ST-88-04106. Base: Cape Canaveral State: Florida (FL) Country: United States Of America (USA)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Mobile Launcher Platform-3 (MLP), which supported space shuttle Atlantis for its final flight to the International Space Station on the STS-135 mission, is making its last journey from Launch Pad 39A into the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) atop a massive crawler-transporter. Seen also is the Space Shuttle Program's Launch Control Center (left).For more than 40 years, the MLPs have traveled between the VAB to both launch pads at Launch Complex 39, and then returned to the VAB for future use. MLP-3 was first used to launch Columbia on the STS-32 mission on Jan. 9, 1990.

Exterior view of Launch Complex 39A

In this view from the flame trench at Kennedy Space Centers Launch Complex 39B in Florida, Exploration Ground Systems mobile launcher can be seen on the pad surface on June 28, 2019. The mobile launcher began its final solo trek - atop crawler-transporter 2 - to the pad at midnight on June 27, departing from NASAs Vehicle Assembly Building and continuing up to the pad surface on June 28. The mobile launcher will remain at the pad over the summer, undergoing final testing and checkouts. Its next roll to the pad will be with the agencys Space Launch System rocket and Orion in preparation for the launch of Artemis 1.

Preparations are underway to install the final brick on the north side of the flame trench at Launch Complex 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The walls of the flame trench are being upgraded to withstand the intense heat and fire at launch of NASA's Space Launch System rocket with Orion atop. About 96,000 heat-resistant bricks, in three different sizes, were secured to the walls using bonding mortar in combination with adhesive anchors. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to Pad 39B to support the launch of the SLS and Orion spacecraft for Exploration Mission-1 and NASAs journey to Mars.

Cape Canaveral, Fla. -- Workers using a large crane dismantle the final sections of the rotating service structure on Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. In 2009, the pad was no longer needed for the shuttle program, so it is being restructured for future use. Its new design will feature a "clean pad" for rockets to come with their own launcher, making it more versatile for a number of vehicles. The new lightning protection system, which was in place for the October 2009 launch of Ares I-X, will remain.

Cape Canaveral, Fla. -- A large crane dismantles another section of the fixed service structure (FSS) on Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Work to remove the rotating service structure (RSS) also continues at the pad. The FSS and RSS were designed to support the unique needs of the Space Shuttle Program. In 2009, the pad was no longer needed for the shuttle program, so it is being restructured for future use. Its new design will feature a "clean pad" for rockets to come with their own launcher, making it more versatile for a number of vehicles. The new lightning protection system, which was in place for the October 2009 launch of Ares I-X, will remain.

After successfully arriving at Kennedy Space Centers Launch Complex 39B, Exploration Ground Systems mobile launcher is photographed at the pad surface on June 28, 2019. The mobile launcher began its final solo trek to the pad at midnight on June 27, departing from NASAs Vehicle Assembly Building. The mobile launcher will remain at the pad over the summer, undergoing final testing and checkouts. Its next roll to the pad will be with the agencys Space Launch System rocket and Orion in preparation for the launch of Artemis 1.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Employees monitor payload canister #2 as it rolls out of the high bay of the Canister Rotation Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for its trip to the Reutilization, Recycling and Marketing Facility on Ransom Road. The two payload canisters used to transport space shuttle payloads to the launch pad for installation in the shuttles' cargo bays are being decommissioned following the end of the Space Shuttle Program. Each canister weighs 110,000 pounds and is 65 feet long, 22 feet wide, and 18 feet, 7 inches high. The canisters were prescreened through NASA Headquarters as possible artifacts, but their size makes them difficult to transport to locations off the center. Federal and state agencies now will be given the opportunity to screen the canisters for potential use before a final decision is made on their disposition.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - On Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a giant crane places the 100-foot lightning mast on top of the newly erected lightning tower, one of three around the pad. Another of the towers is at left. At right are the fixed and rotating service structures that serve the Space Shuttle Program. The new lightning protection system is being built for the Constellation Program and Ares/Orion launches. Each of the towers is 500 feet tall with an additional 100-foot fiberglass mast atop supporting a wire catenary system. This improved lightning protection system allows for the taller height of the Ares I rocket compared to the space shuttle. Pad 39B will be the site of the first Ares vehicle launch, including the Ares I-X test flight that is targeted for July 2009.

three silos of sand. three silos of sand in a gravel pit operation

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The Vehicle Assembly Building towers over the new Propellants North Administrative and Maintenance Facility in the Launch Complex 39 area of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The environmentally friendly facility is slated to be NASA's second Platinum-rated by the U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC) Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design (LEED) certification system. It will be the space agency's first carbon-neutral facility, which means it will produce enough energy onsite from renewable sources to offset what it requires to operate. On the right is the facility's two-story administrative building, which will house managers, mechanics and technicians who fuel spacecraft at Kennedy. On the left is a single-story shop that will be used to store cryogenic fuel transfer equipment. In the parking lot is a solar-powered parking station for alternative fuel vehicles.

A heavy-lift crane has been attached to the Core Stage Inter-tank Umbilical (CSITU) to lift it up from a flatbed truck near the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The CSITU will be lifted up to about the 140-foot level of the mobile launcher (ML) tower for a fit check of the attachment hardware. It will be lowered down and installed permanently on the ML at a later date. The CSITU is a swing-arm umbilical that will connect to the Space Launch System core stage inter-tank. It will provide conditioned air, pressurized gases and power and data connection to the core stage. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing installation of the umbilicals.

NASA's upgraded crawler-transporter 2 (CT-2), carrying mobile launcher platform 1, moves slowly along the crawlerway at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crawler's upgrades and modifications will be monitored and tested under loaded conditions during its travel to the crawlerway Pad A/B split and back to the crawler yard to confirm it is ready to support the load of the mobile launcher carrying the Space Launch System with Orion atop for the first test flight, Exploration Mission 1. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program at Kennedy is managing upgrades to the crawler.

Rocket engine test stand at Stennis Space Center designed for Saturn V rocket testing and modified to test SLS Artemis rocket engines.

Puffy pink clouds form a canopy over the Space Shuttle Endeavour as processing continues in the Mate-Demate Device at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center in preparation for its ferry flight back to the Kennedy Space Center.

S65-29648 (3 June 1965) --- View of the Gemini-Titan 4 spacecraft on Pad 19 on day of launch with erector being removed.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Mobile Launcher Platform (MLP) number 3 and a set of twin solid rocket boosters, atop the crawler-transporter, crawl out of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) in support of the second engineering analysis vibration test on the crawler and MLP. In the background is another MLP. The crawler is moving at various speeds up to 1 mph in an effort to achieve vibration data gathering goals as it leaves the VAB, travels toward Launch Pad 39A and then returns. The boosters are braced at the top for stability. The primary purpose of these rollout tests is to gather data to develop future maintenance requirements on the transport equipment and the flight hardware. Various parts of the MLP and crawler transporter have been instrumented with vibration data collection equipment.

Exploration Ground Systems mobile launcher departs from Kennedy Space Centers Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) on June 27, 2019, for its final solo trek to Launch Complex 39B in Florida. The mobile launcher departed from the VAB at midnight for the 10-hour journey to the pad, where it will remain for the summer, undergoing final testing and checkouts. Its next roll to the pad will be with the agencys Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft in preparation for the launch of Artemis 1.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the rotating service structure (RSS) on Launch Pad 39B is being dismantled. Starting in 2009, the structure at the pad was no longer needed for NASA's Space Shuttle Program, so it is being restructured for future use. The new design will feature a "clean pad" for rockets to come with their own launcher, making it more versatile for a number of vehicles.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Sunrise over the Space Coast in Florida finds space shuttle Endeavour settling in on Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center.Riding atop a crawler-transporter attached to its external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters, Endeavour's 3.4-mile trek, known as "rollout," began at the Vehicle Assembly Building at 7:56 p.m. EST March 10 and ended at 3:49 a.m. EST, nearly eight hours later. This is Endeavour's final scheduled rollout. Endeavour and its six-member crew will deliver the Express Logistics Carrier-3, Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2 (AMS), a high-pressure gas tank, additional spare parts for the Dextre robotic helper and micrometeoroid debris shields to the International Space Station on the shuttle's final spaceflight, STS-134. Launch is targeted for 7:48 p.m. EDT April 19.

Preparations are underway to lift the bracket for the Orion Service Module Umbilical (OSMU) up for installation on the mobile launcher tower at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mobile launcher tower will be equipped with a number of lines, called umbilicals, that will connect to the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft for Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1). The OSMU will be located high on the mobile launcher tower and, prior to launch, will transfer liquid coolant for the electronics and air for the Environmental Control System to the Orion service module that houses these critical systems to support the spacecraft. EM-1 is scheduled to launch in 2018. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing installation of the umbilicals.

Testing of the Orion Service Module Umbilical (OSMU) was completed at the Launch Equipment Test Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The OSMU was attached to Vehicle Motion Simulator 1 for a series of simulated launch tests to validate it for installation on the mobile launcher. The mobile launcher tower will be equipped with a number of lines, called umbilicals that will connect to the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft for Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1). The OSMU will be located high on the mobile launcher tower and, prior to launch, will transfer liquid coolant for the electronics and air for the Environmental Control System to the Orion service module that houses these critical systems to support the spacecraft. Kennedy's Engineering Directorate is providing support to the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program for testing of the OSMU. EM-1 is scheduled to launch in 2018.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - As part of NASA's Ground Systems Development and Operations Program at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a large space shuttle-era work platform has been removed from high bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB. The work is part of a center-wide modernization and refurbishment initiative to accommodate NASAs Space Launch System and a variety of other spacecraft instead of the whole building supporting one design.The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is developing the necessary ground systems, infrastructure and operational approaches required to safely process, assemble, transport and launch the next generation of rockets and spacecraft in support of NASAs exploration objectives. Future work also will replace the antiquated communications, power and vehicle access resources with modern efficient systems. Some of the utilities and systems slated for replacement have been used since the VAB opened in 1965.

This photograph depicts a dramatic view of the first test firing of all five F-1 engines for the Saturn V S-IC stage at the Marshall Space Flight Center. The testing lasted a full duration of 6.5 seconds. It also marked the first test performed in the new S-IC static test stand and the first test using the new control blockhouse. The S-IC stage is the first stage, or booster, of a 364-foot long rocket that ultimately took astronauts to the Moon. Operating at maximum power, all five of the engines produced 7,500,000 pounds of thrust. Required to hold down the brute force of a 7,500,000-pound thrust, the S-IC static test stand was designed and constructed with the strength of hundreds of tons of steel and cement, planted down to bedrock 40 feet below ground level. The structure was topped by a crane with a 135-foot boom. With the boom in the up position, the stand was given an overall height of 405 feet, placing it among the highest structures in Alabama at the time. When the Saturn V S-

Aerial photograph of MSFC test stand 4697 with the Liquid Oxygen (LOX) test article in the stand

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the mobile launcher platform that was turned over from the shuttle program to the Constellation Program last month moves along the crawlerway via the crawler-transporter underneath. In the background is the Vehicle Assembly Building. The platform will be rolled into the VAB's High Bay 3 in preparation for the Ares I-X flight test this summer. Ares I-X is the test vehicle for the Ares I, which is part of the Constellation Program to return men to the moon and beyond. Ground Control System hardware was installed in MLP-1 in December 2008. The platform was moved to the launch pad to check out the installed hardware with the Launch Control Center Firing Room 1 equipment, using the actual circuits that will be used when the fully stacked Ares I-X vehicle is rolled out later this year for launch.

CONSTELLATION - NEW MLP CONSTRUCTION PROGRESS - 10TH TOWER SEGMENT LIFT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Cranes and workers are in place to lift the nosecone part of a solid rocket booster replica into place at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex where the Space Shuttle Atlantis exhibit and attraction is under construction.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - An aerial view shows construction progress at Launch Pad 39B at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A new elevator has been constructed on the surface of the pad and the crawlerway leading up to the surface is being repaired. Repairs also are being made to the crawler track panels and catacomb roof below on either side of the flame trench. Also in view are portions of the water tower and the three tall lightning towers that surround the pad. Upgrades are underway at Pad B and other facilities in the Launch Complex 39 area. The Ground Systems Development and Operations, or GSDO, Program office at Kennedy is leading the centers transformation from a historically government-only launch complex to a spaceport that can safely handle a variety of rockets and spacecraft, including NASAs Space Launch System.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Modifications continue on the Mobile Launcher, or ML, at the Mobile Launcher Park Site at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A view from above shows work in progress on the surface of the ML. In 2013, the agency awarded a contract to J.P. Donovan Construction Inc. of Rockledge, Fla., to modify the ML, which is one of the key elements of ground support equipment that is being upgraded by the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program office at Kennedy. The ML will carry the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft to Launch Pad 39B for its first mission, Exploration Mission 1, in 2017.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A crane lifts the nosecone part of a solid rocket booster replica into place at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex where the Space Shuttle Atlantis exhibit and attraction is under construction.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, cleanup of Launch Pad 39B gets under way. Sand, reinforcing steel and large wooden mats were placed over the pad's concrete surfaces during deconstruction to protect them from falling debris. In 2009, the structure at the pad was no longer needed for NASA's Space Shuttle Program, so it is being restructured for future use. The new design will feature a "clean pad" for rockets to come with their own launcher, making it more versatile for a number of rockets and spacecraft. The lightning protection system, consisting of three lightning towers and a wire catenary system, will remain.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers receive training atop a mast climber that is attached to launch simulation towers outside the Launch Equipment Test Facility. The training includes attaching carrier plates, water and air systems, and electricity to the climber to simulate working in Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). Mast climbers can be substituted for fixed service structures currently inside the VAB to provide access to any type of launch vehicle. Since 1977, the facility has supported NASAs Launch Services, shuttle, International Space Station, and Constellation programs, as well as commercial providers. Last year, the facility underwent a major upgrade to support even more programs, projects and customers. It houses a 6,000-square-foot high bay, cable fabrication and molding shop, pneumatics shop, machine and weld shop and full-scale control room. Outside, the facility features a water flow test loop, vehicle motion simulator an

The Soyuz TMA-16M spacecraft is seen after is was rolled out by train to the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, March 25, 2015. NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly, and Russian Cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko, and Gennady Padalka of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) are scheduled to launch to the International Space Station in the Soyuz TMA-16M spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan March 28, Kazakh time (March 27 Eastern time.) As the one-year crew, Kelly and Kornienko will return to Earth on Soyuz TMA-18M in March 2016.

After successfully arriving at Kennedy Space Centers Launch Complex 39B, Exploration Ground Systems mobile launcher is photographed at the pad surface on June 28, 2019. The mobile launcher began its final solo trek to the pad at midnight on June 27, departing from NASAs Vehicle Assembly Building. The mobile launcher will remain at the pad over the summer, undergoing final testing and checkouts. Its next roll to the pad will be with the agencys Space Launch System rocket and Orion in preparation for the launch of Artemis 1.

DF-ST-86-12042. Base: Vandenberg Air Force Base State: California (CA) Country: United States Of America (USA)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The deconstruction of Launch Pad 39B at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida is complete. Only remnants of the fixed service structure remain standing over the flame trench.In 2009, the structure at the pad was no longer needed for NASA's Space Shuttle Program, so it is being restructured for future use. The new design will feature a "clean pad" for rockets to come with their own launcher, making it more versatile for a number of vehicles.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, crawler-transporter No. 2 returns to its park site after completion of testing at Launch Pad 39A. The activity is designed to check out recently completed modifications to ensure the crawler-transporter's ability to carry launch vehicles such as the space agency's Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket to the pad.NASA's Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is leading the 20-year life-extension project for the crawler. A pair of behemoth machines called crawler-transporters has carried the load of taking rockets and spacecraft to the launch pad for more than 40 years at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Each weighing six and a half million pounds and larger in size than a professional baseball infield, the crawler-transporters are powered by locomotive and large electrical power generator engines. The crawler-transporters will stand ready to keep up the work for the next generation of launch vehicles

A large crawler crane traveling long one of the crawlerway tracks makes the turn toward Launch Pad 39B. The crane with its 70-foot boom will be used to construct a new lightning protection system for the Constellation Program and Ares/Orion launches. Pad B will be the site of the first Ares vehicle launch, including Ares I-X which is scheduled for April 2009.

Modifications continue on the Mobile Launcher, or ML, at the Mobile Launcher Park Site at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Scaffolding, or work platforms, have been installed around the base of the tower on the ML to continue upgrades and modifications to the structure. The ML is being modified and strengthened to accommodate the weight, size and thrust at launch of NASA's Space Launch System, or SLS, and Orion spacecraft. The ML is one of the key elements of ground support equipment that is being upgraded by the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program at Kennedy. The ML will carry the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft to Launch Pad 39B for its first uncrewed mission, Exploration Mission-1, in 2018.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- On Launch Complex 576-E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, workers remove the scaffolding surrounding Orbital Sciences' Taurus XL rocket. Atop the rocket is NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory, or OCO, which is scheduled to launch Feb. 24 from Vandenberg. The spacecraft will collect precise global measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth's atmosphere. Scientists will analyze OCO data to improve our understanding of the natural processes and human activities that regulate the abundance and distribution of this important greenhouse gas.

AQUARIUS - Second Stage Erection

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Progress is evident in the Constellation Program at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, as the first section of a tower is secured to a new mobile launcher, or ML.The tower of the mobile launcher will have multiple platforms for personnel access and will be approximately 345 feet tall. The launcher is being built at the mobile launcher park site area located north of Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building to support the Ares I rocket. The ML will provide a base to launch the Ares I which will transport the Orion crew exploration vehicle, its crew and cargo to low Earth orbit. The base is being made lighter than space shuttle mobile launcher platforms so the crawler-transporter can pick up the heavier load of the tower and taller rocket.

Preparations are underway to lift the third of four solid rocket boosters (SRB) for the United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket into the Vertical Integration Facility (VIF) at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) in Florida on June 8, 2020. The SRB will be lifted and mated to the Atlas V booster in the VIF. The Mars Perseverance rover is scheduled to launch on July 20, 2020, atop the Atlas V rocket from Pad 41. The rover is part of NASAs Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. The rovers seven instruments will search for habitable conditions in the ancient past and signs of past microbial life on Mars. The Launch Services Program at Kennedy is responsible for launch management.

The Soyuz TMA-5 vehicle rolled to its launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Tuesday, October 12, 2004, in preparation for its launch October 14 to send Expedition 10 Commander and NASA Science Officer Leroy Chiao, Flight Engineer and Soyuz Commander Salizhan Sharipov and Russian Space Forces cosmonaut Yuri Shargin to the International Space Station. Chiao and Sharipov will replace the Expedition 9 crew of Gennady Padalka and Mike Fincke, while Shargin will conduct eight days of scientific experiments. He will return to earth with the Expedition 9 crew October 24.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, this aerial view of the mobile launcher park site area north of the 525-foot-tall Vehicle Assembly Building shows a new mobile launcher, or ML, for the Constellation Program under construction. In the background are the Atlantic Ocean and the Launch Complex 39 Observation Gantry, at upper right.When completed, the tower will be approximately 345 feet tall and have multiple platforms for personnel access. Its base is being made lighter than space shuttle mobile launcher platforms so the crawler-transporter can pick up the heavier load of the tower and a taller rocket.

The industrial side of Hamilton at night

The Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft is seen after the gantry arms closed around the rocket to secure it at the launch pad on Monday, April 17, 2017 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Launch of the Soyuz rocket is scheduled for April 20 Baikonur time and will carry Expedition 51 Soyuz Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin of Roscosmos and Flight Engineer Jack Fischer of NASA into orbit to begin their four and a half month mission on the International Space Station.

Workers connect the nosecone of a solid rocket booster replica into place at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex where the Space Shuttle Atlantis exhibit and attraction is under construction.

This photograph depicts a view of the test firing of all five F-1 engines for the Saturn V S-IC test stage at the Marshall Space Flight Center. The S-IC stage is the first stage, or booster, of a 364-foot long rocket that ultimately took astronauts to the Moon. Operating at maximum power, all five of the engines produced 7,500,000 pounds of thrust. The S-IC Static Test Stand was designed and constructed with the strength of hundreds of tons of steel and cement, planted down to bedrock 40 feet below ground level, and was required to hold down the brute force of the 7,500,000-pound thrust. The structure was topped by a crane with a 135-foot boom. With the boom in the up position, the stand was given an overall height of 405 feet, placing it among the highest structures in Alabama at the time. When the Saturn V S-IC first stage was placed upright in the stand , the five F-1 engine nozzles pointed downward on a 1,900-ton, water-cooled deflector. To prevent melting damage, water was sprayed

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