NASA Events and Briefings

Images of various NASA events, including media briefings and panel discussions, featuring scientists and officials discussing space missions and discoveries.

LCROSS launch public viewing event held at Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA

In the Kennedy Space Center's Operations and Support Building II, Thursday, Aug. 9, 2018, members of the media participate in a prelaunch mission briefing on NASA's Parker Solar Probe. Listening to the presentation is Eugene Parker, front row, far left, the S. Chandrasekhar Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Chicago. This is the first NASA mission that has been named for a living individual. The Parker Solar Probe will lift off on a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The spacecraft was built by Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University in Laurel, Maryland. The mission will perform the closest-ever observations of a star when it travels through the Sun's atmosphere, called the corona. The probe will rely on measurements and imaging to revolutionize our understanding of the corona and the Sun-Earth connection.

NASA Officials gather at Ames Research Center to discuss Spaceship development progress. Constellation is developing the Orion spacecraft and Ares rockets to support an American return to the moon by 2020.

Dr. Shawn Domagal-Goldman, Research Space Scientist, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, speaks on a panel at the Ancient Earth, Alien Earths” Event at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC Wednesday, August 20, 2014. The event was sponsored by NASA, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Smithsonian Institution and was moderated by Dr. David H. Grinspoon, Senior Scientist at the Planetary Science Institute. Six scientists discussed how research on early Earth could help guide our search for habitable planets orbiting other stars.

Nick Hague and Christina Koch, two astronauts currently living and working on the International Space Station, are seen on the screen during a live uplink and panel discussion with moderator NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, NASA Associate Administrator for the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, Bill Gerstenmaier, and NASA Deputy Associate Administrator for Exploration, Steve Clarke, at the "Future of Space" STEM event, Monday, April 29, 2019 at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

Dr. Jim Green, Dr. Ed Stone, and Dr. Alan Stern speak on a panel at the "New Horizons: The First Mission to the Pluto System and the Kuiper Belt" Event at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC Monday, August 25, 2014. They discussed how the first images of Pluto and its moons would be captured by the New Horizons spacecraft during a five month long reconnaissance flyby study starting in the summer of 2015. New Horizons launched on January 19, 2006 and is scheduled to make its closest approach to Pluto on July 14, 2015.

In a panel discussion in the Kennedy Space Centers Operations Support Building II, social media followers were briefed by NASA scientists on asteroids, how they relate to the origins of our solar system and the search for life beyond Earth. The discussion took place before launch of the agencys Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Panelists for this conversation are, from the left, Ellen Stofan, NASA chief scientist; Michelle Thaller, deputy director of science communications for NASAs Science Mission Directorate; Felicia Chou, NASA Communications; Alex Young, associate director for science in the Heliophysics Science Division at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland; and Lindley Johnson, director of the Planetary Defense Coordination Office in NASAs Science Mission Directorate.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the conference room of Operations Support Building II at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, social media participants listen to a briefing on the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, mission.The social media participants gathered at the Florida spaceport for the launch of the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, spacecraft. Their visit included tours of key facilities and participating in presentations by key NASA leaders who updated the space agency's current efforts.

LCROSS launch public viewing event held at Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Media were invited to a showing of the Ares I-X simulator rocket segments at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Here, Bob Ess and Jon Cowart discuss the flight test objectives of the Ares I-X targeted for launch in July 2009. Ess is manager of the Ares I-X project. Cowart is Ares I-X deputy mission manager. The I-X flight will provide NASA an early opportunity to test and prove hardware, facilities and ground operations associated with Ares I, part of the Constellation Program to return men to the moon and beyond. Ares I is the essential core of a safe, reliable, cost-effective space transportation system that eventually will carry crewed missions back to the moon, on to Mars and out into the solar system.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the conference room of Operations Support Building II at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, social media participants listen to a briefing on the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, mission by, from the left, Lisa May, MAVEN Program executive, Kelly Fast, Mars Program scientist, Sandra Cauffman, deputy project manager at the agency's Goddard Spaceflight Center, in Greenbelt, Md., and Chris Waters, systems design team lead at Lockheed Martin.The social media participants gathered at the Florida spaceport for the launch of the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, spacecraft. Their visit included tours of key facilities and participating in presentations by key NASA leaders who updated the space agency's current efforts.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Four members of the STS-134 crew answer questions as part of a mission overview at the Visitor Complex of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Participating in the event, seated, from the left, former astronaut Bruce Melnick, along with Greg Johnson, Michael Fincke, Andrew Feustel and Gregory Chamitoff.STS-134 commander Mark Kelly, pilot Greg Johnson and Mission Specialists Michael Fincke, Gregory Chamitoff, Andrew Feustel and European Space Agency astronaut Roberto Vittori lifted off May 16, 2011 aboard space shuttle Endeavour. During the nearly 16-day STS-134 mission, Endeavour delivered to the International Space Station the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer and spare parts, including two S-band communications antennas and a high-pressure gas tank. This was the 36th shuttle mission to the station and Endeavour's 25th and final flight.

NASA Social attendees film director of NASA's Planetary Science Division, Jim Green as he discusses the Cassini mission, Thursday, Sept. 14, 2017 at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Since its arrival in 2004, the Cassini-Huygens mission has been a discovery machine, revolutionizing our knowledge of the Saturn system and captivating us with data and images never before obtained with such detail and clarity. On Sept. 15, 2017, operators will deliberately plunge the spacecraft into Saturn, as Cassini gathered science until the end. The plunge” ensures Saturn’s moons will remain pristine for future exploration. During Cassini’s final days, mission team members from all around the world gathered at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, to celebrate the achievements of this historic mission.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Tweetup participants ask questions during prelaunch activities for NASAs Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. Participants toured NASAs Kennedy Space Center and got a close-up view of Space Launch Complex 17B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The tweeters will share their experiences with followers through the social networking site Twitter.GRAIL will fly twin spacecraft in tandem around the moon to precisely measure and map variations in the moons gravitational field. The mission will provide the most accurate global gravity field to date for any planet, including Earth. This detailed information will reveal differences in the density of the moons crust and mantle and will help answer fundamental questions about the moons internal structure, thermal evolution, and history of collisions with asteroids. The aim is to map the moons gravity field so completely that future lunar ve

NASA Officials gather at Ames Research Center to discuss Spaceship development progress. Constellation is developing the Orion spacecraft and Ares rockets to support an American return to the moon by 2020.

Dr. Kristen John, deputy project manager and co-investigator for the Strata-1 experiment at the Johnson Space Center in Houston , speaks to members of the media in the Kennedy Space Centers Press Site auditorium. The briefing focused on science research and technology work planned for the International Space Station, or ISS, following the arrival of a Cygnus spacecraft. The Cygnus is scheduled to be launched March 22 atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on the Orbital ATK CRS-6 commercial resupply services mission.

PHOTO DATE: 07-16-14 LOCATION: Bldg. 2s - PAO Studio BSUBJECT: Expedition 41/42 Crew News Conference with crew members Elena Serova (RSA), Alexander Samokutyaev (RSA) and Barry "Butch" Wilmore.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Rob Mueller announces the winner of the Judges' Innovation Award during NASA's 2014 Robotic Mining Competition awards ceremony inside the Space Shuttle Atlantis attraction at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. More than 35 teams from colleges and universities around the U.S. designed and built remote-controlled robots for the mining competition.The competition is a NASA Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate project designed to engage and retain students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, fields by expanding opportunities for student research and design. Teams use their remote-controlled robotics to maneuver and dig in a supersized sandbox filled with a crushed material that has characteristics similar to Martian soil. The objective of the challenge is to see which teams robot can collect and move the most regolith within a specified amount of time. The competition includes on-site mining, writing a s

PHOTO DATE: 07-16-14 LOCATION: Bldg. 2s - PAO Studio BSUBJECT: Expedition 41/42 Crew News Conference with crew members Elena Serova (RSA), Alexander Samokutyaev (RSA) and Barry "Butch" Wilmore.

Kepler team members at press event and doing media interviews.

The Marine Astronauts and NASA Personnel respond to questions from the crowd during the Journey to Space: Stories of Marines panel discussion panel discussion at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, Va., August 13. The panel discussion was orchestrated so they could describe their journey from the U.S. Marine Corps to NASA.

STS-131 LAUNCH L-2 INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION SCIENCE BRIEFING

Boy Scouts of America Troop 209 members Andrew Frank, left, Elliot Lee center, and team leader Norman McFarland speak to members of social media in the Kennedy Space Centers Press Site auditorium. The briefing focused on research planned for launch to the International Space Station. The scientific materials and supplies will be aboard a Dragon spacecraft scheduled for launch from Kennedys Launch Complex 39A on Aug. 14 atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on the company's 12th Commercial Resupply Services mission to the space station.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Hugh Harris, the former director of Public Affairs at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, talks to Mercury Project workers and other guests in the Astronaut Encounter Theater at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. Harris is helping Mercury astronauts, John Glenn and Scott Carpenter, mark the 50th anniversary of Glenn being the first American to orbit the Earth inside the NASA Mercury Project's Friendship 7 capsule on Feb. 20, 1962. Glenn's launch aboard an Atlas rocket took with it the hopes of an entire nation and ushered in a new era of space travel that eventually led to Americans walking on the moon by the end of the 1960s. Glenn soon was followed into orbit by Carpenter, Walter Schirra and Gordon Cooper. Their fellow Mercury astronauts Alan Shepard and Virgil "Gus" Grissom flew earlier suborbital flights. Deke Slayton, a member of NASA's original Mercury 7 astronauts, was grounded by a medical condition until the Apollo-Soyuz Test P

Artemis II Crew at GSFC. CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, left, and NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Hammock Koch, are seen as they are introduced by Dr. Christa Peters-Lidard, director of the Sciences and Exploration Directorate at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, right, during an employee engagement event, Friday, May 19, 2023, during an employee engagement event at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Wiseman, Glover, Hammock Koch, and Hansen, who will fly around the Moon on NASAs Artemis II flight test, visited Washington to discuss their upcoming mission with members of Congress and others.

Swedish Delegation Visits GSFC - May 3, 2017 - Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences listen to Dr. Holly Gilbert and Dr. Alex Young s presentation on NASA’s sun research activities in the Piers Sellers Visualization Theatre in Building 28 at NASA Goddard.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The crew of space shuttle Atlantis' STS-135 and Space Shuttle Program Flight, participates in a news conference in the Press Site auditorium at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on landing day. Seen here are NASA Commentator and Public Affairs Officer George Diller (left), STS-135 Commander Chris Ferguson, Mission Specialists Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim, and Pilot Doug Hurley.Securing the space shuttle fleet's place in history, Atlantis marked the 26th nighttime landing of NASA's Space Shuttle Program and the 78th landing at Kennedy. Main gear touchdown was at 5:57:00 a.m. EDT, followed by nose gear touchdown at 5:57:20 a.m., and wheelstop at 5:57:54 a.m. Atlantis and its crew delivered to the International Space Station the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module packed with more than 9,400 pounds of spare parts, equipment and supplies that will sustain station operations for the next year. STS-135 was the 33rd and final flight for Atlantis, which h

David H. DeVorkin, Senior Curator, Astronomy and the Space Sciences Division of Space History, at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, speaks during a press briefing at the new "Moving Beyond Earth," exhibition at the museum in Washingon, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009. Moving Beyond Earth is an immersive exhibition that places visitors "in orbit" in the shuttle and space-station era to explore recent human spaceflight and future possibilities.

Artemis I Launch Director and Plaque Award Ceremony. Artemis team members gather around Firing Room 1 of the Launch Control Center at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 24, 2023 for the inaugural Artemis Launch Director Awards. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I launched successfully from Kennedys Launch Pad 39B at 1:47 a.m. EST on Nov. 16, 2022.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry receives a commemorative medallion from National Science Foundation Polar Programs Division Director Dr. Kelly Falkner on November 11, 2016, before the Secretary addressed scientists and support staff at McMurdo Station in Antarctica, following a helicopter tour of U.S. research facilities around Ross Island and the Ross Sea in an effort to learn about the effects of climate change on the Continent.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, External Relations Director Lisa Malone speaks to an audience in Kennedy's Visitor Complex about the Ambassador of Exploration Award being given to Al Worden, an Apollo astronaut. Worden is being honored for his contributions to the U.S. space program. The award, to be displayed at Kennedy, is a moon rock encased in Lucite, mounted for public display. Worden served as command module pilot for the Apollo 15 mission, which set several moon records for NASA, including the longest lunar surface stay time, the longest lunar extravehicular activity and the first use of a lunar roving vehicle. Worden spent 38 minutes in a spacewalk outside the command module and logged a total of 295 hours, 11 minutes in space during the mission. NASA is giving the Ambassador of Exploration Award to the first generation of explorers in the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space programs for realizing America's goal of going to the moon. The rock is p

NASA astronaut Ricky Arnold answers questions from the audience after speaking about his time onboard the International Space Station, Thursday, May 2, 2019 at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. During Arnolds 197 days onboard the International Space Station, as part of Expeditions 55 and 56, he ventured outside the space station on three spacewalks in addition to conducting numerous experiments and educational downlink events.

Panelists, from left, Jim Green, director, Planetary Science Division, NASA Headquarters, Washington, Carey Lisse, senior astrophysicist, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland, Kelly Fast, program scientist, Planetary Science Division, NASA Headquarters, Washington, and Padma Yanamandra-Fisher, senior research scientist, Space Science Institute, Rancho Cucamonga Branch, California, are seen during a media briefing where they outlined how space and Earth-based assets will be used to image and study comet Siding Spring during its Sunday, Oct. 19 flyby of Mars, Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. (

Nuclear Emerging Technologies for Space, NETS 2022 Conference

NASAs SpaceX Crew-4 Employee Engagement Event. NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins, left, Robert Hines, center, and Kjell Lindgren, right, speak about their time onboard the International Space Station during an employee engagement event, Tuesday, March 28, 2023, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. Lindgren, Hines, and Watkins spent 170 days in space as part of Expeditions 67 and 68 aboard the International Space Station.

During an Astronauts Memorial Foundation tribute honoring U.S. Air Foce Maj. Robert Lawrence, photographs are projected during a video presentation. Selected in 1967 for the Manned Orbiting Laboratory Program, Lawrence was the first African-American astronaut. He lost his life in a training accident 50 years ago. The ceremony took place in the Center for Space Education at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Employees fill the Training Auditorium for the kickoff presentation for Spaceport Super Safety and Health Day. Along with Center Director Jim Kennedy, guest speakers were Brig. Gen. J. Gregory Pavlovich, 45th Space Wing, Maj. Gen. Kevin Chilton, and Capt. Charles Plumb (USNR retired), who spoke about his experiences in the Navy and as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. Spaceport Super Safety and Health Day is an annual event at KSC and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station dedicated to reinforcing safe and healthful behaviors in the workforce. Safety Awards were also given to individuals and groups.

NASA Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana, far right, serves as moderator for the Apollo Heroes Panel Discussion” in the IMAX Theater at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida on July 16, 2019. Panelists are, from left, JoAnn Morgan, the only woman on console in the Launch Control Center for Apollo 11 launch countdown activities; Bob Sieck, Apollo-era launch team member and former space shuttle launch director; and Harrison Schmitt, Apollo 17 astronaut and moonwalker. The panel discussion is one of several events at the visitor complex to honor the 50th anniversary of NASA’s Saturn V/Apollo 11 launch and landing on the Moon.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - A science briefing on the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) missions is held for the media at Kennedy Space Center. From left, the participants are Donald Savage, NASA Public Information Officer; Dr. Ed Weiler, Associate Administrator for Space Science, NASA Headquarters; Dr. Jim Garvin, Mars lead scientist, NASA Headquarters; Dr. Cathy Weitz, MER program scientist, NASA Headquarters; Dr. Joy Crisp, MER project scientist, Jet Propulsion Laboratory; and Dr. Steve Squyres, Mer principal investigator, Cornell Univeristy, Ithaca, N.Y. NASA's twin Mars Exploration Rovers are designed to study the history of water on Mars. These robotic geologists are equipped with a robotic arm, a drilling tool, three spectrometers, and four pairs of cameras that allow them to have a human-like, 3D view of the terrain. Each rover could travel as far as 100 meters in one day to act as Mars scientists' eyes and hands, exploring an environment where humans are not yet able to go. MER

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine speaks at the "Future of Space" STEM event, Monday, April 29, 2019 at NASA Headquarters in Washington, where college students were able to ask panelists, Bridenstine, NASA Associate Administrator for the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, Bill Gerstenmaier, and NASA Deputy Associate Administrator for Exploration, Steve Clarke, questions as well as speak with two astronauts currently on the International Space Station, Nick Hague and Christina Koch. NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson moderated the panel discussion.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crowd turns out for a ceremony renaming the refurbished Operations and Checkout Building for Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first person to set foot on the moon. The building's high bay is being used to support the agency's new Orion spacecraft and is the same spaceport facility where the Apollo 11 command/service module and lunar module were prepped for the first lunar landing mission in 1969. Orion is designed to take humans farther than theyve ever gone before, serving as the exploration vehicle that will carry astronauts to deep space and sustain the crew during travel to destinations such as an asteroid or Mars.The ceremony was part of NASA's 45th anniversary celebration of the Apollo 11 moon landing. As the world watched, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed in the moon's Sea of Tranquility on July 20, 1969, aboard the lunar module Eagle. Meanwhile, crewmate Michael Collins orbited above in the command

Artemis II Crew at GSFC. NASA Astronaut Christina Hammock Koch, right, speaks during an employee engagement event with fellow Artemis II crewmates CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, and NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman and Victor Glover, Friday, May 19, 2023, at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Wiseman, Glover, Hammock Koch, and Hansen, who will fly around the Moon on NASAs Artemis II flight test, visited Washington to discuss their upcoming mission with members of Congress and others.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine speaks with NASA and Canadian Space Agency astronaut candidates following a live episode of the Administrator's monthly chat show, Watch This Space, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018 in the Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters in Washington. NASA's newest astronaut candidate class has started their two years of training, after which the new astronaut candidates could be assigned to missions performing research on the International Space Station, launching from American soil on spacecraft built by commercial companies, and launching on deep space missions on NASAs new Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System rocket.

Panelists are seen during a media briefing to discuss the upcoming Orbiting Carbon Observatory mission, the first NASA spacecraft dedicated to studying carbon dioxide, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2009, at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

Post-landing Mars InSight press conference, Monday, Nov. 26, 2018 at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. InSight, short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, is a Mars lander designed to study the "inner space" of Mars: its crust, mantle, and core.

The European Service Module Structural Test Article (in the background) photographed at the Space Power Facility at NASA Glenn Research Center's Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio on Nov. 30, 2015. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.

Walter Alvarez professor in the Earth and Planetary Science department at the University of California, Berkeley, gives a presentation titled "Doing Geology by Looking Up; Doing Astronomy by Looking Down", Monday, Dec. 31, 2018 at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland.

AIAA students with Chris Scolese on July 24, 2018

Michoud Team Celebrates Orion Splashdown. Employees at NASAs Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans gather to watch the completion of NASAs Artemis I mission with the splashdown of the Orion spacecraft on Dec. 11. The team cheered as the capsule safely returned to Earth following its 25.5-day mission, which brought it further into deep space than any human-rated spacecraft has ever flown before.The Orion crew capsule as well as parts for the launch abort system and the core stage of the Space Launch System rocket were built at the Michoud Assembly Facility.Artemis I is the first in a series of increasingly complex missions to the Moon. With the Artemis missions, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the Moon. No other rocket is capable of carrying astronauts in Orion around the Moon in a single mission.Image credit: NASA/Michael DeMocker

NASA Public Affairs Officer for Heliophysics Karen Fox, left, interviews, Apollo 11 astronaut Mike Collins, and NASA astronaut candidate Zena Cardman during NASA’s Giant Leaps: Past and Future," a live television program on Friday, July 19, 2019 from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington. NASA and the world are recognizing the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11, in which astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin crewed the first mission to land astronauts on the Moon.

DATE: 3-24-11LOCATION: Bldg. 2N, Press Conf. RoomSUBJECT: STS-134 Press Conference

NASA Officials gather at Ames Research Center to discuss Spaceship development progress. Constellation is developing the Orion spacecraft and Ares rockets to support an American return to the moon by 2020.

Tom Neumann, ICESat-2 deputy project scientist, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, speaks to members of the news media and social media participants during a prelaunch mission briefing for NASA's Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2), a mission to measure the changing height of Earth's ice, on Sept. 13, 2018 at Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) in California. ICESat-2 will launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II, the rockets final mission, from Space Launch Complex 2 at VAFB. Launch is scheduled for 8:46 a.m. EDT (5:46 a.m. PDT).

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - Polar Max Conference

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Crew members of the STS-127 mission return to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to share stories, photos and videos of their experiences on the mission. Seen seated beneath the video screens are Mission Specialist Julie Payette, Commander Mark Polansky, Pilot Doug Hurley, and Mission Specialists Christopher Cassidy and Tom Marshburn. Not seen at far left is Mission Specialist Dave Wolf. The STS-127 mission was the final of three flights dedicated to the assembly of the Japanese Kibo laboratory complex on the International Space Station. The crew launched on space shuttle Endeavour on July 15 and returned July 31.

New Horizons team members and guests watch a live feed of the Mission Operations Center (MOC) as the team waits to receive confirmation from the spacecraft that it has completed the flyby of Ultima Thule, Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2019 at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland.

NASA Astronaut Kate Rubins participates in a Facebook Live, answering questions about her time onboard the International Space Station during Expeditions 48 and 49, Thursday, April 27, 2017 at Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Rubins became the first person to sequence DNA in space and completed her first mission when she landed in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan in October 2016.

A participant at a NASA Social on the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) mission asks NASA Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate John Grunsfeld a question, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2013 on Wallops Island, VA. Fifty of NASA's social media followers are attending a two-day event in support of the LADEE launch. Data from LADEE will provide unprecedented information about the environment around the moon and give scientists a better understanding of other planetary bodies in our solar system and beyond. LADEE is scheduled to launch at 11:27 p.m. Friday, Sept. 6, from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility.

NASA Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana, far right, serves as moderator for the Apollo Heroes Panel Discussion” in the IMAX Theater at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida on July 16, 2019. Panelists are, from left, JoAnn Morgan, the only woman on console in the Launch Control Center for Apollo 11 launch countdown activities; Bob Sieck, Apollo-era launch team member and former space shuttle launch director; and Harrison Schmitt, Apollo 17 astronaut and moonwalker. The panel discussion is one of several events at the visitor complex to honor the 50th anniversary of NASA’s Saturn V/Apollo 11 launch and landing on the Moon.

Michael Freilich, Director of the Earth Science Division of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, speaks during an event celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the Explorer 1 mission and the discovery of Earth's radiation belts, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018, at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington. The first U.S. satellite, Explorer 1, was launched from Cape Canaveral on January 31, 1958. The 30-pound satellite would yield a major scientific discovery, the Van Allen radiation belts circling our planet, and begin six decades of groundbreaking space science and human exploration. (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

NASA astronaut Ricky Arnold speaks to students in the Science, Discovery and the Universe Scholars Program about his time onboard the International Space Station, Thursday, May 2, 2019 at the University of Maryland in College Park, Md. During Arnolds 197 days onboard the International Space Station, as part of Expeditions 55 and 56, he ventured outside the space station on three spacewalks in addition to conducting numerous experiments and educational downlink events.

NASA Kennedy Space Center's annual Honor Awards ceremony is underway inside the IMAX Theater at nearby Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida.

Kepler team members at press event and doing media interviews.

S69-40209 (27 July 1969) --- The crewmen of the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission go through their post flight debriefing session on Sunday, July 27, 1969. Left to right, are astronauts Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot; Michael Collins, command module pilot; and Neil A. Armstrong, commander. They are seated in the debriefing room of the Crew Reception Area of the Lunar Receiving Laboratory at the Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC). In the foreground are Donald K. Slayton (right), MSC Director of Flight Crew Operations; and Lloyd Reeder, training coordinator.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA Administrator Charles Bolden addresses the participants of a NASA Tweetup in a tent set up at NASA Kennedy Space Center's Press Site in Florida during prelaunch activities for the agencys Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) launch.Participants in the Tweetup are given the opportunity to listen to agency briefings, tour locations on the center normally off limits to visitors, and get a close-up view of Space Launch Complex-41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The tweeters will share their experiences with followers through the social networking site Twitter. The MSL mission will pioneer precision landing technology and a sky-crane touchdown to place a car-sized rover, Curiosity, near the foot of a mountain inside Gale Crater on Aug. 6, 2012. During a nearly two-year prime mission after landing, the rover will investigate whether the region has ever offered conditions favorable for microbial life, including the chemical ingredients for life.Liftoff of MSL aboa

JWST Stamp Issuance Ceremony. Speakers at the first-day-of-issue event for the United States Postal Services new stamp celebrating NASAs James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), autograph a piece of mail with the stamp on it, Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022, at the Smithsonians National Postal Museum in Washington. The stamp, which features an illustration of the observatory, honors Webbs mission to explore the unknown in our universe - solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the structures and origins of our universe and our place in it.

Jessica Deihl, an attorney at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center, left, Christine Pham, an attorney at NASA Headquarters, Bill Johnson, an attorney at NASAs Glenn Research Center, David Lopez, an attorney at NASA Headquarters, Brian Stanford an attorney at NASA Headquarters, and Lisette Washington an attorney at NASA Headquarters, are seen during a “The Moon/Mars Generation Lawyers: A Discussion of the Legal Framework Taking NASA Back to the Future” at the 70th International Astronautical Congress, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The news media ask space shuttle Discovery's STS-133 crew members questions during a post-landing news conference in the Press Site TV Auditorium at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. From left, are NASA Public Affairs Officer George Diller, STS-133 Commander Steve Lindsey, Pilot Eric Boe, and Mission Specialists Alvin Drew, Steve Bowen, Michael Barratt and Nicole Stott. Discovery and crew landed on the Shuttle Landing Facility's Runway 15 at 11:57 a.m., completing a 13-day, 5.3-million-mile mission to the International Space Station.STS-133 delivered the Permanent Multipurpose Module, packed with supplies and critical spare parts, as well as Robonaut 2, the dexterous humanoid astronaut helper, to the orbiting outpost. STS-133 was Discovery's 39th and final mission. This was the 133rd Space Shuttle Program mission and the 35th shuttle voyage to the space station.

Julie Wertz-Chen, Entry, Descent and Landing systems engineer, NASA JPL, talks about Mars InSight from the Mission Control Area during a pre-landing briefing, Sunday, Nov. 25, 2018 at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. InSight, short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, is a Mars lander designed to study the "inner space" of Mars: its crust, mantle, and core. InSight is scheduled to touch down on the Red Planet at approximately noon PST (3 p.m. EST) on Nov. 26.

Alex Mather, the student whose submission, Perseverance, was chosen as the official name of the Mars 2020 rover, second from right, answers a question from Lori Glaze, Director of the Planetary Science Division of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, second from left, Thursday, March 5, 2020, at Lake Braddock Secondary School in Burke, Va. The final selection of the new name was made by Associate Administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Thomas Zurbuchen, left, following a nationwide naming contest conducted in 2019 that drew more than 28,000 essays by K-12 students from every U.S. state and territory. Perseverance is currently at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida being prepared for launch this summer.

NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough calls on an audience member who has a question during a presentation about his time onboard the International Space Station (ISS) during Expeditions 49/50, Tuesday, September 12, 2017 at Arlington Career Center in Arlington, Virginia. During Expedition 50, Kimbrough completed four spacewalks for a total of 39 hours outside the ISS, and concluded his 173-day mission when he landed in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan in April 2017.

View of individuals in audience watching the International Space Station (ISS) on large screen.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At the newly remodeled Launch Control Center's Young-Crippen Firing Room at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, engineering directorate personnel demonstrate the recently added Space Command & Control System which will be used for launches of future human spaceflight vehicles.Known as Firing Room 1 in the Apollo era, it was re-named as a tribute to the Space Shuttle Program's first crewed mission, STS-1, which was flown by Commander John W. Young and Pilot Robert L. Crippen in April 1981.

jsc2019e039433 - At the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Expedition 60 crewmember Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency signs a wall mural July 16 as part of pre-launch preparations. Parmitano, Drew Morgan of NASA and Alexander Skvortsov of Roscosmos will launch July 20 on the Soyuz MS-13 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome for a mission on the International Space Station...Andrey Shelepin/GCTC.

Photo taken during the STS-118 Crew Debriefing and Awards Presentation in Space Center Houston, Grumman Theatre. View is taken from behind audience of the large screen at the front of the theatre during the presentation.

VANDENBERG AFB, Calif. -- NASA social media followers at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., listen to speakers describing the agency's Landsat Data Continuity Mission, or LDCM, satellite. The Landsat Data Continuity Mission LDCM 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. Liftoff is planned for Feb. 11, 2013 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.

In the Press Site auditorium at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, members of the media participate in a news conference with key individuals from the upcoming motion picture "Hidden Figures." From the left are: Ted Melfi, writer and director of Hidden Figures”; Octavia Spencer, who portrays Dorothy Vaughan; Taraji P. Henson, who portrays Katherine Johnson in the film; Janelle Monáe, who portrays Mary Jackson; Pharrell Williams, musician and producer of Hidden Figures"; and Bill Barry, NASA's chief historian. The movie is based on the book of the same title, by Margot Lee Shetterly. It chronicles the lives of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson, three African-American women who worked for NASA as human "computers.” Their mathematical calculations were crucial to the success of Project Mercury missions including John Glenn’s orbital flight aboard Friendship 7 in 1962. The film is due in theaters in January 2017.

JSC2002-00723 (29 March 2002) --- The STS-111 crewmembers and the Expedition Five crewmembers share a joint planning session in the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility at Johnson Space Center (JSC). Seated on the right side of the conference table are cosmonaut Valeri G. Korzun (foreground), Expedition Five mission commander, astronauts Franklin R. Chang-Diaz, STS-111 mission specialist, Paul S. Lockhart, STS-111 pilot, Kenneth D. Cockrell, STS-111 mission commander, and Peggy A. Whitson, Expedition Five flight engineer. Seated on the left side of the conference table are cosmonaut Sergei Y. Treschev (foreground), Expedition Five flight engineer, and astronaut Philippe Perrin (far end), STS-111 mission specialist. Korzun and Treschev represent Rosaviakosmos and Perrin represents CNES, the French Space Agency.

Dr. Humberto Campins from the University of Central Florida speaks to Kennedy Space Center employees in the Florida spaceports Neil Armstrong O&C Mission Briefing Room on April 16, 2019, to give a status update on NASAs Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx). The first U.S. mission to sample an asteroid, OSIRIS-REx launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Sept. 8, 2016 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. Management of the launch service for OSIRIS-REx was the responsibility of NASAs Launch Services Program, based at Kennedy.

During a prelaunch briefing at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, Annick Sylvestre-Baron, Deputy Project Manager for InSight Seismometer Investigation at CNES, speaks to members of the media. The presentation focused on NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, or InSight, Mars lander. InSight is scheduled for liftoff May 5, 2018, atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 3 at Vandenberg. The spacecraft will be the first mission to look deep beneath the Martian surface studying the planet's interior by measuring its heat output and listen for marsquakes.

Tech Talk on Extreme Rovers Unveiling the latest findings of Robotic Exploration of Extreme Environments shown in the Immersve Theater NASA Ames Exploration Center Bldg 943A Dr Chris McKay of Ames offers open discussion about rovers in the exporation of Earth, the Moon and Mars.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A crowd gathers in front of the Space Mirror Memorial at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida to honor space shuttle Challenger's STS-51L crew members who gave their lives for while furthering the cause of exploration and discovery. 2011 marks the 25th anniversary of the loss of Challenger, which broke apart over the Atlantic Ocean 73 seconds into flight on Jan. 28, 1986.

Al Feinberg from NASA Television, interviews a guest at the NASA Tweetup event held at NASA Headquarters, July 21, 2009 in Washington. Nearly 200 of NASAs Twitter followers are in attendance, which features a presentation and a question and answer session with the crew of the STS-125 shuttle mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, about 150 followers of the agencys Twitter account listen to presentations about NASAs Juno mission to Jupiter during Tweetup activities inside a tent at the Press Site. The tweeters are at the center for two days of Juno prelaunch activities. Juno is NASAs mission to Jupiter to study the giant planet and improve our understanding of the planets formation and evolution. The tweeters will share their experiences with followers through the social networking site Twitter.Attendees represent 28 states, the District of Columbia and five other countries: Canada, Finland, Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom. This is the first time NASA has invited Twitter followers to experience the launch of a planetary spacecraft. The Juno spacecraft is scheduled to launch on an Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, Aug. 5, at 11:34 a.m. EDT.

Members of the media and social media participants attended the NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, or InSight, prelaunch briefing at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The presentation focused on InSight Mars lander. InSight is scheduled for liftoff May 5, 2018, atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 3 at Vandenberg. The spacecraft will be the first mission to look deep beneath the Martian surface studying the planet's interior by measuring its heat output and listen for marsquakes.

Aerospace pioneers who worked on the launch of Explorer 1 participate in a panel discussion with NASA Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana, at far left, at the center's Training Auditorium on Wednesday, May 9, 2018. Panelists, from left are William "Curly" Chandler, firing room engineer; Lionel (Ed) Fannin, mechanical and propulsion systems; Terry Greenfield, blockhouse engineer; Carl Jones, measuring branch engineer; and Ike Rigell, electrical networks systems chief. Explorer 1 was the first satellite launched by the U.S. It was launched by the Army Ballistic Missile Agency on Jan. 31, 1958 on a Juno I rocket from Launch Complex-26.

Artemis I Pre-Test Briefing. Artemis launch director, Charlie Blackwell-Thompson is seen at the launch pre-test briefing Nov. 12, 2022, at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the Artemis I mission. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration and demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human presence to the Moon and beyond. The primary goal of Artemis I is to thoroughly test the integrated systems before crewed missions by operating the spacecraft in a deep space environment, testing Orions heat shield, and recovering the crew module after reentry, descent, and splashdown.

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum curator Jennifer Levasseu speaks with NASA astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor about her time onboard the International Space Station during "What's New in Aerospace" Friday, June 14, 2019 the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. Auñón-Chancellor spent 197 days living and working onboard the orbital laboratory as part of Expeditions 56 and 57, contributing to hundreds of experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science, and Earth science while there. She began her career at NASA as a flight surgeon before being selected as an astronaut in 2009.

Artemis Departure Media Event

Date: 12-18-13Location: Bldg 2, Press Conf.Subject: NASA's press conference to discuss spacewalk repairs to the ISS cooling system. Briefing participants include Michael Suffredini, ISS program manager, Dina Contella, ISS flight director, Allison Bolinger, lead spacewalk officer

Amy Ross, a spacesuit engineer at NASAs Johnson Space Center, is seen with Kristine Davis, a spacesuit engineer at NASAs Johnson Space Center, wearing a ground prototype of NASAs new Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU), during a demonstration of the suit, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The xEMU suit improves on the suits previous worn on the Moon during the Apollo era and those currently in use for spacewalks outside the International Space Station and will be worn by first woman and next man as they explore the Moon as part of the agencys Artemis program.

NASA Scientist Michelle Thaller and Tom Wagner, ICESat-2 Program Scientist, NASA Headquarters are seen during a NASA Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) prelaunch briefing, Thursday, Sept. 13, 2018, at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The ICESat-2 mission will measure the changing height of Earth's ice.

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

NASA astronaut Victor Glover talks with school students in person and via live stream during an educational event, Thursday, April 28, 2022, at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington. Glover most recently served as pilot and second-in-command on the Crew-1 SpaceX Crew Dragon, named Resilience, which landed after a long duration mission aboard the International Space Station, May 2, 2021.

Perseverance Mars rover mission managers and scientist give remarks during a NASA Perseverance rover press briefing about the search for ancient life at Mars and about samples to be brought back to Earth on a future mission, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021, at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The Perseverance Mars rover is due to land on Mars Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021. A key objective for Perseverances mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planets geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith.

Richard Fisher, Heliophysics Division Director at NASA Headquarters, left, speaks during a briefing to discuss the upcoming launch of NASA's Solar Dynamic Observatory, or SDO, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010, as Madhulika Guhathakurta, SDO Program Scientist looks on at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The mission is to study the Sun and its dynamic behavior.

NASA, Lockheed Martin, and United Launch Alliance team speaks to a full house at the "Pass the Torch" event at US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama on March 18, 2015. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.

Mrs. Lalitha Chandrasekhar (at podium), wife of the late Indian-American Nobel Laureate Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, addresses the media and other invited guests in the TRW Media Hospitality Tent at the NASA Press Site at KSC. Other participants in the program (seated facing the audience, left to right) are the winners of the contest to rename the telescope, Jatila van der Veen, academic coordinator and lecturer, Physics Dept., University of Santa Barbara, Calif., and Tyrel Johnson, high school student, Laclede, Idaho; Joanne Maguire, vice-president and general manager, TRW Space & Laser Programs Division; and Dr. Alan Bunner, Science Program Director, Structure and Evolution of the Universe, Office of Space Science, NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. The name "Chandra," a shortened version of Chandrasekhar, was the name the Nobel Laureate preferred among friends and colleagues. "Chandra" also means "Moon" or "luminous" in Sanskrit. The observatory is scheduled to be launched aboard Co

Anefo photo collection. "Busettes" of the reactor center to grant Petten. Many use was made of the microphone in the room. October 28, 1969. Petten

NASA astronaut Joe Acaba answers questions at a behind-the-scenes NASA Social at NASA Headquarters on Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2012 in Washington. Acaba launched to the International Space Station on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft May 15, 2012, spending 123 days aboard as a flight engineer of the Expedition 31 and 32 crews. He recently returned to Earth on Sept. 17 after four months in low earth orbit.

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