NASA Rocket Assembly and Processing

Images depict various stages of NASA rocket assembly at Kennedy Space Center, showcasing solid rocket boosters, tanks, and technicians in a high-tech environment.

SPACE X MMRTG Offload and Lift for Insertion

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Vehicle Assembly Building's High Bay 4 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane lifts the Ares I-X Super Stack 4 into the upper levels for transfer to High Bay 3 where it will be integrated with Super Stack 3. On the floor below, at left, can be seen the crew module-launch abort system and simulator service module-service adapter stack. Five super stacks make up the upper stage that will be integrated with the four-segment solid rocket booster first stage on the mobile launch platform. 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. The Ares I-X flight test is targeted for Oct. 31, pending formal NASA Headquarters approval.

S65-43446 (25 June 1965) --- The Gemini-5 spacecraft is hoisted to the top of the gantry at Pad 19 to be mated with the Gemini Launch Vehicle 5.

. U.S. Air Force Corrosion Control Facility nears the end of stencils and painting of NASA 862, which is an F/A-18D based at NASAs Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. The corrosion control facility is located on Edwards Air Force Base and is also known as the Paint Barn.

The Soyuz rocket and Soyuz TMA-12M spacecraft are assembled at Building 112 on the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Saturday, March 22, 2014 in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Launch of the Soyuz is scheduled for March 26 and will send Expedition 39 Soyuz Commander Alexander Skvortsov of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, Flight Engineer Steven Swanson of NASA, and Flight Engineer Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos on a six month mission to the International Space Station.

The S-IC-T stage was hoisted into the S-IC static test stand at the Marshall Space Flight Center. The S-IC-T stage was a static test vehicle not intended for flight. It was ground tested repeatedly over a period of many months to prove the vehicle's propulsion system. The 280,000-pound stage, 138 feet long and 33 feet in diameter, housed the fuel and liquid oxygen tanks that held a total of 4,400,000 pounds of liquid oxygen and kerosene. The two tanks are cornected by a 26-foot-long intertank section. Other parts of the booster included the forward skirt and the thrust structure, on which the engines were to be mounted. Five F-1 engines, each weighing 10 tons, gave the booster a total thrust of 7,500,000 pounds, roughly equivalent to 160 million horsepower.

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

The Soyuz rocket and Soyuz TMA-12M spacecraft are assembled at Building 112 on the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Saturday, March 22, 2014 in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Launch of the Soyuz is scheduled for March 26 and will send Expedition 39 Soyuz Commander Alexander Skvortsov of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, Flight Engineer Steven Swanson of NASA, and Flight Engineer Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos on a six month mission to the International Space Station.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - International Space Station elements being processed for launch on upcoming Space Shuttle flights, including the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) pressurized module, line the walls of the high bay in the Space Station Processing Facility. The JEM pressurized module, named "Kibo" (Hope), arrived at KSC on June 4. It is Japan's primary contribution to the Station.

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

Stennis Space Center employees marked another construction milestone July 25 with installation of the 85,000-gallon liquid hydrogen tank atop the A-3 Test Stand. The 300-foot-tall stand is being built to test next-generation rocket engines that could carry humans into deep space once more. The liquid hydrogen tank and a 35,000-gallon liquid oxygen tank installed atop the steel structure earlier in June will provide fuel propellants for testing the engines.

A crane lifts a solid rocket booster on Launch Pad 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, where it will be mated with a Delta 7925 rocket for launch April 7, 2001. The rocket will carry the 2001 Mars Odyssey Orbiter, containing three science instruments: THEMIS, the Gamma Ray Spectrometer (GRS), and the Mars Radiation Environment Experiment (MARIE). THEMIS will map the mineralogy and morphology of the Martian surface using a high-resolution camera and a thermal infrared imaging spectrometer. The GRS will achieve global mapping of the elemental composition of the surface and determine the abundance of hydrogen in the shallow subsurface. The MARIE will characterize aspects of the near-space radiation environment with regards to the radiation-related risk to human explorers

in factory industrial containers closeup. industrial tanks closeup view from below. factory for the production of pet plastic granules. plant of PET granules

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the early morning at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, preparations are underway to lift the final large steel beam for installation on the base of the Mobile Launcher, or ML, at the Mobile Launcher Park Site. The ML is being modified and strengthened to accommodate the weight, size and thrust at launch of NASA's Space Launch System, or SLS, and Orion spacecraft.In 2013, the agency awarded a contract to J.P. Donovan Construction Inc. of Rockledge, Fla., to modify the ML, which is one of the key elements of ground support equipment that is being upgraded by the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program at Kennedy. The existing 24-foot exhaust hole is being enlarged and strengthened for the larger, heavier SLS rocket. The ML will carry the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft to Launch Pad 39B for its first uncrewed mission, Exploration Mission-1, in 2018.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a space shuttle main engine secured on a Hyster forklift enters Orbiter Processing Facility-3. Three main engines, weighing 7,000 pounds each, will be installed in space shuttle Discovery for the STS-133 mission to the International Space Station. Engines are inspected and maintained in the nearby Space Shuttle Main Engine Processing Facility before installation. Discovery and its STS-133 crew are targeted to deliver the Express Logistics Carrier-4 filled with external payloads and experiments, as well as critical spare components to the station later this year.

Engineers at the Marshall Space Flight Center install the F-1 engines on the S-IC stage thrust structure at the S-IC static test stand. Engines are installed on the stage after it has been placed in the test stand. Five F-1 engines, each weighing 10 tons, gave the booster a total thrust of 7,500,000 pounds, roughly equivalent to 160 million horsepower.

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

The first and second stages of a Scout rocket are assembled by technicians in Building 960. Base: Vandenberg Air Force Base State: California (CA) Country: United States Of America (USA)

A rocket engine test stand at NASA's Stennis Space Center, Stennis Space Center, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, United States, North America

jsc2018e025514 - In the Integration Facility at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Soyuz MS-08 spacecraft is encapsulated into the upper stage of a Soyuz booster rocket March 14. Expedition 55 crewmembers Drew Feustel and Ricky Arnold of NASA and Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos will launch in the Soyuz March 21 for a five-month mission on the International Space Station...NASA/Victor Zelentsov.

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

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Workers prepare to offload external tank 134 from the Pegasus barge docked in the turn basin near the Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Pegasus arrived in Florida after an ocean voyage towed by a solid rocket booster retrieval ship from NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility near New Orleans. After Pegasus docks in the turn basin, the fuel tank will be offloaded and transported into the VAB.ET-134 will be used to launch space shuttle Endeavour on the STS-130 mission to the International Space Station. Launch is targeted for Feb. 4, 2010.

A850775 U12N DIAMOND BEECH FAC H.E. WRAP & ASSEMBLY HAROLD WALLING (Project Engineer) MAY 1 85 EG&G/NTS PHOTO LAB Publication Date: 5/1/1985 DIAMOND BEECH; EDGERTON, GERMESHAUSEN & GRIER; EG&G; EQUIPMENT; EQUIPMENT & INSTRUMENTS; FAC H. E.; FAST ACTION CLOSURE; HIGH-ENERGY; INSTRUMENTS & EQUIPMENT; INSTRUMENTS AND EQUIPMENT; MALE; MALES; MEN; MEN (ADD MALE MODIFIER); N-TUNNEL; NEVADA; NEVADA TEST SITE; NTS; NUCLEAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGY; TEST SITES; TUNNELS; UGT; UNDERGROUND TESTING; WEAPONS EFFECTS; WRAP & ASSEMBLY; FAC H.E. WRAP & ASSEMBLY historical images. 1972 - 2012. Department of Energy. National Nuclear Security Administration. Photographs Related to Nuclear Weapons Testing at the Nevada Test Site.

Preparations are underway to move the Space Launch System Core Stage pathfinder to the north end of the transfer aisle inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 3, 2019. A cover, called a spider, in view at the far end of the transfer aisle, will be attached to the top of the pathfinder. With the spider secured in place, a crane will be attached to it to lift the pathfinder into the vertical position. The 212-foot-long core stage pathfinder arrived in NASA's Pegasus Barge at Kennedys Launch Complex 39 turn basin wharf on Sept. 27, 2019. The Pegasus Barge made its first delivery to Kennedy in support of the agency's Artemis missions. The upgraded 310-foot-long barge arrived, ferrying the SLS core stage pathfinder, a full-scale mock-up of the rocket's core stage. It will be used by Exploration Ground Systems and its contractor, Jacobs, to practice offloading, moving and stacking maneuvers, using important ground support equipment to train emp

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, external tank number 119 is lowered onto a transporter where technicians will reapply the thermal protection system foam that was removed in order to replace the tank's four liquid hydrogen engine cutoff sensors. The tank is being prepared to launch Space Shuttle Discovery on mission STS-121 in July.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Inside NASA Kennedy Space Centers Vehicle Assembly Building, External Tank 119 is lowered onto a transporter in the transfer aisle to be moved to the barge at the Turn Basin. The tank will embark on a voyage around the Florida peninsula to the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. Delivered to KSC in June, ET-119 is the third newly redesigned tank.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, External Tank-138 is being towed through the massive doors into the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building. The external fuel tank arrived in Florida on July 13, from NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility near New Orleans. ET-138, the last newly manufactured tank, was originally designated to fly on Endeavour's STS-134 mission to the International Space Station, but later reassigned to fly on space shuttle Atlantis' final mission, STS-135.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Inside the Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne engine shop at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, two of three completed replica shuttle main engines (RSMEs) sit on stands. The RSMEs were created for space shuttle Discovery.The replica engines will be transported from the engine shop to the processing facility for installation on Discovery in January 2012. The work is part of the Space Shuttle Programs transition and retirement processing of shuttle Discovery. Discovery is being prepared for display at the Smithsonians National Air and Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A replica shuttle main engine (RSME) rolls out of the Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne engine shop at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida toward Orbiter Processing Facility-1 where it will be installed on space shuttle Discovery. In the background is the 525-foot-tall Vehicle Assembly Building.The RSME is one of three that will be installed on Discovery during Space Shuttle Program transition and retirement activities. Discovery is being prepared for display at the Smithsonians National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va.

The Soyuz rocket and Soyuz TMA-16M spacecraft are assembled at Building 112 on the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Tuesday, March 24, 2015 in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. 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.

Cranes and rigging are being used to lift up the Core Stage Forward Skirt Umbilical (CSFSU) 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 (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft for Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1). The CSFSU will be located at about the 180-foot level on the tower, above the liquid oxygen tank. The CSFSU is an umbilical that will swing into position to provide connections to the core stage forward skirt of the SLS rocket, and then swing away before launch. Its main purpose is to provide conditioned air/GN2 to the SLS core stage forward skirt cavity. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing installation of the umbilicals.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --As the sun rises over Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, United Launch Alliance technicians prepare to raise one of three Delta II solid rocket motors on the pad at Space Launch Complex-2 West (SLC-2W). Scheduled to launch in June, the Delta II rocket will carry NASA's Aquarius satellite into low Earth orbit.Aquarius' mission will be to provide monthly maps of global changes in sea surface salinity. By measuring ocean salinity from space, Aquarius will provide new insights into how the massive natural exchange of freshwater between the ocean, atmosphere and sea ice influences ocean circulation, weather and climate. Also going up with the satellite are optical and thermal cameras, a microwave radiometer and the SAC-D spacecraft, which were developed with the help of institutions in Italy, France, Canada and Argentina.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility, or C3PF, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida is going through major renovations to support the manufacturing of The Boeing Company's CST-100 spacecraft. Known throughout the space shuttle era as Orbiter Processing Facilty-3, or OPF-3, the facility's orbiter-specific platforms were removed recently to make room for a clean-floor factory-like facility. The modernization will allow Boeing to process its new fleet of low-Earth-orbit bound spacecraft, which is under development in collaboration with NASA's Commercial Crew Program, or CCP. Boeing is leasing the excess government facility for next-generation commercial activities through a land-use agreement with Space Florida.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, a crane is used to hoist up a solid rocket motor for the United Launch Alliance Delta II that will carry NASA's National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project (NPP) satellite into space at NASA's Space Launch Complex-2. NPP represents a critical first step in building the next-generation of Earth-observing satellites. NPP will carry the first of the new sensors developed for this satellite fleet, now known as the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) to be launched in 2016. NPP is the bridge between NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) satellites and the forthcoming series of JPSS satellites. The mission will test key technologies and instruments for the JPSS missions. NPP is targeted to launch Oct. 25.

An MX Pathfinder missile undergoes assembly. Base: Vandenberg Air Force Base State: California (CA) Country: United States Of America (USA)

Space Shuttle Atlantis, atop the mobile launcher platform, rolls back to high bay 1 of the Vehicle Assembly Building in order to evaluate the damage received after a severe thunderstorm.

EXPLORATION - Pad 39B Deconstruction

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Vehicle Assembly Building's High Bay 1 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers are doing "pull plug testing" on foam adhesion from the intertank of space shuttle Discovery's external tank. At right is David Buras, a Material and Process engineer from NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility near New Orleans where the fuel tanks are built. They are collecting 26 foam samples an inch-and-half in diameter for analysis to confirm the foam is bonded well to the metal primer underneath. The testing was prompted by the foam loss during launch of space shuttle Endeavour on the STS-127 mission July 15. Samples are being sent to Michoud for study.

This photograph shows a test firing of the the Saturn V S-II (second) stage at the Mississippi Test Facility's (MTF) S-II test stand. When the Saturn V booster stage (S-IC) burns out and drops away, power for the Saturn will be provided by the 82-foot-long and 33-foot-diameter S-II stage. Developed by the Space Division of North American Aviation under the direction of the Marshall Space Flight Center, the stage utilized five J-2 engines, each producing 200,000 pounds of thrust. The engines used liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen as propellants. Static test of ground test versions of the S-II stage were conducted at North American Aviation's Santa Susana, California test site. All flight stages were tested at the Mississippi Test Facility, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. MTF was renamed to the National Space Technology Laboratory (NSTL) in 1974 and later to the Sternis Space Center in May 1988.

Rope access worker pressure washing Seattle's Space Needle.

1960S Preparing Gemini Rocket For Launch Cape Canaveral Florida

The Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft is transported by railcar to its launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Friday, Oct. 10, 2008. Expedition 18 Commander Michael Fincke, Flight Engineer Yuri V. Lonchakov and American spaceflight participant Richard Garriott will launch October 12 and dock with the International Space Station October 14. Fincke and Lonchakov will spend six months on the station, while Garriott will return to Earth after 10 days with the Expedition 17 crew members currently on the ISS.

A worker in the Payload Changeout Room of Launch Pad 39A makes a final check on the Integrated Truss Structure Z1 waiting to be moved into the payload bay of Discovery. The Z1 is the first of 10 trusses to be installed on the International Space Station. The truss will allow the first U.S. solar arrays on flight 4A, scheduled for Nov. 30, to be temporarily installed on Unity for early power. Space Shuttle Discovery is scheduled for launch on Oct. 5 at 9:38 p.m. EDT. It will be the 100th flight in the Shuttle program

Engineers at the Baikonur Cosmodrome In Kazakhstan work on the aft end of the booster rocket after mating it with the Soyuz TMA-4 capsule in preparation for a launch on April 19 of the Expedition 9 crew and a European astronaut to the International Space Station, Friday, April 16, 2004 in Baikonur, Kazakhstan.

PA084 SOLAR THERMAL PROPULSION BLDG 4590 STROFIO THERMAL BALANCE TEST. OVERALL VIEW

A wet flow test at Launch Pad 39B on September 13, 2019, tests the sound suppression system that will be used for launch of NASAs Space Launch System for the Artemis I mission. During the test, about 450,000 gallons of water poured onto the Pad B flame deflector, the mobile launcher flame hole and onto the launchers blast deck. This was the first time the ground launch sequencer that will be used on the day of launch was used for the timing of a sound suppression test.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - The Delta first-stage booster for NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 mission, or OCO-2, is lifted from its transportation trailer in the Building 836 hangar at Space Launch Complex 2 on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. OCO-2 is scheduled to launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket in July. The observatory will collect precise global measurements of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere and provide scientists with a better idea of the chemical compound's impacts on climate change. Scientists will analyze this data to improve our understanding of the natural processes and human activities that regulate the abundance and distribution of this important atmospheric gas.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The crawler transporter slowly moves the Mobile Launcher Platform (MLP), carrying a set of twin solid rocket boosters, out of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) in support of engineering analysis vibration tests on the crawler and 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 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.

A860702 GENERAL TEST F&S OPERATIONS DOUGLAS MAY 13 86 EG&G/NTS PHOTO LAB Publication Date: 5/13/1986 BAYS; EDGERTON, GERMESHAUSEN & GRIER; EG&G; EQUIPMENT; EQUIPMENT & FACILITIES; EQUIPMENT & INSTRUMENTS; F&S; F&S OPERATIONS; FLOOD LIGHTING; HEAVY EQUIPMENT; HOOKS; LARGE MACHINES; MACHINERY; NEVADA; NEVADA TEST SITE; NTS; NUCLEAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGY; NUCLEAR TESTING; PULLEYS; ROOMS & BUILDING AREAS; TEST SITES; UGT; UNDERGROUND TESTING; GENERAL TEST historical images. 1972 - 2012. Department of Energy. National Nuclear Security Administration. Photographs Related to Nuclear Weapons Testing at the Nevada Test Site.

Foz do Iguacu, Brazil, july 10, 2016: View of the Itaipu dam giant penstocks, located on river Parana on the border of Brazil and Paraguay, South America

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- On Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians prepare to work inside the intertank of space shuttle Discovery's external fuel tank. Seen here are step pads that will be temporarily installed in the intertank. The intertank is unpressurized and holds most of the tank's electrical components. It sits between the liquid hydrogen tank and liquid oxygen tank. Technicians will be working inside the intertank to further analyze two cracks that were found on the tanks metal exterior. The foam cracked during initial loading operations for space shuttle Discoverys launch attempt on Nov. 5. The cracks are on one of the stringers, which are the composite aluminum ribs located vertically on the intertank area. Discovery's next launch attempt is no earlier than Nov. 30 at 4:02 a.m. EST.

Workers gather at the pad in preparation for the raising of the Soyuz TMA-13M spacecraft into the vertical position on Monday, May 26, 2014, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Launch of the Soyuz rocket is scheduled for May 29 and will send Expedition 40 Soyuz Commander Maxim Suraev, of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, Flight Engineer Alexander Gerst, of the European Space Agency, ESA, and Flight Engineer Reid Wiseman of NASA on a five and a half month mission aboard the International Space Station.

Engineers at the Baikonur Cosmodrome prepare to mate the Soyuz TMA-4 capsule with its booster rocket in preparation for a launch on April 19 of the Expedition 9 crew and a European astronaut to the International Space Station, Friday, April 16, 2004 in Baikonur, Kazakhstan.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. --- External tank No. 128 rests inside the Vehicle Assembly Building after its journey from the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans aboard the Pegasus barge. The tank will be raised to vertical, lifted and moved into a checkout cell. The tank is scheduled for space shuttle Discovery's STS-124 mission. On the STS-124 mission, Discovery will transport the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module - Pressurized Module and the Japanese Remote Manipulator System to the International Space Station. Discovery is targeted for launch on May 25.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility, workers prepare to attach an overhead crane to the radiator assembly that just arrived. The radiator is part of the payload on mission STS-113, which also includes the first port truss segment, P1 Truss, to be attached to the central truss segment, S0 Truss, on the International Space Station. Once delivered, the will remain stowed until flight 12A.1. STS-113 is scheduled to launch Oct. 6, 2002

Stennis Space Center employees install the J-2X powerpack Dec. 5 in preparation for testing of the component, beginning in early 2012. The J-2X rocket engine is being developed as part of NASA's new Space Launch System.

ARIANE V FAIRING BEING PREPARED FOR TESTING

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers monitor the progress of external fuel tank, ET-138, for space shuttle Atlantis' STS-135 mission, as it is lifted from its test cell for transfer to high bay-1 for joining with the twin solid rocket boosters on the mobile launcher platform. Shuttle Atlantis' move, or "rollover," from Orbiter Processing Facility-1 to the VAB is targeted for May 10. Once there it will be mated with the external tank and boosters. Atlantis and its crew of four will deliver the Raffaello multipurpose logistics module packed with supplies and spare parts to the International Space Station. STS-135 is targeted to launch June 28, and will be the last spaceflight for the Space Shuttle Program.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Vehicle Assembly Building, external tank No. 117 is waiting to be raised off its transporter in order to lift it to a vertical position. Once vertical, the tank will be lifted into the checkout cell in high bay 2 for processing. ET-117 arrived aboard the Pegasus barge after its voyage around the Florida Peninsula from the Michoud Assembly Facility near New Orleans. The tank is slated for mission STS-118, which is targeted for launch in early August.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - At Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, workers supervise the first stage of the United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket for launch of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, as it is lowered onto pedestal's in the pad's mobile service tower.WISE will survey the entire sky at infrared wavelengths, creating a cosmic clearinghouse of hundreds of millions of objects which will be catalogued and provide a vast storehouse of knowledge about the solar system, the Milky Way, and the universe. Launch is scheduled for Dec. 7. For additional information, visit http://wise.ssl.berkeley.edu.

Space Launch System Corestage-2 Forward Skirt is prepped to recieve spray-on foam insulation(SOFI) at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- In the Astrotech payload processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, workers secure an overhead crane to NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory, or OCO. The spacecraft will be moved to a transporter for the trip to Launch Complex 576-E. An umbilical line (left) has been attached. OCO 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. OCO is scheduled to launch Feb. 24 aboard an Orbital Sciences' Taurus XL rocket.

S95-10529 (3 May 1995) --- Inside the cavernous Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), workers carry out the meticulous process of lifting the Orbiter Discovery from a horizontal to a vertical position. Once upright, Discovery will be transferred into a high bay for mating with the external tank and solid rocket booster assembly already mounted on the mobile launcher platform. Completing the assembly process takes about five working days. Discoverys next destination is Launch Pad 39B, and final preparations for liftoff on mission STS-70 scheduled for June 1995.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, an overhead crane moves the Experiment Logistics Module Pressurized Section, or ELM-PS, of the Japanese Experiment Module, called Kibo, across the facility toward a payload canister at right for eventual transfer to Launch Pad 39A. The ELM-PS is the primary payload for space shuttle Endeavour's STS-123 mission, which is targeted for launch to the International Space Station on March 11.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Platforms surround the 327-foot tall Ares I-X rocket in NASA Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building. The rocket is stacked on the mobile launcher platform in High Bay 3. Five super stacks make up the upper stage that are integrated with the four-segment solid rocket booster first stage below. 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. The Ares I-X flight test is targeted for Oct. 31.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Crawler-transporter 1 continues its trek up the slope on the crawlerway leading up to Launch Pad 39A at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. New jacking, equalizing and leveling, or JEL, hydraulic cylinders were installed on CT-1 and are undergoing a leveling and turning test as the crawler travels along the slope to the top of the pad. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program at Kennedy continues to upgrade the crawler-transporter as part of its general maintenance. CT-1 could be available to carry a variety of launch vehicles to the launch pad. Two crawler-transporters were used to carry the mobile launcher platform and space shuttle to Launch Complex 39 for space shuttle launches for 30 years.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A space shuttle era mobile launcher platform remains on Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It will be moved by crawler-transporter No. 2 as 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 ready to keep up the work for the next generation of launch vehicles to lift

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Vehicle Assembly Building, external tank No. 117 is lifted off its transporter in preparation for being lifted to a vertical position. Once vertical, the tank will be lifted into the checkout cell in high bay 2 for processing. ET-117 arrived aboard the Pegasus barge after its voyage around the Florida Peninsula from the Michoud Assembly Facility near New Orleans. The tank is slated for mission STS-118, which is targeted for launch in early August.

The Soyuz TMA-18 spacecraft is raised into position shortly after it was rolled out by train to the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, March, 31, 2010. The launch of the Soyuz spacecraft with Expedition 23 Soyuz Commander Alexander Skvortsov of Russia, Flight Engineer Mikhail Kornienko of Russia, and NASA Flight Engineer Tracy Caldwell Dyson is scheduled for Friday, April 2, 2010 at 10:04 a.m. Kazakhstan time.

A view of a building on the Space Transportation System construction site. Base: Vandenberg Air Force Base State: California (CA) Country: United States Of America (USA)

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - The exhaust chute beneath the launch tower on Space Launch Complex 2 on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California is readied to support a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket launch in July, carrying NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 mission, or OCO-2, to orbit. The observatory will collect precise global measurements of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere and provide scientists with a better idea of the chemical compound's impacts on climate change. Scientists will analyze this data to improve our understanding of the natural processes and human activities that regulate the abundance and distribution of this important atmospheric gas.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The rotating service structure (RSS), which provides weather protection and access to the shuttle, begins to move into place around space shuttle Discovery on Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This comes after Discovery, attached to its external fuel tank, twin solid rocket boosters and mobile launcher platform, rolled out to the pad from the Vehicle Assembly Building during the overnight hours. Rollout to the pad is a significant shuttle processing milestone for the upcoming STS-133 mission, and comes after a thorough check and modifications to the shuttle's external fuel tank. Targeted to liftoff Feb. 24, Discovery will take the Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM) packed with supplies and critical spare parts, as well as Robonaut 2 (R2) to the International Space Station.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - An external tank is lowered into a horizontal position in the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building before being placed on a transporter. The tank is being transferred to the Michoud Space Systems Assembly Facility near New Orleans where redesign of the external tank is underway for Return to Flight.

750 K motor test firing at Marshall's Test Stand 116 developing 650 pounds of thrust. The motor was tested for the Air Force Expendable Launch Vehicle (ELV) project.

The ground test motor for Orion's Launch Abort System (LAS) arrives by flatbed truck in its shipping container in the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building on July 20, 2018, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It will be transferred to the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility where it will be inspected and prepared for transport to Space Launch Complex 46 (SLC-46) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station for mechanical fit testing. This inert motor will not be used for flight, but will be used to certify flight hardware assembly in preparation for a full-stress test of the LAS, called Ascent Abort-2 (AA-2) flight test, scheduled for April 2019. During the test, the booster will launch from SLC 46, carrying a fully functional LAS and a 22,000-pound Orion test vehicle to an altitude of 31,000 feet and traveling at more than 1,000 miles an hour. The test will verify the LAS can steer the crew module and astronauts aboard to safety in the event of an issue with the Space Lau

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Flatbed trucks carrying some of the debris of Space Shuttle Columbia approach the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). The debris is being transferred from the Columbia Debris Hangar to the VAB for permanent storage. More than 83,000 pieces of debris were shipped to KSC during search and recovery efforts in East Texas. That represents about 38 percent of the dry weight of Columbia, equaling almost 85,000 pounds.

RBSP, B Canister removal, unbagging, into workstand, final solar panels into work stands

C-141 KAO TELESCOPE SYSTEM EQUIPMENT AND ASSEMBLY IN N-242. BOB KRAUS OF OWENS - ILLINOIS operating control paddle

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- Inside the Spaceport Florida hangar, the P5 truss waits out a rain storm. The truss eventually will be transported to the Space Station Processing Facility. The P5 is scheduled for delivery to the International Space Station on mission 12A.1 in April 2003

View of ML on CT

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In NASA Kennedy Space Centers Vehicle Assembly Building, a crane is fitted over an external tank. The tank is being demated from the solid rocket boosters originally scheduled to fly on mission STS-121 with Space Shuttle Atlantis. It will temporarily be stored in a checkout cell in the VAB and await assignment to a future mission.

The Nossener Bruecke combined heat and power plant, the demand for heating has increased significantly this winter due to permafrost and the corona pandemic

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

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, crawler-transporter No. 2 is parked outside of the Vehicle Assembly Building. The Crawler-transporter has been undergoing modifications to ensure its ability to carry the space agency's Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket to the launch 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 projects to lift astronauts into space.

United Launch Alliance (ULA) president and CEO Tory Bruno leads a tour for Vice President Mike Pence, his wife, Karen Pence, and NASA Acting Administrator Robert Lightfoot on Feb. 20, 2018. They are in the ULA Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF), at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The HIF is where the Delta IV Heavy boosters are being processed for NASAs upcoming Parker Solar Probe mission. During his visit, Pence will chair a meeting of the National Space Council on Feb. 21, 2018 in the high bay of NASA Kennedy Space Centers Space Station Processing Facility. The council's role is to advise the president regarding national space policy and strategy, and review the nation's long-range goals for space activities.

The first hot-fire test of the J-2X power pack 1A gas generator was performed Jan. 31 on the A-1 Test Stand at Stennis Space Center. Initial indications are that all test objectives were met. The test was designed as a 3.42-second helium spin start with gas generator ignition and it went the full scheduled duration. Test conductors reported a smooth start with normal shutdown and described the event as a 'good test.' The test was part of the early component testing for the new J-2X engine being built by NASA to power the Ares I and Ares V rockets that will carry humans back to the moon and on to Mars. It was performed as one in a series of 12 scheduled tests. Those tests began last November at Stennis, but the January 31 event represented the first hot-fire test. The Stennis tests are a critical step in the successful development of the J-2X engine.

Silhouetted by searchlights directed toward it, the STS-3 Space Shuttle undergoes propellant loading tests. Base: Kennedy Space Center State: Florida (FL) Country: United States Of America (USA)

Rocket engine propellant tanks and cell dome top the A-3 Test Stand under construction at Stennis Space Center. The stand will test next-generation rocket engines that could carry humans beyond low-Earth orbit into deep space once more.

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

Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers watch as two cranes are used to lift the Space Launch System (SLS) Core Stage pathfinder into the vertical position in the transfer aisle on Oct. 15, 2019. The 212-foot-long core stage pathfinder arrived on NASA's Pegasus Barge at Kennedys Launch Complex 39 turn basin wharf on Sept. 27, 2019. The Pegasus Barge made its first delivery to Kennedy in support of the agency's Artemis missions. The pathfinder is being used by Exploration Ground Systems and its contractor, Jacobs, to practice offloading, moving and stacking maneuvers, using important ground support equipment to train employees and certify all the equipment works properly. The pathfinder will stay at Kennedy through at least the month of October before trekking back to NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana.

In its mated liftoff configuration of External Tank (ET) and Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB's), the Orbiter Enterprise (OV101) is pictured in the Marshall Space Flight Center Dynamic Test Stand for a Mated Vertical Ground Vibration Test (MVGVT).

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In Vehicle Assembly Building high bay 1, the orbiter Atlantis is being lowered into position for mating to its external tank/solid rocket booster stack.; Space Shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to launch on mission STS-104 in early July

U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Juan Castro, center, 60th Logistics Readiness Squadron fuels distribution supervisor, climbs out of a 60th LRS fuels hydrant tank being serviced at Travis Air Force Base, California, Aug. 24, 2022. At any given time, each hydrant tank can store up to 420 thousand gallons of fuel. Externally, they are serviced every ten years and internally, every 20 years. The tanks have the ability to isolate water and other contaminates and drain automatically to be disposed of properly via a septic system.

A flow test of the Ignition Overpressure Protection and Sound Suppression water deluge system is underway on the mobile launcher at Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on July 25, 2019. The testing is part of a series of tests that Exploration Ground System is doing to verify the system is ready for the new Space Launch System rocket. Modifications were made to the pad after a previous wet flow test, increasing the performance of the system. During the launch of Artemis 1 and subsequent missions, this water deluge system will release about 450,000 gallons of water across the mobile launcher and Flame Deflector to reduce the extreme heat and energy generated by the rocket during ignition and liftoff.

Mobile platform, jackup rig type. The Ocean Star Offshore Oil Rig & Museum. Galveston. Texas. US.

This photograph depicts the Rocketdyne static firing of the F-1 engine at the towering 76-meter Test Stand 1-C in Area 1-125 of the Edwards Air Force Base in California. The Saturn V S-IC (first) stage utilized five F-1 engines for its thrust. Each engine provided 1,500,000 pounds, for a combined thrust of 7,500,000 pounds with liquid oxygen and kerosene as its propellants.

After successfully arriving at Kennedy Space Centers Launch Complex 39B, Exploration Ground Systems mobile launcher is photographed at the pad surface atop crawler-transporter 2 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.

The right hand aft skirt for NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket has been refurbished and painted and is ready for the assembly process in the Booster Fabrication Facility at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The aft skirt was refurbished and painted in support facilities at the Hangar AF facility at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The space shuttle-era aft skirt will be used on the right hand booster of the SLS for Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1). NASA is preparing for EM-1, deep space missions, and the Journey to Mars.

JSC2000-E-28203 (29 October 2000) ---Giant machinery at the launch pad at Baikonur works to position the Soyuz rocket in readiness for the Expedition1 crew's launch in two days.

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