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
SPACE X MMRTG Offload and Lift for Insertion
324 assets in this story
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Security Officers with their dog watch as the Soyuz TMA-4 capsule and its booster rocket begin to roll to the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Saturday, April 17, 2004, in Baikonur, Kazakhstan in preparation for the launch of the Expedition 9 crew and a European researcher to the International Space Station on April 19. The Soyuz vehicle is transported to the launch pad horizontally on a railcar from its processing hangar in a process that takes about 2.5 hours to complete.
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About 450,000 gallons of water flow at high speed from a holding tank through new and modified piping and valves, the flame trench, flame deflector nozzles and mobile launcher interface risers during a wet flow test on May 24, 2018, at Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. At peak flow, the water reached about 100 feet in the air above the pad surface. The test was performed by Exploration Ground Systems to confirm the performance of the Ignition Overpressure/Sound Suppression system. During launch of NASA's Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft, the high-speed water flow will help protect the vehicle from the extreme acoustic and temperature environment during ignition and liftoff.
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USA, Arizona, Tucson, Titan missile in underground silo at Titan Missile Museum
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The flags of Kazakhstan, the United States of America and Russia are seen in the background as the Soyuz rocket is prepared to be erected into position at the launch pad Tuesday, March 24, 2009 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Soyuz is scheduled to launch the crew of Expedition 19 and a spaceflight participant on March 26, 2009.
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S65-29600 (3 June 1965) --- View of the Gemini-Titan 4 spacecraft on Pad 19 on day of launch with erector being removed.
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In the early morning on Oct. 20, 2020, the mobile launcher for the Artemis I mission rolls along the crawlerway atop crawler-transporter 2 after departing the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The nearly 400-foot-tall mobile launcher is being rolled to Launch Pad 39B. During its two-week stay at the pad, engineers with Exploration Ground Systems and Jacobs will perform several tasks, including a timing test to validate the launch teams countdown timeline, and a thorough, top-to-bottom wash down of the mobile launcher to remove any debris remaining from construction and installation of the umbilical arms. Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon in 2024.
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The Soyuz rocket is seen inside Building 112 prior to being rolled out by train to the launch pad, Monday, March 19, 2018 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Expedition 55 crewmembers Ricky Arnold and Drew Feustel of NASA and Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos are scheduled to launch at 1:44 p.m. Eastern time (11:44 p.m. Baikonur time) on March 21 and will spend the next five months living and working aboard the International Space Station.
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South Korea, Pusan, Dae-Woos New Ship Building Yard With Black Section Of Ship
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Inside the Booster Fabrication Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Artemis I aft skirts for the agency's Space Launch System (SLS) rockets twin solid rocket boosters are being readied for their move to the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility (RPSF) on June 9, 2020. In view at left is the left aft skirt assembly. Behind it to the right is the right aft skirt assembly. Also in view at far right, are the Artemis I forward assemblies, with the left assembly in front and the right assembly behind it. The aft skirts were refurbished by Northrop Grumman. They house the thrust vector control system, which controls 70 percent of the steering during initial ascent of the SLS rocket. The segments will remain in the RPSF until ready for stacking with the forward and aft parts of the boosters on the mobile launcher in High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building. Through the Artemis Program, NASA is working to land the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024.
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Vent Flowing Cold Gas and T/C Rake
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Members of the Disaster Assessment and Recovery Team (DART) repair a section of roof atop the Operations Support Building II at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The effort is part of the spaceports ongoing recovery from Hurricane Matthew, which passed to the east of Kennedy on Oct. 6 and 7, 2016. The center received some isolated roof damage, damaged support buildings, a few downed power lines, and limited water intrusion. Beach erosion also occurred, although the storm surge was less than expected.
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S95-08962 (12 APRIL 1995) --- Members of the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Payload Processing Team hoist the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS-G) into a work stand in the Vertical Processing Facility (VPF) for mating with its Inertial Upper Stage (IUS). After testing and final checkout, TDRS-G and the IUS will be transported to Launch Pad 39B and installed into the Space Shuttle Discovery's payload bay for launch on the STS-70 mission, scheduled for launch June 8, 1995.
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LH2 STA in NASA Marshall Space Flight Center West Test Area Test Stand.
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Construction of weather satellites at space company OHB in Bremen. Bremen, 14.07.2022, Bremen, Germany, Europe
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The Soyuz TMA-02M spacecraft is raised into vertical position at the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Sunday, June 5, 2011. The rocket is being prepared for launch June 8 to carry the crew of Expedition 28 to the International Space Station.
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LH2 STA in NASA Marshall Space Flight Center West Test Area Test Stand.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, crawler-transporter No. 2 moves a space shuttle era mobile launcher platform down the gravel crawler way at Launch Pad 39A. The activity was part of testing to check out recently completed modifications to ensure its ability to carry launch vehicles such as the space agency's Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket to the pad.NASA's Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is leading the 20-year life-extension project for the crawler. A pair of behemoth machines called crawler-transporters has carried the load of taking rockets and spacecraft to the launch pad for more than 40 years at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Each weighing six and a half million pounds and larger in size than a professional baseball infield, the crawler-transporters are powered by locomotive and large electrical power generator engines. The crawler-transporters will stand ready to keep up the work for the next generation of lau
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LH2 STA in NASA Marshall Space Flight Center West Test Area Test Stand.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A banner inside NASA Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building captures the excitement building at Kennedy in anticipation of the flight test of the Ares I-X rocket, towering above it in High Bay 3.Part of the Constellation Program, the Ares I-X is the test vehicle for the Ares I, which is the essential core of a space transportation system designed to carry crewed missions back to the moon, on to Mars and out into the solar system. The Ares I-X flight test is targeted for Oct. 27.
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PHIL HENDRIX, SPEAKS TO THE CROWD IN FRONT OF A STEEL BEAM DESTINED FOR TEST STAND 4693 DURING THE STRUCTURE'S TOPPING OUT CEREMONY APRIL 12.
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The helicopter carrying NASA Administrator Sean OKeefe and KSC Director of Spaceport Services Scott Kerr passes by the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) to observe the damage inflicted by Hurricane Frances over the Labor Day weekend. The VAB lost approximately 850 tiles on the south wall, seen here. OKeefe and NASA Associate Administrator of Space Operations Mission Directorate William Readdy are visiting KSC to survey the damage sustained by KSC facilities from the hurricane. The storm also caused significant damage to the Thermal Protection System Facility and Processing Control Center. Additionally, the Operations and Checkout Building, Vertical Processing Facility, Hangar AE, Hangar S and Hangar AF Small Parts Facility each received substantial damage. However, well-protected and unharmed were NASAs three Space Shuttle orbiters -- Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour - along with the Shuttle launch pads, all of the critical flight hardware for the o
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The J-2 engine for Saturn V S-IVB (third) stage blasted from the test stand at Douglas Aircraft Co., Sacramento Test Operation (SACTO) facility in California. This third stage was used on the unmarned Saturn V flight of Apollo 6 in April 1968.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - An aerial view of the Launch Complex 39 Area NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida shows the 525-foot-tall Vehicle Assembly Building looming over the landscape. In the foreground is the turn basin, where a barge holds trestles and girders for the new mobile launcher. The new launcher will be the base for the Constellation Program's Ares rockets to launch the Orion crew exploration vehicle and the cargo vehicle. The base is being made lighter than space shuttle mobile launcher platforms so the crawler-transporter can pick up the added load of the 345-foot tower and taller rocket. When the structural portion of the new mobile launcher is complete, umbilicals, access arms, communications equipment and command/control equipment will be installed.
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A sunrise panoramic view of the iconic Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Ten levels of work platforms have been installed in High Bay 3 of the VAB. They will surround and provide access for service and processing of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft. Exploration Ground Systems oversaw the upgrades and installation of the new work platforms to support the launch of the SLS and Orion on Exploration Mission-1 and deep space missions.