NASA Space Operations

Images from NASA's operations, featuring cleanrooms and teams working on spacecraft assembly for future space missions.

STS-133 MPLM RACK REMOVAL AND CONVERSION TO PERMANENT MODULE
STS-133 MPLM RACK REMOVAL AND CONVERSION TO PERMANENT MODULE
225 assets in this story
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility, a technician inside the Node 2 module checks the opening. The second of three Station connecting modules, the Node 2 attaches to the end of the U.S. Lab and provides attach locations for several other elements. Node 2 is scheduled to launch on mission STS-120, Station assembly flight 10A.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside Orbiter Processing Facility-1 at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians prepare to re-install the three fuel cells in space shuttle Discoverys mid-body.The fuel cells were removed and drained of all fluids. The hydrogen and oxygen dewars which feed reactants to the fuel cells remain in Discoverys mid-body and have been purged with inert gases and vented down. 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.
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility, another laboratory rack is placed on the arm of the Rack Insertion Unit to lift it to the workstand height of the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo (not seen). The MPLM will transport laboratory racks filled with equipment, experiments and supplies to and from the International Space Station aboard the Space Shuttle. Leonardo will be launched for the first time March 1, 2001, on Shuttle mission STS-102. On that flight, Leonardo will be filled with equipment and supplies to outfit the U.S. laboratory module, being carried to the ISS on the Jan. 19, 2001, launch of STS-98
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Rachid Amekrane, Airbus Defence and Space Integration test director, assists with securing a protective cover as a crane prepares to lift the panel during installation of one of four solar array wings inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sept. 23, 2020. The Orion spacecraft for Artemis I is shown in the background. The solar arrays were extended, inspected, and then retracted, before installation on the spacecraft. Each solar array panel will generate 11 kilowatts of power and span about 63 feet. The array is a component of Orions service module, which is provided by the European Space Agency and built by Airbus Defence and Space to supply Orions power, propulsion, air and water. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -In the Orbiter Processing Facility, STS-114 Commander Eileen Collins gets a close look at the aft starboard camera in Discoverys payload bay. She and other crew members are at KSC for Crew Equipment Interface Test activities. During CEIT, the crew has an opportunity to get a hands-on look at the orbiter and equipment they will be working with on the mission. Return to Flight Mission STS-114 will carry the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Raffaello, filled with supplies for the International Space Station, and a replacement Control Moment Gyroscope. Launch of STS-114 has a launch window of May 12 to June 3.
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Payload Changeout Room at Launch Pad 39A, a technician works switches on the Payload Ground-Handling Mechanism hook instrumentation unit that will move the U.S. Lab Destiny out of the payload canister and into the PCR. Destiny will then be transferred to the payload bay of Atlantis for mission STS-98. Destiny, a key element in the construction of the International Space Station is designed for space science experiments. STS-98 is the seventh construction flight to the ISS. Launch of STS-98 is scheduled for Jan. 19 at 2:11 a.m. EST
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, STS-126 Mission Specialist Donald Pettit (left) and Pilot Eric Boe (right) check data on equipment that will fly on the mission. Shuttle crews frequently visit Kennedy to get hands-on experience, called a crew equipment interface test, with hardware and equipment for their missions. On STS-126, Endeavour will deliver a multi-purpose logistics module to the International Space Station. Launch is targeted for Nov. 10.
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COMBUSTION MODULE 2 FLIGHT HARDWARE PRE SHIP
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - On Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers prepare to remove the 7-inch quick disconnect on the Ground Umbilical Carrier Plate, or GUCP, on space shuttle Endeavour's external fuel tank. A hydrogen leak at the location during tanking for the STS-127 mission caused the launch attempts to be scrubbed on June 13 and June 17. The GUCP will be examined to determine the cause of the hydrogen leak and repaired. The GUCP is the overboard vent to the pad and the flame stack where the vented hydrogen is burned off. Endeavour's next launch attempt is targeted for July 11 at 7:39 p.m. EDT.
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Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR)
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- McDonnell Douglas-SPACEHAB technicians prepare to place a Russian-made oxygen generator into position for transport in a SPACEHAB Double Module being processed for flight on Space Shuttle Mission STS-84. The module is undergoing preflight preparations in the SPACEHAB Payload Processing Facility just outside of Gate 1 on Cape Canaveral Air Station. The Space Shuttle Atlantis will carry the oxygen generator to the Russian Space Station Mir to replace one of two Mir units that have been malfunctioning recently. The nearly 300-pound generator functions by electrolysis, which separates water into its oxygen and hydrogen components. The hydrogen is vented and the oxygen is used for breathing by the Mir crew. The generator is 4.2 feet long with a diameter of 1.4 feet. STS-84, which is planned to include a Mir crew exchange of astronaut C. Michael Foale for Jerry M. Linenger, is targeted for a May 15 launch. It will be the sixth Shuttle-Mir docking
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These photos show highlights from Artemis II NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman, and Christina Koch of NASA and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen visit to NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, Nov. 27. The crew met and spoke to employees and viewed facilities for SLS (Space Launch System) rocket. All four astronauts signed the Orion stage adapter (OSA), a small ring structure that connects SLS to NASAs Orion spacecraft, that will be used for Artemis II. Koch and Wiseman also visited the Systems Integration Lab, where SLS flight software testing is conducted. The four astronauts will launch atop SLS inside Orion to venture around the Moon on Artemis II, the first crewed flight for Artemis.
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NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson gets a close look at the orbiter Endeavour. Johnson and other drivers Ryan Newman and Dale Jarrett were on a tour of KSC. The men are scheduled to drive in the Pepsi 400 auto race being held July 5 at the Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians attach straps from a crane in order to lift the Science Instrument Command and Data Handling Unit, or SIC&DH. The SIC&DH will be installed on the Hubble Space Telescope during space shuttle Atlantis' STS-125 mission. This unit will replace the one that suffered a failure aboard the orbiting telescope on Sept. 27, 2008. The SIC&DH is being prepared for integration onto the Multi-Use Lightweight Equipment Carrier. The carrier holds the payload for space shuttle Atlantis' STS-125 mission servicing NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, targeted to launch May 12.
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- In the Orbiter Processing Facility bay 3, a worker checks the cover on a main bus switching unit, part of the payload on mission STS-120. A main bus switching unit is used for power distribution, circuit protection and fault isolation on the space station's power system. The units route power to proper locations in the space station, such as from solar arrays through umbilicals into the U.S. Lab. The unit will be installed on the external stowage platform 2 attached to the Quest airlock for temporary storage. Discovery is targeted to launch mission STS-120 no earlier than Oct. 20.
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, Corky Philyaw (left) and Edgar Suarez (right) prepare the flight battery for installation on the Demonstration of Autonomous Rendezvous Technology (DART) spacecraft (far left). DART was designed and built for NASA by Orbital Sciences Corporation as an advanced flight demonstrator to locate and maneuver near an orbiting satellite. It is designed to demonstrate technologies required for a spacecraft to locate and rendezvous, or maneuver close to, other craft in space. Results from the DART mission will aid in the development of NASA's Crew Exploration Vehicle and will also assist in vehicle development for crew transfer and crew rescue capability to and from the International Space Station. DART will be launched from an Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL rocket no earlier than Oct. 26.
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TROPICS Rocket Photos. Two CubeSats are encapsulated at the Rocket Lab facility in Mahia, New Zealand, on April 24, 2023, in preparation for NASAs second TROPICS (Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats) launch. After successfully launching the first pair of small satellites earlier this month from Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand, NASA and Rocket Lab are targeting no earlier than 12 a.m. EDT Thursday, May 25 (4 p.m. NZST), for liftoff of the second pair of storm tracking CubeSats into orbit. NASA will use TROPICS to study tropical cyclones as part of the agencys Earth Venture Class missions.
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At Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians bond thermal protection system tiles to Orion's backshell panels on July 8, 2016...While similar to those used on the space shuttle, Orion only requires about 1,300 tiles compared to more than 24,000 on the shuttle. The tiles, along with the spacecrafts heat shield, will protect Orion from the 5,000 degree Fahrenheit heat of re-entry.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, technicians inspect a Dragon spacecraft being prepared for the company's first Commercial Resupply Services, or CRS-1, mission to the International Space Station. The capsule is scheduled to lift off from on Oct. 7, 2012 Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. The mission will be the company's second demonstration test flight for NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services Program, or COTS.The SpaceX CRS contract with NASA provides for 12 cargo resupply missions to the station through 2015, the first of which is targeted to launch in October 2012.SpaceX became the first private company to berth a spacecraft with the space station in 2012 during its final demonstration flight under the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services, or COTS, program managed by NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.
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NASAs SpaceX Crew-1 astronauts participate in crew equipment interface testing at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, on Sept. 24, 2020. From left are pilot Victor Glover, NASA astronaut; mission specialist Soichi Noguchi, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut; and mission specialist Shannon Walker, NASA astronaut. The other crew member training, but not pictured, is Crew Dragon commander Michael Hopkins, NASA astronaut. NASAs SpaceX Crew-1 mission is the first crew rotational flight of a U.S. commercial spacecraft with astronauts to the International Space Station. The Crew-1 mission will launch from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Crew-1 is part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, which has returned human spaceflight capabilities to the U.S.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Orbiter Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, STS-119 crew members get a close look at the shuttle robotic arm inside space shuttle Discovery's payload bay. The crew is at Kennedy for a Crew Equipment Interface Test that provides experience handling tools, equipment and hardware they will use on the mission. On the STS-119 mission, space shuttle Discovery will carry the S6 truss segment to complete the 361-foot-long backbone of the International Space Station. The truss includes the fourth pair of solar array wings and electronics that convert sunlight to power for the orbiting laboratory. Discovery is targeted for launch on Feb. 12, 2009.
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - STS-118 Mission Specialist Dafydd Williams (Canadian Space Agency) tests a tool that is part of equipment for the mission. The crew is taking part in equipment familiarization in the Space Station Processing Facility. The STS-118 mission will be delivering and installing the third starboard truss segment, the ITS S5, to the International Space Station, and carry a SPACEHAB Single Cargo Module with supplies and equipment. Launch date is under review.
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Mission engineers load the final cargo into the Cygnus resupply spacecraft onboard the Northrop Grumman Antares rocket, Tuesday, April 16, 2019 at launch Pad-0A of NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Northrop Grummans 11th contracted cargo resupply mission with NASA to the International Space Station will deliver about 7,600 pounds of science and research, crew supplies and vehicle hardware to the orbital laboratory and its crew.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space shuttle Atlantis' STS-135 crew participates in a crew equipment interface test, or CEIT, in the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The purpose of CEIT is for flight crew members to become familiar with the hardware and tools they will work with in space. Working behind the table are Mission Specialists Sandy Magnus, left, and Rex Walheim. Commander Chris Ferguson observes from the front of the table, as do technicians. STS-135 will carry the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module packed with supplies, logistics and spare parts to the International Space Station. STS-135 also will return a failed ammonia pump module on the Lightweight Multi-Purpose Experiment Support Structure Carrier, or LMC, to help NASA better understand the failure mechanism and improve pump designs for future systems.STS-135, targeted to launch June 28, will be the 33rd flight of Atlantis, the 37th shuttle mission to the space station, and th
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A view of the wiring or the shuttle payload bay in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL) at the Johnson Space Center on Tuesday, July 12, 2011, in Houston. The laboratory is a skeletal avionics version of the shuttle that uses actual orbiter hardware and flight software. The facility even carries the official orbiter designation as OV-095. ( NASA Photo / Houston Chronicle, Smiley N. Pool )