NASA Space Tours and Events

Various groups visiting NASA facilities, discussing space missions and technology. The atmosphere is educational and engaging, highlighting important moments in space history.

Artemis Departure Media Event

2010 ASTRONAUT HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

NASA Administrator, Charles Bolden and Lockheed Martin CEO, Marillyn Hewson announce the winner of the Exploration Design Challenge at the USA Science and Engineering Festival on April 25, 2014. The goal of the Exploration Design Challenge was for students to research and design ways to protect astronauts from space radiation.The USA Science and Engineering Festival is taking place at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC on April 26 and 27, 2014.

Kennedy Space Center Deputy Director Janet Petro, left, is seen with NASA Deputy Administrator Jim Morhard as they answer social media questions ahead of the launch of NASAs Mars 2020 Perseverance rover, Wednesday, July 29, 2020, at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Perseverance rover is part of NASAs Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. Launch is scheduled for Thursday, July 30.

On August 15, 2018 NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine visited Marshall Space Flight Center. Upon his arrival he was greeted by MSFC Acting Director Jody Singer along with the senior management team. From atop Marshalls Test Stand 4693, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and SLS Stages Integration Manager Tim Flores discuss the capabilities of Marshalls newest test stand. The qualification test version of the liquid hydrogen tank for the Space Launch Systems core stage will be positioned between the stands 221-foot-tall twin towers where it will be pushed, pulled and subjected to the stresses it will endure during liftoff and flight.

JWST Stamp Issuance Ceremony. NASA Associate Administrator and former astronaut Bob Cabana, autographs a piece of mail with the United States Postal Services new stamp celebrating NASAs James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) on it, at the first-day-of-issue event, 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.

James Webb Space Telescope Mirror Reveal

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Former NASA astronaut Jon McBride shares his thoughts at a wreath-laying ceremony honoring Henry W. "Hank" Hartsfield at the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame.Hartsfield commanded space shuttle Discovery's maiden mission and was a veteran of three shuttle flights. He died July 17 after an illness. He was 80 years old. Hartsfield joined NASA in 1969 and was part of the astronaut support crew for Apollo 16 and the Skylab 2, 3 and 4 missions. He logged 483 hours in space during missions STS-4, on which he served as pilot, as well as STS-41D and STS-61A, both of which he commanded.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana, center, talks with U.S. Rep. Bill Posey, left and U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson following the "On Shoulders of Giants" program celebrating 50 years of Americans in orbit, an era which began with Glenn's MA-6 mission on Feb. 20, 1962. The event was conducted in the Rocket Garden at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida a few miles from the launch pad where Glenn and Scott Carpenter took flight in Mercury spacecraft.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 Scott 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-

L to R; NASA Dryden Mission Manager Walter Klein (in tan flight suit), JPL AirSAR Scientist Tim Miller, and Mission Manager David Bushman briefing press in Santiago, Chile, for NASA's AirSAR 2004 mission. AirSAR 2004 is a three-week expedition by an international team of scientists that uses an all-weather imaging tool, called the Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (AirSAR) which is located onboard NASA's DC-8 airborne laboratory.Scientists from many parts of the world including NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory are combining ground research done in several areas in Central and South America with NASA's AirSAR technology to improve and expand on the quality of research they are able to conduct.In South America and Antarctica, AirSAR collected imagery and data to help determine the contribution of Southern Hemisphere glaciers to sea level rise due to climate change. In Patagonia, researchers found this contribution had more than doubled from 1995 to 2000, compared to the previous 25 ye

Dr. John Meisenheimer, launch weather officer for Explorer 1, speaks to guests at an event celebrating the 60th anniversary of America's first satellite. The ceremony took place in front of the Space Launch Complex 26 blockhouse at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station where the Explorer 1 satellite was launched atop a Jupiter C rocket on Jan. 31, 1958. During operation, the satellite's cosmic ray detector discovered radiation belts around Earth which were named for Dr. James Van Allen, principal investigator for the satellite.

A shower of frozen plastic signifies the successful breaking of the ceremonial "ribbon" at the opening of the new Cryogenic Testbed Facility. Part of the normal ribbon was replaced with plastic tubing and frozen in liquid nitrogen for the event. Bridges hit the tubing with a small hammer to break it. The Cryogenics Testbed was built to provide cryogenics engineering development and testing services to meet the needs of industry. It will also support commercial, government and academic customers for technology development initiatives on the field of cryogenics. The facility is jointly managed by NASA and Dynacs Engineering Co. , NASA/SC's Engineering Development contractor

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- On Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, invited guests tour the blockhouse at Complex 5/6 during a celebration of Alan Shepard's historic flight 50 years ago. From left are Robert Sieck, former shuttle launch director; Andy Anderson, former manager for communications in the Mercury Mission Control Center; Bob Moser, former chief test conductor for the Mercury-Redstone launches; and John Twigg, former backup chief test conductor for the Mercury-Redstone launches.The celebration was held at the launch site of the first U.S. manned spaceflight May 5, 1961, to mark the 50th anniversary of the flight. Fifty years ago, astronaut Alan Shepard lifted off inside the Mercury capsule, "Freedom 7," atop an 82-foot-tall Mercury-Redstone rocket at 9:34 a.m. EST, sending him on a remarkably successful, 15-minute suborbital flight. The event was attended by more than 200 workers from the original Mercury program and included a re-creation of Shepard's flight and reco

One of NASA's first astronauts, now Senator John Glenn and Alabama senatorial candidate Roger Bedford receive a tour of the Space Station manufacturing facility conducted by Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Director Jerroll W. Littles.

Tori McLendon of NASA Communications, speaks to guests at an event celebrating the 60th anniversary of America's first satellite. The ceremony took place in front of the Space Launch Complex 26 blockhouse at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station where the Explorer 1 satellite was launched atop a Jupiter C rocket on Jan. 31, 1958. During operation, the satellite's cosmic ray detector discovered radiation belts around Earth which were named for Dr. James Van Allen, principal investigator for the satellite.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. --- NASA Administrator Mike Griffin poses for a portrait with representatives of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, under space shuttle Endeavour. On the left is JAXA Director Kuniaki Shiraki, and on the right is JAXA Vice President Kaoru Mamiya. JAXA is one of NASA's international partners in the development and operation of the International Space Station. The shuttle landed on Runway 15 at Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility at the end of the STS-123 mission, a 16-day flight to the International Space Station. This was the 16th night landing at Kennedy. The main landing gear touched down at 8:39:08 p.m. EDT. The nose landing gear touched down at 8:39:17 p.m. and wheel stop was at 8:40:41 p.m. The mission completed nearly 6.6 million miles. The landing was on the second opportunity after the first was waved off due to unstable weather in the Kennedy Space Center area. The STS-123 mission delivered the first segment of the Japan

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Mercury astronauts Scott Carpenter, left, and John Glenn and astronaut Steve Robinson of STS-95 listen to remarks during the "On Shoulders of Giants" program celebrating 50 years of Americans in orbit, an era which began with Glenn's MA-6 mission on Feb. 20, 1962. The event was conducted in the Rocket Garden at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida a few miles from the launch pad where Glenn and Carpenter took flight in Mercury spacecraft.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 Proj

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Therrin Protze, chief operating officer with Delaware North Parks and Resorts at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida, welcomes guests to the grand opening of the Great Balls of Fire exhibit. To his left is former NASA astronaut Tom Jones.Great Balls of Fire shares the story of the origins of our solar system, asteroids and comets and their possible impacts and risks. The 1,500-square-foot exhibit, located in the East Gallery of the IMAX theatre at the visitor complex, features several interactive displays, real meteorites and replica asteroid models. The exhibit is a production of The Space Science Institute's National Center for Interactive Learning. It is a traveling exhibition that also receives funding from NASA and the National Science Foundation.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Center Director Robert Cabana (left) and Constellation Program directors and managers accompany NASA Administrator Charles Bolden (third from left) on a tour of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The tour included this stop in the Operations and Checkout Building to view the high bay planned for the assembly of the Constellation Program's Orion crew vehicle. Bolden also was at Kennedy for several events, including the landing of space shuttle Endeavour's STS-127 mission and the signing of the joint NASA-Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency agreement defining the terms of cooperation between the agencies on the Global Precipitation Measurement, or GPM, mission.

Secretary Gale Norton, far left, touring the Mount Graham International Observatory, near Safford, Arizona. During the visit, Secretary Norton discussed forest management issues relevant to the area, affected by the summer's massive Nuttall and Gibson forest fires

Apollo 17 astronaut, Harrison Schmitt, right, is interviewed by Kennedy Space Center public affairs officer, Megan Cruz, at the Operations Support Building II prior to the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft on NASAs SpaceX Crew-4 mission with NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Robert Hines, Jessica Watkins, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti onboard, Wednesday, April 27, 2022, at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASAs SpaceX Crew-4 mission is the fourth crew rotation mission of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station as part of the agencys Commercial Crew Program. Lindgren, Hines, Watkins, and Cristoforetti launched at 3:52 a.m. ET from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center to begin a six month mission onboard the orbital outpost.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Apollo 8 Command Module Pilot and Apollo 13 Commander Jim Lovell addresses the audience at the 40th anniversary celebration of Apollo 16's lunar landing, which occurred April 20, 1972. The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation hosted the soiree at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex's Saturn V Center. The 11-day Apollo 16 mission featured three moonwalks, including a nearly 17-mile lunar rover road trip to collect more than 200 pounds of moon rocks to return to Earth.

NASA Lead Shuttle Flight Director for STS-124 Matt Abbott, left, shows his lucky launch and landing tie to NASA Associate Administrator Chris Scolese, 2nd from left, NASA Associate Administrator for Space Operations Bill Gerstenmaier, 3rd from left, and NASA Deputy Shuttle Program Manager LeRoy Cain shortly after the space shuttle Discovery touched down at 11:15 a.m., Saturday, June 14, 2008, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. During the 14-day STS-124 mission Discovery's crew installed the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's large Kibo laboratory and its remote manipulator system leaving a larger space station and one with increased science capabilities.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A media event was held on the grounds near the Press Site at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida where a Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) is on display. The MPCV is based on the Orion design requirements for traveling beyond low Earth orbit and will serve as the exploration vehicle that will carry the crew to space, provide emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during the space travel, and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. Seen here is Lori Garver, NASA deputy administrator, Mark Geyer, Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle program manager and Laurence A. Price, Orion deputy program manager with Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company to talk about the vehicle during a question-and-answer session.

Officials from Marshall Space Flight Center discussed the state's role in leading America back to the Moon and on to Mars with elected officials, industry leaders, students and the public during the Aerospace States Associations Alabama Aerospace Week in Montgomery, Ala. NASA was honored by the Alabama legislature with a resolution and proclamation from Gov. Kay Ivey recognizing the agency's achievements. Astronaut Tracy Dyson speaks to legislators in Alabama House of Representatives

In the blockhouse at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Launch Pad 14, Sonny Witt, director of Operations for the 45th Mission Support Group at the Cape speaks to Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana along with cast and crew members of the upcoming motion picture "Hidden Figures." Pad 14 was the location of the launch of John Glenn and three other astronauts who flew orbital missions during Project Mercury. 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 Glenn’s orbital flight aboard Friendship 7 in 1962. The film is due in theaters in January 2017.

JWST Stamp Issuance Ceremony. James Webb Space Telescope team members pose for a photo at the first-day-of-issue event for the United States Postal Services new stamp celebrating NASAs James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) on 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.

NASA Launch Director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, center, talks to engineers at Launch Pad 39B at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Blackwell-Thompson will observe the first major tanking operation of liquid oxygen, or LO2, into the giant storage sphere at the northwest corner of the pad to prepare for the launch of the agency's Orion spacecraft atop the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. During the operation, several Praxair trucks will slowly offload LO2 to gradually chill down the sphere from normal temperature to about negative 298 degrees Fahrenheit. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to pad B to support the launch of the SLS and Orion spacecraft for Exploration Mission-1, deep space missions and NASAs journey to Mars.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Betina Pavri, systems engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), speaks to a group of Tweetup participants at NASA Kennedy Space Center's Press Site in Florida during prelaunch activities for the agencys Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) launch as Allen Chen, also a systems engineer at JPL, looks on, at left.Following a series of briefings, participants will tour the center 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. MSL's components include a car-sized rover, Curiosity, which has 10 science instruments designed to search for signs of life, including methane, and help determine if the gas is from a biological or geological source. Liftoff of MSL aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from pad 41 is planned during a launch window which extends from 10:02 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. EST on Nov. 26.

At the opening of the Early Space Education and Conference Center, KSC Visitor Complex, the facility is dedicated to Dr.Kurt H. Debus, who served as the first director of the John F. Kennedy Space Center, 1962-1974. Attending the dedication are (left to right) Delaware North President Rick Abramson, Ute Debus, Center Director Roy Bridges and Sigi Debus Northcutt. Ute and Sigi are the daughters of Dr. Debus

VANDENBERG AFB, Calif. -- At Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana, left, and NASA Administrator Charles Bolden hold a plaque noting that the Partnership for Public Service has designated NASA first among large federal agencies at the best place to work in the federal government for 2012. In the background is Space Launch Complex 3E where an Atlas V rocket was poised for launch with the Landsat Data Continuity Mission 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. Lift

NASA Landing and Recovery Director Melissa Jones briefs the media on the success of Underway Recovery Test-7 on Nov. 7, 2018, at U.S. Naval Base San Diego. Seated, to the right of Jones is NASA astronaut Don Pettit. All of the recovery equipment that was created to safely bring Orion home passed verification and validation testing. The Recovery Team, along with the U.S. Navy, practice recovering the Orion test version as part of URT-7 in the Pacific Ocean. URT-7 is one in a series of tests to verify and validate procedures and hardware that will be used to recover the Orion spacecraft after it splashes down in the Pacific Ocean following deep space exploration missions. Orion will have emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities.

Apollo 17 astronaut, Harrison Schmitt, right, is interviewed by Kennedy Space Center public affairs officer, Megan Cruz, at the Operations Support Building II prior to the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft on NASAs SpaceX Crew-4 mission with NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Robert Hines, Jessica Watkins, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti onboard, Wednesday, April 27, 2022, at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASAs SpaceX Crew-4 mission is the fourth crew rotation mission of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station as part of the agencys Commercial Crew Program. Lindgren, Hines, Watkins, and Cristoforetti launched at 3:52 a.m. ET from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center to begin a six month mission onboard the orbital outpost.

DR. DEBRA BARNART AND THE APOLLO 16 CAPSULE ARE THE BACKDROP FOR ALABAMA GOVERNOR ROBERT BENTLEYS REMARKS AT AN EVENT AT THE DAVIDSON CENTER.

Kick-off event for Google NASA collaboration (held in the Ames Exploration Center 943A) with Ames Center Director Pete Worden (L) and Dan Clancy, Director of engineering Google

Mongolian Prime Minister and NASA Deputy Administrator Meet. NASA Earth Science Division Director Karen St. Germain, far right, talks with Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai of Mongolia, as they along with NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy tour NASAs Earth Information Center, Friday, Aug. 4, 2023, at the NASA Headquarters Mary W. Jackson Building in Washington. The Earth Information Center is a new immersive experience that combines live data sets with cutting-edge data visualization to show NASA data can improve lives in the face of disasters, environmental challenges, and our changing world.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA astronaut candidates Andrew Morgan, from left Josh Cassada, Tyler "Nick" Hague, Christina Hammock and Victor Glover tour one of the high bays of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center during a daylong set of briefings and tours of different facilities at NASA's primary launch center. The astronaut class of 2013 was selected by NASA after an extensive year-and-a-half search. The new group will help the agency push the boundaries of exploration and travel to new destinations in the solar system.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Center Director Robert Cabana addresses the audience at 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 Co

NASAs Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) command team at Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory monitoring the DART spacecrafts impact into the asteroid Dimorphos. The operation is the first of its kind test to redirect deadly asteroids from hitting Earth.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, second from left, 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, second from right, and NASA Deputy Associate Administrator for Exploration, Steve Clarke, right, questions as well as speak with two astronauts currently on the International Space Station, Nick Hague and Christina Koch. NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson, left, moderated the panel discussion.

Vice President Harris and President Yoon at GSFC. NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy speaks with Korean-American scientists during a tour of NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center with Vice President Kamala Harris and President Yoon Suk Yeol of the Republic of Korea, Tuesday, April 25, 2023, in Greenbelt, Md.

Apollo 8 astronaut Jim Lovell is seen with his flight plan from the mission that was among the artifacts on display during the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Spirit of Apollo event commemorating the 50th anniversary of Apollo 8, Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2018 at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, DC. Apollo 8 was humanity's first journey to another world, taking astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and William Anders to the Moon and back in December of 1968.

At a groundbreaking ceremony at KSC, Floridas Lt. Gov. Frank Brogan expresses his support of the Centers growth and important role of technology, especially through the International Space Station. The groundbreaking is for a roadway, to be known as Space Commerce Way, that will serve the public by providing a 24-hour access route through KSC from S.R. 3 to the NASA Causeway and KSC Visitor Complex. It is the start of a construction project that includes the Space Experiment Research and Processing Laboratory (SERPL). The project is enabled by a partnership and collaboration between NASA and the State of Florida to create a vital resource for international and commercial space customers. SERPL is considered a magnet facility, and will support the development and processing of life sciences experiments destined for the International Space Station and accommodate NASA, industry and academic researchers performing associated biological research

Trent Smith, a project manager in the ISS Exploration Research and Technology Program, displays microgreens grown in the same space dirt (arcillite) that is used in the plant pillows for the Veggie plant growth system on the International Space Station and in a 3-D-printed plastic matrix during the 2017 Innovation Expo showcase at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The purpose of the annual two-day event is to help foster innovation and creativity among the Kennedy workforce. The event included several keynote speakers, training opportunities, an innovation showcase and the KSC Kickstart competition.

Searra Weeks, from Kennedy Middle School, sings the National Anthem, at the signing ceremony for space shuttle Atlantis, background, Friday, Nov. 2, 2012, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. The spacecraft traveled 125,935,769 miles during 33 spaceflights, including 12 missions to the International Space Station. Its final flight, STS-135, closed out the Space Shuttle Program era with a landing on July 21, 2011.

Former Gemini and Apollo astronaut Tom Stafford speaks during the opening of the tribute exhibition to the Apollo 1 astronauts who perished in a fire at the launch pad on Jan. 27, 1967, during training for the mission. The tribute highlights the lives and careers of astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White II and Roger Chaffee who were lost during the fire. The tribute at the Apollo/Saturn V Center at NASA's Kennedy Space Center opened Jan. 27, 2017, 50 years after the crew of three was lost. It features numerous items recalling the lives of the three astronauts. The tribute also includes the three-part hatch to the spacecraft itself, the first time any part of the Apollo 1 spacecraft has been displayed publicly. A version of the hatch after it was redesigned is also showcased as an example of improvements NASA made throughout the agency and to the Apollo spacecraft that would later carry astronauts to the moon.

NASAs Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) command team at Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory monitoring the DART spacecrafts impact into the asteroid Dimorphos. The operation is the first of its kind test to redirect deadly asteroids from hitting Earth.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Before the arrival of the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, or AMS, to the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Professor Maurice Bourquin, AMS Swiss Coordinator, speaks to the media.AMS, a state-of-the-art particle physics detector, is designed to operate as an external module on the International Space Station. It will use the unique environment of space to study the universe and its origin by searching for dark matter. AMS will fly to the International Space Station aboard space shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 mission targeted to launch Feb. 26, 2011.

New Horizons missions managers including New Horizons principal investigator Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), Boulder, CO, behind door, wait for a signal from the spacecraft that it is healthy and collected data during the flyby of Ultima Thule, Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2019 at the Mission Operations Center of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Former astronaut Loren Shriver (center) is inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame May 3 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Presenting the medal are former inductees Al Worden (left) and Charles Bolden (right). Other inductees were John Blaha; Bryan O'Connor, NASA's chief of Safety and Mission Assurance at NASA Headquarters in Washington; and Bob Cabana, center director of NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. Other former astronauts attending included Scott Carpenter, John Young, Bob Crippen, and Walt Cunningham. The U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame is operated by Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex on behalf of NASA. CNN correspondent John Zarrella hosted the event.

Sustainable Flight Demonstrator Project Announcement. Brent Cobleigh, program manager for the Sustainable Flight Demonstrator at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center, center, answers a question from a member of the media during a news conference along with NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, left, and Todd Citron, chief technology officer, The Boeing Company, right, on NASAs Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project, Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington, DC. Through a Funded Space Act Agreement, The Boeing company and its industry team will collaborate with NASA to develop and flight-test a full-scale Transonic Truss-Braced Wing demonstrator aircraft.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Greg C. Shavers, Lander Technology director at Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama, speaks to members of the media during an event to announce the agency's Lunar Cargo Transportation and Landing by Soft Touchdown, or Lunar CATALYST, initiative and introduced one of the partners, Moon Express Inc. of Moffett Field, California. The event took place at Kennedy's automated landing and hazard avoidance technology, or ALHAT, hazard field at the north end of the Shuttle Landing Facility.Moon Express is developing a lander with capabilities that will enable delivery of payloads to the surface of the moon, as well as new science and exploration missions of interest to NASA and scientific and academic communities. Moon Express will base its activities at Kennedy and utilize the Morpheus ALHAT field and a hangar nearby for CATALYST testing. The Advanced Exploration Systems Division of NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate manages Lunar CATALYST

Technology Administration - NATIONAL MEDAL OF SCIENCE

Secretary Gale Norton, far left, touring the Mount Graham International Observatory, near Safford, Arizona. During the visit, Secretary Norton discussed forest management issues relevant to the area, affected by the summer's massive Nuttall and Gibson forest fires

K-10 (red) robot operations tests at Marscape (Ames Mars Yard) with remote operations from Ames Future Flight Centeral (FFC) Simulator, with Melissa Rice and Harrison 'Jack' Schmitt (Apollo 17 Astronaut)

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, CALIF. -- Viewed from the side, orbiter Discovery, with its seven-member crew, touches down on the landing strip at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., after an 11-day mission to the International Space Station. The orbiters main landing gear touched down on EAFB runway 22 at 5 p.m. With the aid of its drag chute, Discovery came to a complete stop at 5:01 p.m. At the conclusion of mission STS-92, Discovery and crew had traveled about 5.3 million statute miles. Following vehicle safing and preliminary offloading efforts, workers will begin preparations for Discoverys transcontinental ferry flight back to KSC on the back of NASAs modified Boeing 747

Inspection tour of NASA installations: Houston, Texas, motorcade, address at Rice University, 9:34AM. President John F. Kennedy delivers remarks at Rice University regarding the nations efforts in space exploration. Standing in back on speakers platform (applauding): Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson; Representative Albert Thomas (Texas); Representative George P. Miller (California). Rice University Stadium, Houston, Texas.

Apollo 8 astronaut Jim Lovell, left, Andrew Johnston, Vice President for Astronomy and Collections at Chicago's Adler Planetarium, center, and Ellen Stofan, Director of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, right, look at Lovell's Apollo 8 flight plan during the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Spirit of Apollo event commemorating the 50th anniversary of Apollo 8, Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2018 at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, DC. Apollo 8 was humanity's first journey to another world, taking astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and William Anders to the Moon and back in December of 1968.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At NASAs Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida, Astronaut Scholarship Foundation Chairman and Hall of Fame astronaut Charlie Duke inducts shuttle astronaut Franklin Chang Diaz into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame Class of 2012. At the podium to the left, is CNN correspondent and Master of Ceremonies John Zarrella. Also inducted into the Hall of Fame were shuttle astronauts Kevin Chilton and Charlie Precourt.The years inductees were selected by a committee of current Hall of Fame astronauts, former NASA officials, historians and journalists. The selection process is administered by the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation.

Technology Administration - NATIONAL MEDAL OF SCIENCE

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Closing NASA's 40th Anniversary of Apollo Celebration at the Apollo/Saturn V Center at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Center Director Bob Cabana thanks the Apollo astronauts who participated. Seen here (at left) are Al Worden, Edgar Mitchell, Walt Cunningham and Buzz Aldrin; at right is Charlie Duke. The celebration honored the July 1969 launch and landing on the moon.

Technology Administration - NATIONAL MEDAL OF SCIENCE

JPL Director Michael Watkins, standing, explains the history of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the use of the Mission Support Area to Vice President Mike Pence during a tour of JPL, Saturday, April 28, 2018 in Pasadena, California.

U.S. Geological Survey volcanologist Dan Miller speaking during press conference, concerning an aerial survey of Mount St. Helens and the status of the rumbling volcano that is the subject of an official volcano advisory, at the U.S. Geological Survey's Cascades Volcano Observatory in Vancouver, Washington

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In Firing Room 4 of the Launch Control Center at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Associate Administrator for Space Operations Bill Gerstenmaier and NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden monitor the countdown to launch of space shuttle Discovery on its STS-133 mission to the International Space Station. Discovery and its six-member crew are on a mission to deliver 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. Discovery is making its 39th mission and is scheduled to be retired following STS-133. This is the 133rd Space Shuttle Program mission and the 35th shuttle voyage to the space station.

After eight months of designing, building and testing, the middle school, high school and college and university teams launched their rockets as part of NASA Student Launch on Sunday, April 8. The rockets and their payloads are designed to fly to 1-mile in altitude before deploying recovery systems that brings them safely to the ground.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At NASAs Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida, Boy Scout Troop 369 from Merritt Island, Florida presents the colors as Jennifer Fiore sings the National Anthem to open the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Space shuttle astronauts Franklin Chang Diaz, Kevin Chilton and Charlie Precourt were inducted into the Hall of Fame Class of 2012.The years inductees were selected by a committee of current Hall of Fame astronauts, former NASA officials, historians and journalists. The selection process is administered by the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Dr. June Scobee Rodgers, the founding chair of the Challenger Center for Space Science Education and widow of space shuttle Challenger's STS-51L Commander Dick Scobee, speaks to a crowd gathered in front of the Space Mirror Memorial at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida to honor the Challenger 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.NASA/Jack Pfaller

Adam Savage, maker and host of Savage Builds, left, speaks with NASA Public Affairs Officer for Heliophysics, Karen Fox, just before NASA’s Giant Leaps: Past and Future," a live television program on Friday, July 19, 2019 on the National Mall 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.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - National Ice Center

From left to right: Dr. Oliver Ullrich from the University of Zurich, Dr. Ye Zhang and Dr. Howard Levine of NASA's Kennedy Space Center, and Dr. Cora Thiel of the University of Zurich stood in the Space Station Processing Facility on Dec. 18, 2018. NASA recently signed a Space Act Agreement with the university, which is located in Switzerland, to collaborate on biological research. The team is studying gene expression in altered gravity.

On July 16, 2019, the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 launch to the Moon; Apollo launch team member JoAnn Morgan, right, talks with a fellow team member in Launch Control Center Firing Room 1 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Morgan was the only female in the firing room during Apollo 11 launch countdown activities.

Technology Administration - NATIONAL MEDAL OF SCIENCE

President George Bush delivers an address to Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) employees during his visit to the center. President Bush gave NASA employees an objective to send missions back to the moon to stay then continue on to Mars, referring to the Space Station project.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- After signing a framework agreement establishing the terms for future cooperation between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization, Chairman G. Madhavan Nair (center) is given a tour of the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The agreement establishes the terms for future cooperation between the two agencies in the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes. According to the framework agreement, the two agencies will identify areas of mutual interest and seek to develop cooperative programs or projects in Earth and space science, exploration, human space flight and other activities. In addition to a long history of cooperation in Earth science, NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization also are cooperating on India's first, mission to the moon, Chandrayaan-1, which will be launched later this year. NASA is providing two of the 11 instruments on the spacecraft: the moon mineralogy mapper instrument

Stage setting for ceremonies at Department of Interior headquarters, Washington, D.C., marking the naming of Columbia Point, a 13,980-feet peak in Colorado's Sangre de Cristo Mountains, in honor of the Space Shuttle Columbia's last voyage

U.S. Geological Survey volcanologist Dan Miller speaking during press conference, concerning an aerial survey of Mount St. Helens and the status of the rumbling volcano that is the subject of an official volcano advisory, at the U.S. Geological Survey's Cascades Volcano Observatory in Vancouver, Washington

Media Day for Ares 1-X

NASA's Administrator, Charles Bolden, conducts an experiment using circuits at NASA's Earth Day event. The event took place at Union Station in Washington, DC on April 22, 2014.

Mercury astronauts John Glenn, left, and Scott Carpenter sit in front of the plot board from the Mercury control center on display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. The astronauts, part of the original class of seven astronauts chosen by NASA, were taking part in a question-and-answer session with the media as part of events celebrating 50 years of Americans in orbit, an era which began with John Glenn's Mercury mission MA-6, 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 was grounded by a medical condition until the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in 1975.

NASA and MSIT Joint Statement Signing. NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy and MSIT Minister Jong-Ho Lee pose for a photo after signing a Joint Statement of Intent to advance cooperation in exploration and science between NASA and the Ministry of Science and ICT of the Republic of Korea, Tuesday, April 25, 2023, at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

Colombian Vice President and Foreign Minister, Marta Lucía Ramírez, left, and NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy speak before Vice President Ramírez signs the Artemis Accords, Tuesday, May 10, 2022, at NASA Headquarters in Washington DC. Colombia is the nineteenth country to sign the Artemis Accords, which establish a practical set of principles to guide space exploration cooperation among nations participating in NASAs Artemis program.

U.S. Geological Survey volcanologist Dan Miller speaking during press conference, concerning an aerial survey of Mount St. Helens and the status of the rumbling volcano that is the subject of an official volcano advisory, at the U.S. Geological Survey's Cascades Volcano Observatory in Vancouver, Washington

Kathy Lueders, program manager of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, speaks, as Former astronaut Bob Cabana, director of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, left, and Astronaut Mike Fincke, a former commander of the International Space Station look on during a news conference where it was announced that Boeing and SpaceX have been selected to transport U.S. crews to and from the International Space Station using the Boeing CST-100 and the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2014. These Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) contracts are designed to complete the NASA certification for a human space transportation system capable of carrying people into orbit. Once certification is complete, NASA plans to use these systems to transport astronauts to the space station and return them safely to Earth.

Vice President Harris and French President Macron meet at NASA HQ. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and President of the Centre National dEtudes Spatiales (CNES) Dr. Philippe Baptiste sign an agreement for the Farside Seismic Suite (FSS), Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022 at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. The FSS will return the first lunar seismic data from the far side of the Moon. CNES is contributing one of the seismometers to this payload, which will be delivered via NASAs Commercial Lunar Payloads Services (CLPS) initiative, based on heritage capabilities from the Mars InSight mission.

U.S. Geological Survey volcanologist Dan Miller speaking during press conference, concerning an aerial survey of Mount St. Helens and the status of the rumbling volcano that is the subject of an official volcano advisory, at the U.S. Geological Survey's Cascades Volcano Observatory in Vancouver, Washington

Apollo Astronaut Fred Haise visiting NASA Langley historic gantry where Fred once trained to fly the lunar lander.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A wreath honoring former NASA astronaut Steven R. Nagel is displayed beside his photo at the Space Shuttle Atlantis exhibit at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. Nagel died Aug. 21 after a long illness. He was 67 years old. Nagel served as a mission specialist on his first space shuttle flight, STS-51G, in 1985. He was pilot on his second shuttle flight, STS-61A, also in 1985. He commanded his final two flights, STS-37 and STS-55, in 1991 and 1993, respectively. He logged a total of 723 hours in space.

NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, right, claps after Colombian Vice President and Foreign Minister, Marta Lucía Ramírez, left, signed the Artemis Accords, Tuesday, May 10, 2022, at NASA Headquarters in Washington DC. Colombia is the nineteenth country to sign the Artemis Accords, which establish a practical set of principles to guide space exploration cooperation among nations participating in NASAs Artemis program.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, President Keiji Tachikawa signs an agreement defining the terms of cooperation between NASA and JAXA on the Global Precipitation Measurement, or GPM, mission. The ceremony took place July 30 at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Fla. Through the agreement, NASA is responsible for the GPM core observatory spacecraft bus, the GPM Microwave Imager, or GMI, carried by it, and a second GMI to be flown on a partner-provided Low-Inclination Observatory. JAXA will supply the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar for the core observatory, an H-IIA rocket for the core observatory's launch in July 2013, and data from a conical-scanning microwave imager on the upcoming Global Change Observation Mission satellite.

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