NASA Vehicle Assembly Building Upgrades

Images of the NASA Vehicle Assembly Building show cranes, platforms, and personnel preparing for upgrades and modifications, with a focus on safety and efficiency for future space missions.

Detail with crane and dry-dock. Boathouse 4, Portsmouth, United Kingdom. Architect: Walters and Cohen Ltd, 2015.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, preparations are underway to remove a portion of the catwalk on the east side of Level 16 to allow room for the removal of the 175-ton crane that is situated above the transfer aisle. The crane will be lowered to the floor to perform upgrades to its 45-year-old controls in order to improve reliability, precision and safety.The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to the VAB. The crane will be upgraded so that it can support lifting needs for NASA and other exploration vehicles, including the agency's Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane is used to lift up a portion of the catwalk on the east side of Level 16. The catwalk is being removed to allow room for the removal of the 175-ton crane that is situated above the transfer aisle. The crane will be lowered to the floor to perform upgrades to its 45-year-old controls in order to improve reliability, precision and safety. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to the VAB. The crane will be upgraded so that it can support lifting needs for NASA and other exploration vehicles, including the agency's Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft.

Inside High Bay 2 in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Orion heat shield from Exploration Flight Test-1 is secured on foam blocks. The heat shield is being transferred from the Orion Program to the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program, Landing and Recovery Operations. In the VAB, the heat shield will be integrated with the Orion ground test article and used for future underway recovery testing.

Construction workers watch as a crane lifts the final work platform, A north, high up from the transfer aisle in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The platform will be installed and secured on its rail beam high up on the north wall of High Bay 3. The installation of the final topmost level completes the 10 levels of work platforms, 20 platform halves altogether, that will surround NASA's Space Launch System rocket and the Orion spacecraft and allow access during processing for missions, including the first uncrewed flight test of Orion atop the SLS rocket in 2018. The A-level platforms will provide access to the Orion spacecraft's Launch Abort System for Orion lifting sling removal and installation of the closeout panels. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program, with support from the center's Engineering Directorate, is overseeing upgrades and modifications to the VAB, including installation of the new work platforms.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane lowers a space shuttle-era work platform from high bay 3 inside the Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB. The platform has been moved to the VAB north parking area for temporary storage. The work is part of a center-wide refurbishment initiative under the Ground Systems Development and Operations, or GSDO, Program. High bay 3 is being refurbished to accommodate NASAs Space Launch System and a variety of other spacecraft.

Interior View of Orbiter Processing Facility 3

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), a segment of a Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) is lifted from a transporter toward the 16th level. This right aft center segment will be stacked with the aft booster that arrived in the VAB Nov. 22 for the Return to Flight mission STS-114. Two SRBs are stacked on the Mobile Launch Platform and later joined by the External Tank.. The twin 149-foot tall, 12-foot diameter SRBs provide the main propulsion system during launch. They operate parallel with the Space Shuttle main engines for the first two minutes of flight and jettison away from the orbiter with help from the Booster Separation Motors, about 26.3 nautical miles above the Earths surface.

The Orion heat shield from Exploration Flight Test-1 has arrived in High Bay 2 in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The heat shield was moved from the Launch Abort System Facility. The heat shield is being transferred from the Orion Program to the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program, Landing and Recovery Operations. In the VAB, the heat shield will be integrated with the Orion ground test article and used for future underway recovery testing.

Detail with crane and dry-dock. Boathouse 4, Portsmouth, United Kingdom. Architect: Walters and Cohen Ltd, 2015.

Ship building shoot inside of shipyard

ORION Mock-up, Testing of Clean Room in High Bay 3

Preparations are underway to lift the second half of the K-level work platforms for NASAs Space Launch System (SLS) rocket up from High Bay 4 inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The platform will be lifted up and over the transfer aisle and then lowered into High Bay 3 for installation. It will be secured about 86 feet above the VAB floor, on tower E of the high bay. The K work platforms will provide access to the SLS core stage and solid rocket boosters during processing and stacking operations on the mobile launcher. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to High Bay 3 to support processing of the SLS and Orion spacecraft. A total of 10 levels of new platforms, 20 platform halves altogether, will surround the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft.

Interior View of Orbiter Processing Facility 3

MMRTG Loaded into Spacecraft at VIF

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - As part of NASA's Ground Systems Development and Operations Program at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a large space shuttle-era work platform is being removed from high bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB. The work is part of a center-wide modernization and refurbishment initiative to accommodate NASAs Space Launch System and a variety of other spacecraft instead of the whole building supporting one design.The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is developing the necessary ground systems, infrastructure and operational approaches required to safely process, assemble, transport and launch the next generation of rockets and spacecraft in support of NASAs exploration objectives. Future work also will replace the antiquated communications, power and vehicle access resources with modern efficient systems. Some of the utilities and systems slated for replacement have been used since the VAB opened in 1965.

'Old Smethwick' Canal Pumping Engine, 1779. Makers: Matthew Boulton & James Watt. The Smethwick Engine was installed near Birmingham and was brought into service in May 1779. Now at Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum, it is the oldest working steam engine in the world. Originally, it was one of two steam engines used to pump water back up to the 491 foot (150 m) summit level of the BCN Old Main Line (Birmingham Canal) canal at Smethwick, not far from the Soho Foundry where it was made.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside Orbiter Processing Facility-1 at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a large crane lifts a dome heat shield that will be installed around one of space shuttle Discoverys three replica shuttle main engines. The dome heat shields are composed of two, semi-circle-shaped sections of thermal protection system tiles that surround the engines. 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. - As part of NASA's Ground Systems Development and Operations Program at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a large space shuttle-era work platform is being removed from high bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB. The work is part of a center-wide modernization and refurbishment initiative to accommodate NASAs Space Launch System and a variety of other spacecraft instead of the whole building supporting one design.The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is developing the necessary ground systems, infrastructure and operational approaches required to safely process, assemble, transport and launch the next generation of rockets and spacecraft in support of NASAs exploration objectives. Future work also will replace the antiquated communications, power and vehicle access resources with modern efficient systems. Some of the utilities and systems slated for replacement have been used since the VAB opened in 1965.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers move a crawler-transporter under NASA's new mobile launcher (ML) support structure. The crawler will transport the ML from a construction site, north of the Vehicle Assembly Building, to the Mobile Launcher east park site. Once there, the ML can be outfitted with ground support equipment, such as umbilicals and access arms, for future rocket launches.It took about two years to construct the 355-foot-tall structure, which will support NASA's future human spaceflight program. The base of the launcher is lighter than space shuttle mobile launcher platforms so the crawler-transporter can pick up the heavier load of the tower and a taller rocket.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - As part of NASA's Ground Systems Development and Operations Program at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a large space shuttle-era work platform is being removed from high bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB. The work is part of a center-wide modernization and refurbishment initiative to accommodate NASAs Space Launch System and a variety of other spacecraft instead of the whole building supporting one design. Visible in the lower-left background is the space shuttle Atlantis being readied for its move to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is developing the necessary ground systems, infrastructure and operational approaches required to safely process, assemble, transport and launch the next generation of rockets and spacecraft in support of NASAs exploration objectives. Future work also will replace the antiquated communications, power and vehicle access resources with modern efficien

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility, an overhead crane lowers the Pressurized Mating Adapter -3 (PMA-3) into a payload canister for transport to the Orbiter Processing Facility. Workers at the sides and below watch the process. The PMA-3, a component of the International Space Station, is part of the payload on Space Shuttle mission STS-92, scheduled to launch Oct. 5. The mission will be the fifth flight to the Space Station, and the 100th Shuttle flight overall. PMA-3 provides shuttle docking port for solar array installation on flight 4A (mission STS-97 scheduled for Nov. 30), and Lab installation on flight 5A (mission STS-98, scheduled for Jan. 18, 2001)

Interior of underground hydro power house in kevadia colony Gujarat India Copyright: xHarixMahidhar/DinodiaxPhotox

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- An overhead crane in the Operations and Checkout Building hovers over the Joint Airlock Module (right) that it will lift and place in the payload canister in the foreground. The canister will transfer the module to the Space Station Processing Facility where it will continue to undergo preflight processing for the STS-104 mission scheduled for launch aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis May 17, 2001. The Joint Airlock Module is the gateway from which crew members aboard the International Space Station will enter and exit the 470-ton orbiting research facility

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Vehicle Assembly Building, the suspended external tank No. 117 has been lowered 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.

Interior of industrial plant. CoppenHill Power Plant, Copenhagen, Denmark. Architect: BIG Bjarke Ingels Group, 2019.

NTS A88 751 08-11-88 SANDIA NATIONAL LABS U12N MISTY ECHO CAVITY CONSTRUCTION DONOHOE (Project Engineer) Publication Date: 8/11/1988 CAVITY CONSTRUCTION; CONSTRUCTION; CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT; CONSTRUCTION PROGRESS; DONOHOE; MISTY ECHO; NEVADA; NEVADA TEST SITE; NTS; NUCLEAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGY; NUCLEAR TESTING; NUCLEAR TESTS; SANDIA NATIONAL LABORATORIES; SCAFFOLDING; TEST SITES; TUNNELS; U12N; U12N MISTY ECHO; UGT; UNDERGROUND; UNDERGROUND TESTING; WEAPONS EFFECTS; WEAPONS TECHNOLOGY; FIBER OPTICS historical images. 1972 - 2012. Department of Energy. National Nuclear Security Administration. Photographs Related to Nuclear Weapons Testing at the Nevada Test Site.

Male and female experts standing on staircase at power station

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In Orbiter Processing Facility-3 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a lifting device is moved over space shuttle Discovery's payload bay to remove the orbiter boom sensor system, or OBSS. The workers are dressed in clean-room attire, known as 'bunny suits.' The 50-foot-long OBSS attaches to the end of the shuttles robotic arm and supports the cameras and laser systems used to inspect the shuttles thermal protection system while in space. The OBSS' inspection boom assembly, or IBA, is removed from the arm every other processing flow for a detailed inspection. After five consecutive flights, all IBA internal components are submitted to a thorough electrical checkout in Kennedy's Remote Manipulator System Lab. Discovery next will deliver the first Permanent Multi-purpose Module, or PMM; the Express Logistics Carrier 4; and critical spare parts to the International Space Station on the STS-133 mission. Launch is targeted for Sept. 16.

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians prepare an ogive panel for lifting by crane so that it can be installed on the Orion ground test vehicle in Vehicle Assembly Building high bay 4. The ogive panels enclose the Orion spacecraft and attach to the Launch Abort System. The test vehicle is being used Ground Systems Development and Operations Program for path finding operations, including simulated manufacturing, assembly and stacking procedures.Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to destinations not yet explored by humans, including an asteroid and Mars. It will have emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. The first unpiloted test flight of Orion is scheduled to launch in 2014 atop a Delta IV rocket and in 2017 on NASAs Space Launch System rocket.

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, an upper rail is being removed in high bay 3 as part of the modifications for the Constellation Program's Ares vehicles. The Ares I and Ares V rockets will be 325 feet and 360 feet tall, respectively, considerably taller than the space shuttle atop its mobile launcher platform.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Workers begin de-stacking a mock Orion capsule and service module in the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The stack has been used to evaluate potential techniques to be used in assembling the Orion and service module for operational flights in the future.

Ares 1-X in Vehicle Assembly Building

Leeds Arena, Concert Hall, Europe, United Kingdom, Yorkshire, 2013, Populous. Giant air handling unit ducts.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, construction workers lower the large space shuttle-era Level E north work platform from high bay 3 inside the Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB. The platform will be moved to the VAB north parking area for temporary storage.The work is part of a center-wide refurbishment initiative under the Ground Systems Development and Operations, or GSDO, Program. High bay 3 is being refurbished to accommodate NASAs Space Launch System and a variety of other spacecraft.

Orion's European Service Module is loaded on the Antonov airplane in Bremen, Germany on Nov. 5, 2018 for transport to Kennedy Space Center...For the first time, NASA will use a European-built system as a critical element to power an American spacecraft, extending the international cooperation of the International Space Station into deep space. The European Service Module is a unique collaboration across space agencies and industry including ESAs prime contractor, Airbus, and 10 European countries. The completion of service module work in Europe and shipment to Kennedy signifies a major milestone toward NASAs human deep space exploration missions to the Moon and beyond.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Viewed from inside the altitude chamber in the Operations and Checkout Building's high bay, the Rotation Handling Fixture (RHF), with a simulated module attached, is lowered during a test. Under normal operation, the RHF will hold a pressurized module intended for the International Space Station, depositing it into the altitude chamber for leak testing. The chamber was recently reactivated after a 24-year hiatus. Originally, two chambers were built to test Apollo Program flight hardware. They were last used in 1975 during the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. In 1997, in order to increase the probability of successful missions aboard the ISS, NASA decided to perform leak tests on ISS pressurized modules at the launch site. After installation of new vacuum pumping equipment and controls, a new control room, and a new rotation and handling fixture, the chamber again became operational in February 1999. The chamber, which is 33 feet in diameter and 50 feet tall, is

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The upper stage simulator segments are positioned across the floor of the Vehicle Assembly Building's high bay 4 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Four of the segments are already stacked. The upper stage simulator will be used in the test flight identified as Ares I-X in 2009. 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. Ares I is the essential core of a safe, reliable, cost-effective space transportation system that eventually will carry crewed missions back to the moon, on to Mars and out into the solar system. Ares I may also use its 25-ton payload capacity to deliver resources and supplies to the International Space Station, or to "park" payloads in orbit for retrieval by other spacecraft bound for the moon or other destinations. The upper stage simulator comprises 11 segments, each approximately 18 feet in diameter. The simulator segments will simulate the mass

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, this platform is lifted from an upper level in high bay 3. Its removal is part of the refurbishment of the facility for the Constellation Program's Ares 1-X vehicle. The Ares I and Ares V rockets will be more than 325 feet tall, considerably taller than the space shuttle atop its mobile launcher platform.

SLS ENGINE SECTION TEST STAND READY FOR STRUCTURAL TEST ARTICLE

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane lifts a space shuttle-era work platform from high bay 3 inside the Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB. The platform has been moved to the VAB north parking area for temporary storage. The work is part of a center-wide refurbishment initiative under the Ground Systems Development and Operations, or GSDO, Program. High bay 3 is being refurbished to accommodate NASAs Space Launch System and a variety of other spacecraft.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Orbiter Processing Facility, one of two Materials International Space Station Experiments, or MISSE, is moved across facility toward space shuttle Endeavour. The MISSE is part of the payload onboard Endeavour for mission STS-123 and will be installed in the payload bay. The MISSE project is a NASA/Langley Research Center-managed cooperative endeavor to fly materials and other types of space exposure experiments on the International Space Station. The objective is to develop early, low-cost, non-intrusive opportunities to conduct critical space exposure tests of space materials and components planned for use on future spacecraft.

Crane Series, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada

The Orion Lockheed Martin team continues fabricating and assembling composite structures for the Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) Orion service module and launch abort system at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans on Feb. 5, 2013. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.

EON Nuclear Power Plant Isar II, reactor building, spent fuel pool, refueling stage, Essenbach, Bavaria, Germany, Europe

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - As part of NASA's Ground Systems Development and Operations Program at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a large space shuttle-era work platform is being removed from high bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB. The work is part of a center-wide modernization and refurbishment initiative to accommodate NASAs Space Launch System and a variety of other spacecraft instead of the whole building supporting one design.The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is developing the necessary ground systems, infrastructure and operational approaches required to safely process, assemble, transport and launch the next generation of rockets and spacecraft in support of NASAs exploration objectives. Future work also will replace the antiquated communications, power and vehicle access resources with modern efficient systems. Some of the utilities and systems slated for replacement have been used since the VAB opened in 1965.

Exterior view of Launch Complex 39A

A heavy-lift crane lowers the second half of the D-level work platforms, D north, for NASAs Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, into position for installation in High Bay 3 in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at the agencys Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The platform will be installed on the north side of the high bay. The D platforms are the seventh of 10 levels of work platforms that will surround and provide access to the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft for Exploration Mission 1. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to VAB High Bay 3, including installation of the new work platforms, to prepare for NASAs journey to Mars.

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A southwest view showing the demolition of the interior of the Mobile Service Tower. Base: Vandenberg Air Force Base State: California (CA) Country: United States Of America (USA)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Vehicle Assembly Building's High Bay 4, assembly of the Ares I-X rocket nears completion. The yellow framework, nicknamed the "birdcage," lifts Super Stack 5 toward an opening at the 16th floor crossover into the transfer aisle. The stack will be positioned on top of the segments already in place on the mobile launcher platform in High Bay 3, completing assembly of the 327-foot-tall rocket. Five super stacks make up the rocket's upper stage that is integrated with the four-segment solid rocket booster first stage. 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.

ERA COLTS 30 Toot Checkout Structure Installation: Document relocation of COLTS loading platen 30 Foot Station and installation of 30 Foot Checkout Structure

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Compartment of the ship under construction

NASA engineers install test hardware for the agency's new heavy lift rocket, the Space Launch System, into a newly constructed 50-foot structural test stand at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. In the stand, hydraulic cylinders will be electronically controlled to push, pull, twist and bend the test article with millions of pounds of force. Engineers will record and analyze over 3,000 channels of data for each test case to verify the capabilities of the engine section and validate that the design and analysis models accurately predict the amount of loads the core stage can withstand during launch and ascent. The engine section, recently delivered via NASA's barge Pegasus from NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility, is the first of four core stage structural test articles scheduled to be delivered to Marshall for testing. The engine section, located at the bottom of SLS's massive core stage, will house the rocket's four RS-25 engines and be an attachment point for the two solid rocket boos

Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane is used to lift the Space Launch System (SLS) Core Stage pathfinder high up in the transfer aisle on Oct. 16, 2019. The pathfinder is being lifted up to the 16th level and will be lowered into High Bay 3. 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.

Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, construction workers continue with refurbishment and upgrades to the 175-ton crane on the ground floor of the transfer aisle. The crane's 45-year-old controls are being upgraded to improve reliability, precision and safety. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to the crane so that it can support lifting needs for NASA and other exploration vehicles, including the agency's Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - This bird's-eye view of a high bay in the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) shows Space Shuttle Atlantis surrounded by the standard platforms and equipment required to process a Space Shuttle orbiter for flight. The high bay is 197 feet (60 meters) long, 150 feet (46 meters) wide, 95 feet (29 meters) high, and encompasses a 29,000-square-foot (2,694-meter) area. Platforms, a main access bridge, and two rolling bridges with trucks provide access to various parts of the orbiter. The next mission scheduled for Atlantis is STS-114, a utilization and logistics flight to the International Space Station.

A view from below the mobile launcher shows a crane positioning the bracket for the Orion Service Module Umbilical (OSMU) high up 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 rocket and Orion spacecraft for Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1). The OSMU will be located high on the mobile launcher tower and, prior to launch, will transfer liquid coolant for the electronics and air for the Environmental Control System to the Orion service module that houses these critical systems to support the spacecraft. EM-1 is scheduled to launch in 2018. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing installation of the umbilicals.

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Expedition 9 Commander Gennady Padalka, Flight Engineer, NASA Science Officer Mike Fincke and European Space Agency astronaut Andre Kuipers of the Netherlands do their final fit check in the Soyuz capsule at building 254 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Wednesday, April 14, 2004.

This photograph shows the left side of the solid rocket booster (SRB) segment as it awaits being mated to the nose cone and forward skirt in the Dynamic Test Stand at the east test area of the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). The SRB would be attached to the external tank (ET) and then the orbiter later for the Mated Vertical Ground Vibration Test (MVGVT), that resumed in October 1978. The stacking of a complete Shuttle in the Dynamic Test Stand allowed test engineers to perform ground vibration testing on the Shuttle in its liftoff configuration. The purpose of the MVGVT was to verify that the Space Shuttle would perform as predicted during launch. The platforms inside the Dynamic Test Stand were modified to accommodate two SRB's to which the ET was attached.

Reconstruction Kulturpalast Dresden

Panorama of blast furnace workshop of metallurgical plant

Engineers and technicians at the Marshall Space Flight Center were installing an F-I engine on the Saturn V S-IC (first) stage thrust structure in building 4705. The S-IC (first) stage used five F-1 engines that produced a total thrust of 7,500,000 pounds as each engine produced 1,500,000 pounds of thrust. The S-IC stage lifted the Saturn V vehicle and Apollo spacecraft from the launch pad.

Photo from Stal-Laval Turbine.

The P-1 truss, a component of the International Space Station, is moved the length of the Operations and Checkout Building to its work stand where it will undergo processing. Scheduled to fly in spring of 2002, the P-1 is part of a total 10-truss, girder-like structure on the Station that will ultimately extend the length of a football field. Astronauts will attach the 14-by-15 foot structure to the port side of the center truss, S0, during the spring assembly flight. The 33,000-pound P-1 will house the thermal radiator rotating joint (TRRJ) that will rotate the Stations radiators away from the sun to increase their maximum cooling efficiency

A87689 U12P MISSION CYBER SCATTER STATION KECK (PROJECT ENGINEER) MAY 21 87 EG&G/NTS PHOTO LAB Publication Date: 5/21/1987 CHAINS; CHAINS BY TYPE; EDGERTON, GERMESHAUSEN & GRIER; EG&G; EQUIPMENT; EQUIPMENT & INSTRUMENTS; INSTRUMENTS; INSTRUMENTS & EQUIPMENT; MISSION CYBER; NEVADA; NEVADA TEST SITE; NTS; NUCLEAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGY; NUCLEAR TESTING; NUCLEAR TESTS; PIPES; SCATTER STATION; TEST SITES; TUNNELS; UGT; UNDERGROUND; UNDERGROUND TESTING; U12P MISSION CYBER SCATTER STA 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 lift the second half of the K-level work platforms for NASAs Space Launch System (SLS) rocket up from High Bay 4 inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The platform will be lifted up and over the transfer aisle and then lowered into High Bay 3 for installation. It will be secured about 86 feet above the VAB floor, on tower E of the high bay. The K work platforms will provide access to the SLS core stage and solid rocket boosters during processing and stacking operations on the mobile launcher. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to High Bay 3 to support processing of the SLS and Orion spacecraft. A total of 10 levels of new platforms, 20 platform halves altogether, will surround the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Ares IX upper stage segments ballast assemblies are positioned along the floor of high bay 4 in the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center, part of the preparations for the test of the Ares IX rocket. These ballast assemblies will be installed in the upper stage 1 and 7 segments and will mimic the mass of the fuel. Their total weight is approximately 160,000 pounds. The test launch of the Ares IX in 2009 will be the first designed to determine the flight-worthiness of the Ares I rocket. Ares I is an in-line, two-stage rocket that will transport the Orion crew exploration vehicle to low-Earth orbit. The Ares I first stage will be a five-segment solid rocket booster based on the four-segment design used for the space shuttle. Ares Is fifth booster segment allows the launch vehicle to lift more weight and reach a higher altitude before the first stage separates from the upper stage, which ignites in midflight to propel the Orion spacecraft to

Equipment inside of mill building, Britannia Mine Museum, Britannia Beach, British Columbia

Jose Martinez, an instrumentation engineer with Jacobs, runs the winch line out to the test version of the Orion capsule in the well deck of the USS John P. Murtha, during Underway Recovery Test-7 (URT-7) on Oct. 31, 2018, in the Pacific Ocean. Exploration Ground Systems and the U.S. Navy are using the mock Orion to verify and validate processes, procedures, hardware and personnel during recovery of Orion in open waters. URTs are a series of tests to verify and validate procedures and hardware that will be used to recover the Orion spacecraft after it splashed 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.

High up in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, an overhead crane has lowered the final work platform, A north, into place for installation in High Bay 3. The platform is being installed and secured on its rail beam high up on the north wall of the high bay. In view below the A platforms are the nine previously installed platform levels. The installation of the final topmost level completes the 10 levels of work platforms, 20 platform halves altogether, that will surround NASA's Space Launch System rocket and the Orion spacecraft and allow access during processing for missions, including the first uncrewed flight test of Orion atop the SLS rocket in 2018. The A-level platforms will provide access to the Orion spacecraft's Launch Abort System for Orion lifting sling removal and installation of the closeout panels. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program, with support from the center's Engineering Directorate, is overseeing upgrades

LVSA AFT CONE SECTION POST WELD #8 INTERIOR VIEW OF CONE

VANDENBERG AFB, California - The payload fairing in place over NASA's SMAP spacecraft inside the service structure at Space Launch Complex-2 at Vandenberg AFB, California - the launch site for NASA's SMAP spacecraft. For more, go to www.nasa.gov/smap

The engine vertical installer for NASAs Space Launch System (SLS) arrives inside the Vehicle Assembly at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 25, 2019. The engine installer arrived from the manufacturer, Precision Fabrication and Cleaning in Canaveral Groves, Florida. The new ground support equipment will be ready for preflight processing in the event one of the four RS-25 engines on the core stage of the SLS rocket needs to be replaced. During launch of the SLS and Orion spacecraft, the four core stage engines will provide the thrust needed to lift the rocket and Orion spacecraft off Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy for Exploration Mission-1. The uncrewed Orion will travel on a three-week test mission thousands of miles beyond the Moon and back to Earth for a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

BOEING DELTA 4 SHROUD SEPARATION TEST IN SPACE POWER FACILITY AT NASA PLUM BROOK STATION

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, ground support technicians prepare for removal of the outboard and inboard sprocket shaft assemblies on the C truck of crawler-transporter 2, or CT-2. A section of the treads on the C truck were removed to allow access to the sprocket assemblies.Work continues in high bay 2 to upgrade CT-2. The modifications are designed to ensure CT-2s ability to transport launch vehicles currently in development, such as the agencys Space Launch System, to the launch pad. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program office at Kennedy is overseeing the upgrades. For more than 45 years the crawler-transporters were used to transport the mobile launcher platform and the Apollo-Saturn V rockets and, later, space shuttles to Launch Pads 39A and B.

Inside the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Horizontal Integration Facility at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) for NASA's Space Launch System rocket was removed from its shipping container and then lowered and secured onto a movable transport stand. The ICPS is the first integrated piece of flight hardware to arrive for the SLS. The ICPS arrived from the ULA facility in Decatur, Alabama. The ICPS is the in-space stage that is located toward the top of the rocket, between the Launch Vehicle Stage Adapter and the Orion Spacecraft Adapter. It will provide some of the in-space propulsion during Orion's first flight test atop the SLS on Exploration Mission 1.

A heavy-lift crane lowers the first half of the B-level work platforms, B south, for NASAs Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, for installation on the south side of High Bay 3 in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Large Tandemloc bars have been attached to the platform to keep it level during lifting and installation. In view below are eight levels of previously installed platforms. The B platforms are the ninth of 10 levels of work platforms that will surround and provide access to the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft for Exploration Mission 1. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to VAB High Bay 3, including installation of the new work platforms, to prepare for NASAs Journey to Mars.

Blower hall of a steel mill, Volklinger Hutte, Volklingen, Saarland, Germany

A heavy-lift crane lifts the first half of the C-level work platforms, C south, for NASAs Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, high up from the transfer aisle floor of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Large Tandemloc bars have been attached to the platform to keep it level during lifting and installation. The B platform will be moved into High Bay 3 for installation on the south wall. The B platforms are the ninth of 10 levels of work platforms that will surround and provide access to the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft for Exploration Mission 1. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to VAB High Bay 3, including installation of the new work platforms, to prepare for NASAs Journey to Mars.

Blast furnace

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Orbiter Processing Facility bay 2, an overhead crane begins lifting the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo and the integrated cargo carrier next to it out of Discoverys payload bay. The MPLM has just returned from its first round trip to the International Space Station on mission STS-102. Attached to the length of the payload bay, next to Leonardo, is the robotic arm that was used to remove and position Leonardo on the ISS. Leonardo will be transferred to the SSPF to prepare it for future missions. The MPLM serves as a cargo van, carrying equipment and supplies to the Space Station

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, workers monitor an overhead crane as it lowers the Centaur upper stage for the United Launch Alliance Atlas V, slated to launch NASA's Juno spacecraft, into position in the Vertical Integration Facility (VIF). It then will be attached to the Atlas V booster stage, already at the pad.Juno is scheduled to launch aboard an Atlas V from Cape Canaveral, Fla. Aug. 5.The solar-powered spacecraft will orbit Jupiter's poles 33 times to find out more about the gas giant's origins, structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere and investigate the existence of a solid planetary core.

A820282 U12G LOS MODELS ASSEMBLY CARL SMITH (PROJECT ENGINEER) JAN 21 82 EG&G/NTS PHOTO LAB Publication Date: 1/21/1982 EDGERTON, GERMESHAUSEN & GRIER; EG&G; EQUIPMENT; EQUIPMENT & INSTRUMENTS; INSTRUMENTS; INSTRUMENTS & EQUIPMENT; LADDERS; LIFTING & LOWERING DEVICES; LOAD LIFTER; LOS MODELS ASSEMBLY; NEVADA; NEVADA TEST SITE; NTS; NUCLEAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGY; NUCLEAR TESTING; NUCLEAR TESTS; TEST SITES; UGT; UNDERGROUND TESTING; WIRE & CABLES historical images. 1972 - 2012. Department of Energy. National Nuclear Security Administration. Photographs Related to Nuclear Weapons Testing at the Nevada Test Site.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - As part of NASA's Ground Systems Development and Operations Program at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle-era work platforms have been removed from high bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB. The work is part of a center-wide modernization and refurbishment initiative to accommodate NASAs Space Launch System and a variety of other spacecraft instead of the whole building supporting one design. Visible in the lower background is the space shuttle Atlantis being readied for its move to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is developing the necessary ground systems, infrastructure and operational approaches required to safely process, assemble, transport and launch the next generation of rockets and spacecraft in support of NASAs exploration objectives. Future work also will replace the antiquated communications, power and vehicle access resources with modern efficient systems. S

Industrial ship that digs sand in the Panama Canal

A crane lifts the second half of the B-level work platforms, B north, for NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, high up in the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The B north platform will lowered into High Bay 3 for installation on the north side of the high bay. The B platforms are the ninth of 10 levels of work platforms that will surround and provide access to the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft for Exploration Mission 1. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to VAB High Bay 3, including installation of the new work platforms, to prepare for NASAs Journey to Mars.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Members of the STS-111 crew (dressed in green) look over equipment in the payload bay of Endeavour. The crew comprises Commander Kenneth Cockrell, Pilot Paul Lockhart and Mission Specialists Franklin Chang-Diaz and Phillipe Perrin, who is with the French Space Agency (CNES). The crew is taking part in a Crew Equipment Interface Test in preparation for launch. Mission STS-111 will carry to the International Space Station the Multipurpose Logistics Module (MPLM), filled with experiment racks and three stowage and resupply racks, and the Mobile Base System (MBS), which will attach to the Mobile Transporter and complete the Canadian Mobile Servicing System, or MSS. The Station's mechanical arm will then have the capability to "inchworm" from the U.S. Lab to the MSS and travel along the truss to work sites on the Station. Launch of Endeavour on mission STS-111 is scheduled for May 30, 2002

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a large crane is used to remove a fuel tank from crawler-transporter 1 CT-1 in high bay 3. The fuel tank will be transported to the Wiltech facility at Kennedy for cleaning and inspection. Work continues in high bay 3 to upgrade CT-1 as part of its general maintenance. CT-1 could be available to carry commercial launch vehicles to the launch pad. The crawler-transporters were used to carry the mobile launcher platform and space shuttle to Launch Complex 39 for space shuttle launches for 30 years.

Aerial top down view of outdoor building activity site in progress from above in Kaunas, Lithuania.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The Ares I-X fifth segment simulator aft section arrives in the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. 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. Ares I is the essential core of a safe, reliable, cost-effective space transportation system that eventually will carry crewed missions back to the moon, on to Mars and out into the solar system. Ares I-X is targeted for launch in July 2009.

Engine section test stand in building 4619 prior to test article being installed.

The paint and blast area of B404 includes exhaust ductwork that circulates 105,000 cubic feet of air per minute. All of the air entering is fresh air from the outside. To provide a safe workplace, no air is recirculated. All outgoing air is HEPA Filter processed to prevent any impact on the environment.

Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane lowers the Space Launch System (SLS) Core Stage pathfinder into High Bay 3 on Oct. 65, 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.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In NASA Kennedy Space Centers Vehicle Assembly Building, workers watch as external tank #120 is being lowered toward the floor of the building. It will be placed on a transporter and wait for the return of the Pegasus barge from delivering tank #119 to Louisiana. In a few weeks, tank #120 will also be returned to NASAs Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana for routine testing and maintenance. This tank is the first of the newly designed tanks that were delivered to Kennedy. Previously stacked with Discovery, the tank has already gone through two tanking cycles during tanking tests but was replaced with tank #121 for Discoverys return to flight mission STS-114

Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the second half of the C-level work platforms, C north, for NASAs Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, is lowered into position for installation on the north side of High Bay 3. The C platforms are the eighth of 10 levels of work platforms that will surround and provide access to the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft for Exploration Mission 1. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to VAB High Bay 3, including installation of the new work platforms, to prepare for NASAs Journey to Mars.

The third and final aeroshell, at left, for Orion's Launch Abort System (LAS) is in High Bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building on July 12, 2018, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The aeroshell was shipped from EMF Inc. on nearby Merritt Island. Technicians prepare the aeroshell to be lifted off of the flatbed truck and transferred to slats. All three aeroshells will be stacked and prepared for a full-stress test of the LAS, called Ascent Abort-2 (AA-2) flight test, scheduled for April 2019. During the test, a booster will launch from Space Launch Complex 46 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, 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 Launch System (SLS) rocket when the spacecraft is under the highest aerodynamic loads it will experience during a

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