Rocket Launches and Space Exploration

Dramatic visuals of rocket launches and space missions, featuring iconic spacecraft like Columbia and Saturn boosters against striking skies.

Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-1) at Dusk

NA, USA, Alabama, Huntsville. Lunar landing display at Space center and camp.

View of STS Atlantis

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), atop a Lockheed Martin Atlas V rocket, awaits launch at Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The launch was delayed 24 hours to investigate an anomalous reading in the hydrogen propellant loading system on the Atlas V. At the conclusion of the inquiry, the Atlas V was cleared to launch on Aug. 12 between 7 43 and 9 43 a.m. EDT. The spacecraft will arrive at Mars in March 2006. Once in orbit around Mars, various instruments on the MRO will convey detailed observations of the Martian surface, subsurface and atmosphere. Researchers will use the data to study the history and distribution of Martian water. Learning more about what has happened to the water will focus searches for possible past or present Martian life. Observations by the orbiter will also support future Mars missions by examining potential landing sites and providing a communications relay between the Martian surface and Eart

Artist's concept of the missile-mounted Space Shuttle Orbiter during launch. Country: Unknown

Mercury-Atlas Test Launch

The payload fairing for NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is moved inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Inside the facility, TESS will be encapsulated in the payload fairing. The satellite is scheduled to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on April 16. The satellite is the next step in NASA's search for planets outside our solar system, known as exoplanets. TESS is a NASA Astrophysics Explorer mission led and operated by MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and managed by NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Dr. George Ricker of MITs Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research serves as principal investigator for the mission. Additional partners include Orbital ATK, NASAs Ames Research Center, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and the Space Telescope Science Institute. More than a dozen universities, r

(2 Aug 1991) --- The Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS-E), is seen almost as a silhouette in this 70mm image. The TDRS spacecraft was captured on film as it moved away from the earth-orbiting Atlantis a mere six hours after the shuttle was launched from Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. .

New York, United States may 1975: Tourists exploring historical rockets exhibited at the national air and space museum in washington, d.C., in 1975

B59-00557 (9 Sept. 1959) --- U.S. Air Force photo of Big Joe launch vehicle after launching at Cape Canaveral, Florida, for a suborbital test of the Mercury capsule. The capsule was recovered successfully after the reentry test.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - On Launch Pad 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., the mobile service tower with a second set of three Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) is moved toward the Boeing Delta II rocket for mating. A final set of three SRBs is yet to be added. A NASA Discovery mission, Deep Impact will probe beneath the surface of Comet Tempel 1 on July 4, 2005, when the comet is 83 million miles from Earth, and reveal the secrets of its interior. After releasing an impactor on a course to hit the comets sunlit side, Deep Impacts flyby spacecraft will collect pictures and data of how the crater forms, measure the craters depth and diameter, as well as the composition of the interior of the crater and any material thrown out, and determine the changes in natural outgassing produced by the impact. It will send the data back to Earth through the antennas of the Deep Space Network.

Liftoff of a Juno II Rocket

The Soyuz rocket is seen at dawn on launch site 1 of the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Thursday, March 14, 2019 in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Expedition 59 astronauts Nick Hague and Christina Koch of NASA, along with Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos will launch later in the day, U.S. time, on the Soyuz MS-12 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome for a six-and-a-half month mission on the International Space Station.

national space centre view of the rockets from the top balcony

Launch of an Atlas Rocket bearing the Mercury Space Capsule carrying John Glenn, blasting off from Cape Kennedy. Glenn was the third American in space and the first to orbit the Earth in Friendship 7 in 1962. Date: 1962

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The gantry on Pad 17A at Cape Canaveral Air Station appears to straddle the Delta II rocket below it that is being moved into position for lifting. The rocket is scheduled for launch on Dec. 10, 1998, carrying the Mars Climate Orbiter. The orbiter is heading for Mars where it will primarily support its companion Mars Polar Lander spacecraft, which is planned for launch on Jan. 3, 1999. The orbiter's instruments will monitor the Martian atmosphere and image the planet's surface on a daily basis for one Martian year (1.8 Earth years). It will observe the appearance and movement of atmospheric dust and water vapor, as well as characterize seasonal changes on the surface. The detailed images of the surface features will provide important clues to the planet's early climate history and give scientists more information about possible liquid water reserves beneath the surface

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The Boeing Delta II rocket with its complement of nine Solid Rocket Boosters stands complete alongside the gantry. The Delta II will launch the Deep Impact spacecraft, scheduled for no earlier than Jan. 8, 2005. Below the rocket is the flame trench, and in the foreground is the overflow pool. A NASA Discovery mission, Deep Impact will probe beneath the surface of Comet Tempel 1 on July 4, 2005, when the comet is 83 million miles from Earth, and reveal the secrets of its interior. After releasing an impactor on a course to hit the comets sunlit side, Deep Impacts flyby spacecraft will collect pictures and data of how the crater forms, measure the craters depth and diameter, as well as the composition of the interior of the crater and any material thrown out, and determine the changes in natural outgassing produced by the impact. It will send the data back to Earth through the antennas of the Deep Space Network.

Psyche Liftoff. NASAs Psyche spacecraft, atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, lifts off from Kennedy Space Centers historic Launch Complex 39A in Florida at 10:19 a.m. EDT on Friday, Oct. 13, 2023. The Psyche mission will study a metal-rich asteroid with the same name, located in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. This is NASAs first mission to study an asteroid that has more metal than rock or ice. Riding with Psyche is a pioneering technology demonstration - NASAs Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) experiment - which will be the first test of laser communications beyond the Moon.

A cloud-streaked sky provides backdrop for Space Shuttle Discovery as it waits for liftoff on mission STS-103 from Launch Pad 39B. The tower at its left is the Fixed Service Structure, topped by the 80-foot-tall fiberglass mast that helps provide protection from lightning strikes. Below it, extending outward, is the external tank gaseous oxygen vent arm system with the vent hood (commonly called the "beanie cap") poised above the external tank. The retractable arm and the beanie cap are designed to vent gaseous oxygen vapors away from the Space Shuttle. The arm truss section is 65 feet long and the diameter of the vent hood is 13 feet. Extending toward the cabin of the orbiter below is the orbiter access arm, with the environmental chamber (called the White Room) at the end. Through this chamber the crew enters the orbiter. The STS-103 mission, to service the Hubble Space Telescope, is scheduled for launch Dec. 17 at 8:47 p.m. EST. Mission objectives include replacing gyroscopes and an

S69-33853 (4 May 1969) --- Ground-level view of the Apollo 10 (Spacecraft 106/Lunar Module 4/Saturn 505) space vehicle on Pad B, Launch Complex 39, Kennedy Space Center, Florida. This photograph of the 363-feet tall Apollo/Saturn V stack was taken during Countdown Demonstration Test (CDDT) activity. The Apollo 10 crew will be astronauts Thomas P. Stafford, commander; John W. Young, command module pilot; and Eugene A. Cernan, lunar module pilot.

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

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The launch tower on Launch Complex 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, clears the Boeing Delta II rocket and its Mars Exploration Rover (MER-A) payload in preparation for a second attempt at launch. The first attempt on June 8, 2003, was scrubbed due to bad weather in the vicinity. MER-A is the first of two rovers being launched to Mars. When the two rovers arrive at Mars in 2004, they will bounce to airbag-cushioned landings at sites offering a balance of favorable conditions for safe landings and interesting science. The rovers see sharper images, can explore farther and examine rocks better than anything that has ever landed on Mars. The designated site for MER-A mission is Gusev Crater, which appears to have been a crater lake. The second rover, MER-B, is scheduled to launch June 25.

The Soyuz TMA-8 spacecraft and its booster rolled out to the launch pad on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Baikonur, Kazakhstan for final pre-launch preparations. The Soyuz will blast off on March 30, 2006 to carry Expedition 13 Commander Pavel V. Vinogradov and Science Officer and Flight Engineer Jeffrey N. Williams to the International Space Station for a six-month mission. The spacecraft will also be carrying Brazilian Space Agency Soyuz crew member Marcos Pontes, who will spend 10 days aboard the International Space Station under an agreement with the Russian Federal Space Agency.

The SpaceX payload fairing that will surround and encapsulate NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The satellite is scheduled to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on April 16. The satellite is the next step in NASA's search for planets outside our solar system, known as exoplanets. TESS is a NASA Astrophysics Explorer mission led and operated by MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and managed by NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Dr. George Ricker of MITs Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research serves as principal investigator for the mission. Additional partners include Orbital ATK, NASAs Ames Research Center, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and the Space Telescope Science Institute. More than a dozen universities, research institutes and observatories wo

Little Joe II, the tallest exhibit in the John P. Stapp Air & Space Park outside the New Mexico Museum of Space History.

During the Space Shuttle development phase, Marshall plarners concluded a Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle (HLLV) would be needed for successful Space Industrialization. Shown here in this 1976's artist's conception is an early version of the HLLV during launch.

The crescent Moon is seen above the Northrop Grumman Antares rocket at launch Pad-0A, Friday, Nov. 1, 2019, at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Northrop Grummans 12th contracted cargo resupply mission with NASA to the International Space Station will deliver about 8,200 pounds of science and research, crew supplies and vehicle hardware to the orbital laboratory and its crew. Launch is scheduled for 9:59 a.m. EDT Saturday, Nov. 2.

Named for the Greek god associated with Mars, the NASA developed Ares launch vehicles will return humans to the moon and later take them to Mars and other destinations. In this early illustration, the vehicle depicted on the left is the Ares I. Ares I is an inline, two-stage rocket configuration topped by the Orion crew vehicle and its launch abort system. In addition to its primary mission of carrying four to six member crews to Earth orbit, Ares I may also use its 25-ton payload capacity to deliver resources and supplies to the International Space Station (ISS), or to park payloads in orbit for retrieval by other spacecraft bound for the moon or other destinations. The Ares I employs a single five-segment solid rocket booster, a derivative of the space shuttle solid rocket booster, for the first stage. A liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen J-2X engine derived from the J-2 engine used on the second stage of the Apollo vehicle will power the Ares V second stage. The Ares I can lift more than

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- After rollback of the Mobile Service Tower (right), the Delta II rocket with the Genesis spacecraft on top sits on Launch Complex 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, ready for liftoff. A gray overcast sky forecasts a questionable launch effort due to weather conditions. Genesis will be on a robotic NASA space mission to collect just 10 to 20 micrograms -- or the weight of a few grains of salt -- of solar wind, invisible charged particles that flow outward from the Sun -- and return them to Earth. This treasured smidgen of the Sun will be preserved in a special laboratory for study by scientists over the next century in search of answers to fundamental questions about the exact composition of our star and the birth of our solar system. The Genesis launch is scheduled for Aug. 1, 2001, from CCAFS

Progress in the Saturn program, depicted below, was described by Dr. Wernher von Braun, Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Director, in an appearance before the Senate Committee of Aeronautical and Space Sciences. The flight configuration of the giant three-stage Saturn C-1 rocket (later called Saturn I Block I) is seen in the Fabrication and Assembly Engineering Division at MSFC. Dwarfed by the 180-foot C-1 are a Juno II rocket (left rear) and a Mercury-Redstone rocket (front foreground). The C-1 (first version of the Saturn rocket) is composed of an S-1 first stage or booster (rear), powered by eight H-1 engines having a thrust of 1,500,000 pounds, followed by a dummy S-IV second stage and a dummy S-V third stage. The live S-IV for later flights, under development by Douglas Aircraft Co., will be powered by four Pratt Whitney LR-119 engines having 17,500,000 pounds thrust each. The live S-V, under development by Convair Division of General Dynamics Corp., will use two LR-119 engines

View of STS Discovery

Saturn V spaceship flying in space - Elements of this image furnished by NASA. Saturn V spaceship - 3D render

S62-02849 (24 May 1962) --- The Mercury-Atlas 7 (MA-7), carrying astronaut M. Scott Carpenter, was launched by NASA from Pad 14, Cape Canaveral, Florida, on May 24, 1962.

An aeronautics and space themed monument is visible from the bus carrying NASA, Canadian Space Agency, Roscosmos, and Russian Search and Recovery Forces into Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan Monday, June 24, 2019. The teams are arriving in advance of the landing of Expedition 59 crew members Anne McClain of NASA, David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency, and Oleg Kononenko of Roscosmos from the International Space Station. McClain, Saint-Jacques, and Kononenko are returning after 204 days in space where they served as members of the Expedition 58 and 59 crews.

The Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft is seen in the early morning hours ahead of the scheduled launch with Expedition 61 crewmembers Jessica Meir of NASA and Oleg Skripochka of Roscosmos, and spaceflight participant Hazzaa Ali Almansoori of the United Arab Emirates Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2019 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

USA, Florida, Titusville, Kennedy Space Center, Apollo/Saturn V center, NASA, lunar lander.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- A Project Mercury spacecraft carrying astronaut Virgil I. 'Gus' Grissom on the nation's second manned space flight landed in the Atlantic Ocean about 305 statute miles from here and about 145 statute miles east northeast of the Grand Bahama Island at about 7 36 a.m. EST today. The craft reached an altitude of about 118 statute miles and a speed of approximately 5,310 miles an hour. The suborbital flight of the Mercury-Redstone 4 required about 16 minutes. Preliminary data indicated the pilot performed satisfactorily during the flight. The spacecraft was known as Liberty Bell 7. (NASA Photo)

View of STS Discovery

The Juno II launch vehicle, shown here, was a modified Jupiter Intermediate-Range Ballistic missionile, developed by Dr. Wernher von Braun and the rocket team at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama. Between December 1958 and April 1961, the Juno II launched space probes Pioneer III and IV, as well as Explorer satellites VII, VIII and XI.

S66-42762 (18 July 1966) --- The Gemini-10 spacecraft is launched from Complex 19 at 5 20 p.m., July 18, 1966. A time exposure creates the illusion of multiple rocker arms. Onboard are astronauts John W. Young, command pilot, and Michael Collins, pilot.

Artemis II CMTA Turn Basin Testing. The Crew Module Test Article (CMTA) is in view at the turn basin in the Launch Complex 39 area at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Jan. 30, 2023. The CMTA is being used to practice recovery after splashdown of the Orion spacecraft to prepare for the Artemis II crewed mission. Exploration Ground Systems leads recovery efforts.

Expedition 64 prime and backup crew members pose for a picture as part of pre-launch activities, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2020, at the Cosmonaut Hotel in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. From left to right are prime crew members Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of Roscosmos, Sergey Ryzhikov of Roscosmos, and Kate Rubins of NASA, and backup crew members Petr Dubrov of Roscosmos, Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos, and Mark Vande Hei of NASA. Expedition 64 prime crew members Ryzhikov, Kud-Sverchkov, and Rubins are scheduled to launch to the International Space Station aboard the Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft on October 14.

L59-3896 Engineers W. N. Gardner and C.A. Brown, Jr., check operations as Trailblazer 1b is readied for Flight, June 4, 1959. Photograph published in A New Dimension Wallops Island Flight Test Range: The First Fifteen Years by Joseph Shortal. A NASA publication, page 675. D58-3001 Model. Engineers W. N. Gardner and C.A. Brown

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - On Launch Pad 17-B on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., the first stage of the Boeing Delta II launch vehicle for the Deep Impact spacecraft is lifted into the mobile service tower for stacking with the other stages. A NASA Discovery mission, Deep Impact will probe beneath the surface of Comet Tempel 1 on July 4, 2005, when the comet is 83 million miles from Earth, and reveal the secrets of its interior. After releasing a 3- by 3-foot projectile to crash onto the surface, Deep Impacts flyby spacecraft will collect pictures and data of how the crater forms, measuring the craters depth and diameter, as well as the composition of the interior of the crater and any material thrown out, and determining the changes in natural outgassing produced by the impact. It will send the data back to Earth through the antennas of the Deep Space Network. Deep Impact project management is handled by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. The spacecraft is sch

F-3754-SCN-95-000038-XX-0205. Base: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station State: Florida (FL) Country: United States Of America (USA)

S65-61632 (4 Dec. 1965) --- The erector is lowered at Pad 19 during the final minutes of the Gemini-7 countdown. Inside the spacecraft atop the launch vehicle are astronaut Frank Borman, command pilot, and James A. Lovell Jr., pilot. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has scheduled Gemini-7 as a 14-day mission in space. Liftoff occurred at 2 30 p.m. (EST), Dec. 4, 1965.

STS-49 Orbiter Endeavour landed at Edwards Air Force Base on May 16, 1992 The drogue chute precedes the main chute in NASAs first exercise of its detailed test objective on the drag chute system. STS-49 ended its successful nine day mission dedicated to the retrieval, repair, and redeployment of the the INTELSAT VI (F-3) satellite. The communication satellite for the International Telecommunication Satellite organization had been stranded in an unusable orbit since its launch aboard the Titan rocket in March 1990. The mission marked the first time 3 astronauts worked simultaneously outside the space craft.

An Atlas launch vehicle carrying the Big Joe capsule leaves its launching pad on a 2,000-mile ballistic flight to the altitude of 100 miles. The Big Joe capsule is a boilerplate model of the marned orbital capsule under NASA's Project Mercury. The capsule was recovered and studied for the effect of re-entry heat and other flight stresses.

A full-sized, 363-foot Saturn V rocket is projected onto the east face of the Washington Monument 50 years to the day after astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin launched on Apollo 11, the first mission to land astronauts on the Moon, Tuesday, July 16, 2019. On Friday, July 19, and Saturday, July 20, a special 17-minute show, Apollo 50: Go for the Moon” will combine full-motion projection-mapping artwork on the monument and archival footage to recreate the launch of Apollo 11 and tell the story of the first moon landing.

The Advanced Automated Directional Solidification Furnace (AADSF) with the Experimental Apparatus Container (EAC) removed flew during the USMP-2 mission. During USMP-2, the AADSF was used to study the growth of mercury cadmium telluride crystals in microgravity by directional solidification, a process commonly used on earth to process metals and grow crystals. The furnace is tubular and has three independently controlled temperature zones . The sample travels from the hot zone of the furnace (1600 degrees F) where the material solidifies as it cools. The solidification region, known as the solid/liquid interface, moves from one end of the sample to the other at a controlled rate, thus the term directional solidification.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Water saturates the ground and stands on the surface of a parking lot across the street from NASA Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building, the aftermath of thunderstorms in the vicinity of Kennedys Shuttle Landing Facility. Two landing opportunities for space shuttle Atlantis to conclude the STS-125 mission were waved off May 22 due to violations of the end-of-mission landing weather criteria. Through five spacewalks on the STS-125 mission, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope was refurbished and upgraded with state-of-the-art science instruments that will expand Hubble's capabilities and extend its operational lifespan through at least 2014.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The Delta II 7925 rocket is revealed as the mobile service tower, or gantry, is retracted on Launch Pad 17A at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Equipped with three stages and nine strap-on solid rocket motors, the Delta II rocket packs plenty of punch for sending the Phoenix spacecraft on its way toward Mars. Launch is targeted for Aug. 4 during one of two opportunities for liftoff: 5:26 or 6:02 a.m. EDT. Phoenix will land in icy soils near the north polar, permanent ice cap of Mars and explore the history of the water in these soils and any associated rocks, while monitoring polar climate. Landing on Mars is planned in May 2008 on arctic ground where a mission currently in orbit, Mars Odyssey, has detected high concentrations of ice just beneath the top layer of soil.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the Columbus Laboratory is positioned on a stand where it is being displayed to the media at a special showing. Columbus is the European Space Agency 's largest single contribution to the International Space Station. The laboratory module will expand the research facilities of the station, providing crew members and scientists around the world the ability to conduct a variety of life, physical and materials science experiments. The module is approximately 23 feet long and 15 feet wide, allowing it to hold 10 large racks of experiments. Columbus is scheduled to be transferred to Launch Pad 39A in early November, in preparation for its journey to the station. Columbus will fly aboard space shuttle Atlantis on the STS-122 mission, targeted for launch Dec. 6.

The first stage of a Boeing Delta II rocket is guided to its vertical position on the tower at Launch Complex 17, Cape Canaveral Air Station. The rocket will carry the Stardust spacecraft into space for a close encounter with the comet Wild 2 in January 2004. Using a medium called aerogel, it will capture comet particles flying off the nucleus of the comet, plus collect interstellar dust for later analysis. The collected samples will return to Earth in a Sample Return Capsule to be jettisoned as Stardust swings by Earth in January 2006. Stardust is scheduled to be launched on Feb. 6, 1999

Moonfest From Apollo to LCROSS and Beyond public event at NASA'S Ames Researc Center, Moffett Field, Calif. The day included scientific talks, model rocket launches on the flight line, musical performances, family-friendly activities and more.

Portrait of Marshall's third Center Director Dr. Rocco A. Petrone (1973-1974) standing in front of a Saturn V rocket. Dr. Petrone personally supervised the Apollo 11 Mission and then became Director of the Apollo program in 1969 before coming to Marshall. At Marshall he continued to direct the marned space flight programs.

From left to right, NASA Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, and Joe Acaba view the Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft on Launch Pad 39B. They arrived via T-38 jet to support various pre-launch activities.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) atop its Atlas V launch vehicle are seen in closeup with the launch gantry (left) as they roll out on the mobile launch platform to the launch pad from the Vertical Integration Facility at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The launch window is from 7 50 a.m. to 9 35 a.m. EDT. The spacecraft will arrive at Mars in March 2006 . Once in orbit around Mars, various instruments on the MRO will convey detailed observations of the Martian surface, subsurface and atmosphere. Researchers will use the data to study the history and distribution of Martian water. Learning more about what has happened to the water will focus searches for possible past or present Martian life. Observations by the orbiter will also support future Mars missions by examining potential landing sites and providing a communications relay between the Martian surface and Earth.

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

Inspection tour of NASA installations: Cape Canaveral Florida, 2:31PM. White House Secret Service agent, John J. Muggsy O'Leary, looks inside Mercury spacecraft capsule #19 inside Hangar S, during President John F. Kennedys visit to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Cape Canaveral, Florida. President Kennedy visited Cape Canaveral as part of a two-day inspection tour of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) field installations.

The Space Shuttle Orbiter Discovery rolls over from Orbiter Processing Facility 2 on top of the orbiter transporter to the Vehicle Assembly Building for mating with its external tank and solid rocket boosters in preparation for the STS-85 mission. Several payloads will be aboard Discovery during the 11-day mission, including the Manipulator Flight Demonstration (MFD) and the Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the Atmosphere-Shuttle Pallet Satellite-2 (CRISTA-SPAS-2), as well as the Technology Applications and Science-1 (TAS-1) and International Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker (IEH-2) experiments

View of STS Discovery

A pioneer of America's space program, Dr. von Braun stands by the five F-1 engines of the Saturn V launch vehicle. This Saturn V vehicle is an actual test vehicle which has been displayed at the U.S. Space Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Designed and developed by Rocketdyne under the direction of the Marshall Space Flight Center, a cluster of five F-1 engines was mounted on the Saturn V S-IC (first) stage. The engines measured 19-feet tall by 12.5-feet at the nozzle exit and burned 15 tons of liquid oxygen and kerosene each second to produce 7,500,000 pounds of thrust. The S-IC stage is the first stage, or booster, of a 364-foot long rocket that ultimately took astronauts to the Moon.

Inspection tour of NASA installations: Cape Canaveral Florida, 2:31PM. President John F. Kennedy (back to camera) views Mercury spacecraft capsule #19, during a tour of Mercury systems and equipment inside Hangar S at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Cape Canaveral, Florida; Manager of Florida Operations for the Manned Spacecraft Center, G. Merritt Preston (partially hidden), briefs President Kennedy. Looking on (L-R): Naval Aide to the President, Captain Tazewell T. Shepard, Jr.; Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson; Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Dr. James E. Webb; astronaut Major L. Gordon Cooper. The President visited Cape Canaveral as part of a two-day inspection tour of NASA field installations.

jsc2018e097783 - At their Cosmonaut Hotel crew quarters in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, the Expedition 58 prime and backup crewmembers pose for pictures around a model of a Soyuz rocket Nov. 27 as part of their pre-launch training activities. From left to right are the prime crewmembers, Anne McClain of NASA, Oleg Kononenko of Roscosmos and David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency and the backup crew, Drew Morgan of NASA, Alexander Skvortsov of Roscosmos and Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency. McClain, Saint-Jacques and Kononenko will launch Dec. 3 on the Soyuz MS-11 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for a six-and-a-half month mission on the International Space Station...NASA/Victor Zelentsov.

A sunrise at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida casts an orange glow around the agencys Artemis I Moon rocket as it travels to Launch Complex 39B on June 6, 2022. The rocket rolled out of the Vehicle Assembly Building in the early morning hours to travel the 4.2 miles to the launch pad for NASAs next wet dress rehearsal attempt ahead of the Artemis I launch. The first in an increasingly complex series of missions, Artemis I will test the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft as an integrated system prior to crewed flights to the Moon. Through Artemis, NASA will land the first woman and first person of color on the lunar surface, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and using the Moon as a steppingstone before venturing to Mars.

Vice President Mike Pence delivers opening remarks during the sixth meeting of the National Space Council, Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2019 at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va. Chaired by the Vice President, the council's role is to advise the President regarding national space policy and strategy, and review the nation's long-range goals for space activities.

50th Anniversary Celebration of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing

An aerial survey of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida was conducted after Hurricane Dorian skirted the Space Coast area. The survey was performed to identify structures and facilities that may have sustained damage from Hurricane Dorian as the storm passed to the east of Kennedy on September 3 and 4, 2019. Officials determined that the center received some isolated damage and limited water intrusion. Beach erosion also occurred, although the storm surge was less than expected. NASA closed the center ahead of the storms onset and only a small team of specialists known as the Rideout Team was on the center as the storm approached and passed.

Painter applies fresh coat of paint to the NASA Meatball on the Hangar's North Facade

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Dr. Werner Von Braun explains the Saturn system to President John F. Kennedy at Complex 37 while President Kennedy is on tour at the Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex.

USA, Alabama, Huntsville, United States Space and Rocket Center

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- This tent called a "Lunarena" is a giant "sandbox," with about 60 tons of ultra-fine simulated lunar soil spread on the floor for NASA's second annual Lunabotics Mining Competition at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.Thirty-six teams of undergraduate and graduate students from the United States, Bangladesh, Canada, Colombia and India will participate in NASA's Lunabotics Mining Competition May 26 - 28 at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The competition is designed to engage and retain students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Teams will maneuver their remote controlled or autonomous excavators, called lunabots, in about 60 tons of ultra-fine simulated lunar soil, called BP-1. The competition is an Exploration Systems Mission Directorate project managed by Kennedy's Education Division. The event also provides a competitive environment that could result in innovative ideas and solutions for NASA's future excavation o

Storm clouds roll in over the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 28, 2020. Standing at 525 feet tall, this iconic landmark at Kennedy is capable of hosting multiple varieties of rockets and spacecraft at the same time. Currently, the VAB is being utilized to process and assemble the agencys Space Launch System (SLS) rocket for Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond to Mars. Artemis I - the first launch under the agencys Artemis Program - will test SLS and Orion as an integrated system prior to crewed flights to the Moon.

Inspection tour of NASA installations: Cape Canaveral Florida, 2:31PM. President John F. Kennedy views Mercury spacecraft capsule #19, during a tour of Mercury systems and equipment inside Hangar S at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Cape Canaveral, Florida. Manager of Florida Operations for the Manned Spacecraft Center, G. Merritt Preston (center right), briefs President Kennedy; astronaut Major L. Gordon Cooper (partially out of frame) stands at far right. Also pictured: Naval Aide to the President, Captain Tazewell T. Shepard, Jr.; Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Dr. James E. Webb; White House Secret Service agent, Ron Pontius. The President visited Cape Canaveral as part of a two-day inspection tour of NASA field installations.

NASA engineers continued to collect test performance data on the new J-2X rocket engine at Stennis Space Center with a 250-second test Sept. 14. The test on the A-2 Test Stand was the 19th in a series of firings to gather critical data for continued development of the engine. The J-2X is being developed by Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne for NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. It is the first liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen rocket engine rated to carry humans into space to be developed in 40 years.

News media members and visitors gather at the Heroes and Legends exhibit hall at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex during a ceremony remembering astronaut Sen. John Glenn who passed away Dec. 8, 2016 at age 95. Glenn, one of the first seven astronauts NASA chose to fly the first missions of the Space Age, gained worldwide acclaim during his Mercury mission that made him the first American to orbit the Earth. He flew again in 1998 aboard space shuttle Discovery at age 77.

ISS016-E-032429 (12 March 2008) --- A close-up view of Space Shuttle Endeavour's tail section was provided by Expedition 16 crewmembers on the International Space Station (ISS). The image provides partial views of the shuttle's main engines, orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pods, a portion of the payload bay door panels and the shuttle's wings. Before docking with the station, astronaut Dominic Gorie, STS-123 commander, flew the shuttle through a roll pitch maneuver or basically a backflip to allow the space station crew a good view of Endeavour's heat shield. Using digital still cameras equipped with both 400 and 800 millimeter lenses, the ISS crewmembers took a number of photos of the shuttle's thermal protection system and sent them down to teams on the ground for analysis. A 400 millimeter lens was used for this image.

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

Readying the 'Gila Monster' for Launch

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside the Astrotech payload processing facility near NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the nose cone fairing for the Radiation Belt Storm Probes, or RBSP, spacecraft includes an artistic depiction of the probes mission. The nose faring will house and protect the RBSP during liftoff aboard an Atlas V rocket.NASAs RBSP mission will help us understand the suns influence on Earth and near-Earth space by studying the Earths radiation belts on various scales of space and time. RBSP will begin its mission of exploration of Earths Van Allen radiation belts and the extremes of space weather after its liftoff aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. Liftoff is targeted for Aug. 23, 2012.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The U.S. flag waves proudly in front of a replica of a Mercury-Redstone rocket at Complex 5/6 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.A 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 recovery, as well as a tribute to his contributions as a moonwalker on the Apollo 14 lunar mission.

Project 24 - Operation Hardtack (Enewetak/Bikini/Johnnston Island Area) Test Activities. TEAK redstone missile on Johnston Isl. Photographs of Atmospheric Nuclear Testing at Pacific Island and Nevada Test Sites.

2010 BREVARD SPACE WEEK

Rocket engines of Soyuz rocket, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan

USA, Arizona, Boiler plate Apollo capsule on display at Meteor Crater

STS-133 ET-137 Tanking Test as seen from Press Site

Operation of the High Energy Rocket Engine Research Facility (B-1), left, and Nuclear Rocket Dynamics and Control Facility (B-3) at the National Aeronautics and Space Administrations

The U.S. Postal Service unveils its newest series of stamps, Space Discovery, at the KSC Visitor Complex. The event coincided with NASA's 40th anniversary on this date. Participating in the unveiling are (left to right) Barry Ziehl, U.S. Postal Service; JoAnn Morgan, KSC associate director of advanced development and shuttle upgrades; Karla Corcoran, Postal Service inspector general; Kristene A. Graves, a student from Lewis Carroll Elementary School ; and Dr. Donald Thomas, astronaut and veteran of four Shuttle missions. Behind them is the mockup of an orbiter. During the ceremony, Kristene read her essay "My Stamp Adventure" that she had written for an area-wide contest for the event. The stamps were designed by renowned aerospace artist Attila Heija. The strip of five individual stamps together make up a futuristic scene complete with space vehicles, a futuristic space city, and space explorers. The stamps are available nationwide beginning Oct. 1

A lightning strike was recorded at Launch Complex 39B at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida during the evening of April 2, 2022. NASAs Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion spacecraft were undergoing a prelaunch test called a wet dress rehearsal at the pad for the Artemis I mission. The lightning strike was recorded by cameras stationed at the pad and mobile launcher using a special filter called a “clear day frame,” which provides an overlay of the raw frame on a reference image. Artemis I will be the first integrated test of the SLS and Orion spacecraft. In later missions, NASA will land the first woman and the first woman of color on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone on the way to Mars.

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