Space Shuttle Launch Preparations

Dramatic views of space shuttles on launch pads, showcasing their massive structures and intricate details, highlighting the engineering marvels of space exploration.

Space Shuttle Discovery Begins Her Historic Return to Flight Silhouetted Against the Morning Sun

Liftoff of Ares I-X

USA, Alabama, Huntsville. US Space and Rocket Center, Saturn V rocket, used in moon launch, sign, dawn.

S89-40392 (12 July 1989) --- Inside KSC's giant vehicle assembly building, Space Shuttle Columbia is mated to two solid rocket boosters (SRB) and an external fuel tank as preparations continue for an early September launch. The mission is scheduled as a DOD-devoted flight, set for launch early next month.

Rocket Space Ship. Military missile flying high in blue sky

(21 Sept. 1982) --- The space shuttle Columbia makes its slow 3 mile trip on a crawler transporter from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC).

Space rocket on launch pad

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - A newly redesigned External Tank (ET-119) approaches a turn on the road leading from the Turn Basin in Launch Complex 39 Area at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The tank, which will be used on a future Space Shuttle launch, is being transported to the Vehicle Assembly Building, seen at right. The barge was towed on a 900-mile journey at sea from the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans by one of NASAs Solid Rocket Booster Retrieval Ships.

Rocket launch composition with realistic landscape above clouds with stars and space shuttle on launch vehicle vector illustration

Rocket Space Ship. Military missile flying high in blue sky

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Towed by the solid rocket booster retrieval ship Freedom Star, the Pegasus barge approaches the dock in the turn basin near the Vehicle Assembly Building. The barge is on the last leg of its journey from the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans to NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The barge carries the redesigned external fuel tank that will launch Space Shuttle Discovery on the next shuttle mission, STS-121. After off-loading, the tank will be moved into the Vehicle Assembly Building and lifted into a checkout cell for further work. The tank, designated ET-119, will fly with many major safety changes, including the removal of the protuberance air load ramps. A large piece of foam from a ramp came off during the last shuttle launch in July 2005. The ramps were removed to eliminate a potential source of damaging debris to the space shuttle. The next launch of Discovery is scheduled for May 2006.

The Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft is transported by railcar to its launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Friday, Oct. 10, 2008. Expedition 18 Commander Michael Fincke, Flight Engineer Yuri V. Lonchakov and American spaceflight participant Richard Garriott will launch October 12 and dock with the International Space Station October 14. Fincke and Lonchakov will spend six months on the station, while Garriott will return to Earth after 10 days with the Expedition 17 crew members currently on the ISS.

May 31, 2008 - Framed here by Florida foliage, the Space Shuttle Discovery and its seven-member STS-124 crew head toward Earth-orbit and a scheduled link-up with the International Space Station. Liftoff from Kennedy Space Center's launch pad 39A occurred at 5:02 p.m. (EDT). The STS-124 mission is the 26th in the assembly of the International Space Station. It is the second of three flights launching components to complete JAXA's Kibo laboratory. During the mission, the shuttle crew will install

The American flag flies below the Vehicle Assembly Building, Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

The Soyuz rocket is seen on the launch pad shortly after being rolled out by train, Monday, March 19, 2018 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Expedition 55 crewmembers Ricky Arnold and Drew Feustel of NASA and Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos are scheduled to launch at 1:44 p.m. Eastern time (11:44 p.m. Baikonur time) on March 21 and will spend the next five months living and working aboard the International Space Station.

The Soyuz TMA-04M spacecraft is seen moments before being raised at launch pad one of the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Sunday, May 13, 2012. The launch of the Soyuz spacecraft with Expedition 31 Soyuz Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Sergei Revin of Russia, and prime NASA Flight Engineer Joe Acaba is scheduled for 9:01 a.m. local time on Tuesday, May 15.

Expedition 70 Soyuz Rollout. The Soyuz rocket is rolled out by train to the launch pad at Site 31, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Expedition 70 NASA astronaut Loral O'Hara, Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko, and Nikolai Chub are scheduled to launch aboard their Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft on Sept. 15.

STS088-365-020 (4-15 Dec. 1998) --- A variety of white and gray clouds form the backdrop for this 35mm scene of the connected Zarya and Unity modules floating in space after having been released from Endeavour's cargo bay a bit earlier. Six crew members, who had earlier spent the majority of their on-duty mission time working on the tandem of space hardware, watched from Endeavour as the joined modules moved away from the shuttle.

Aerial, ground level and night views of STS-2 Rollout to and on Pad 39A, 08/31/1981. KSC, FL

The Soyuz TMA-14M spacecraft is rolled out to the launch pad by train on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2014 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Launch of the Soyuz rocket is scheduled for Sept. 26 and will carry Expedition 41 Soyuz Commander Alexander Samokutyaev of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), Flight Engineer Barry Wilmore of NASA, and Flight Engineer Elena Serova of Roscosmos into orbit to begin their five and a half month mission on the International Space Station.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Carrying the Apollo 11 Saturn V space vehicle and mobile launcher, the transporter inches its way to the hardstand atop Launch Complex 39A. (Unfueled Saturn V weighs 1/2 million pounds,) Rollout began at 12:30 p.m. EDT today and was completed at 7:46 p.m. after positioning the 12.5-million-pound load on support pedestals. The transporter carried the vehicle along the 3.5-mile crawlerway at an average speed of less than 1 mile per hour. The 363-foot-high space vehicle is to launch Apollo 11 astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. on the Nation's first manned lunar landing mission.

Framed by a series of cabbage palms, a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy common booster core is transported by truck to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Launch Complex 37 Horizontal Processing Facility after arriving at Port Canaveral. The Delta IV Heavy will launch NASA's upcoming Parker Solar Probe mission. The mission will perform the closest-ever observations of a star when it travels through the Sun's atmosphere, called the corona. The probe will rely on measurements and imaging to revolutionize our understanding of the corona and the Sun-Earth connection. Liftoff atop the Delta IV Heavy rocket is scheduled to take place from Cape Canaveral's Space Launch Complex 37 in summer 2018.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Viewed across the Turn Basin at NASA Kennedy Space Center, the barge Pegasus is ready for towing to Port Canaveral where it will join one of the Solid Rocket Booster Recovery Ships and begin its journey around the Florida peninsula to Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The barges cargo is External Tank 119. Delivered to KSC in June, ET-119 is the third newly redesigned tank.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The barge transporting the high-fidelity space shuttle model departs from the turn basin at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida for Space Center Houston, NASA Johnson Space Centers official visitor center. The turn basin is in the heart of Launch Complex 39 where the shuttles were processed and launched. Kennedys Launch Control Center and the Vehicle Assembly Building are prominent in the background. At the far right is NASAs new mobile launcher.The model was built in Apopka, Fla., by Guard-Lee and installed at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in 1993. The model is expected to arrive June 1 in Houston and to be transported June 3 to Space Center Houston, its final destination, where it will become part of a unique display telling the story of the space shuttles achievements and the nationwide team that made them possible.

The Soyuz rocket is rolled out by train to the launch pad, Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2018 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Expedition 57 crewmembers Nick Hague of NASA and Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos are scheduled to launch on October 11 and will spend the next six months living and working aboard the International Space Station.

The Soyuz rocket is rolled out by train to the launch pad, Friday, Dec. 15, 2017 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Expedition 54 Soyuz Commander Anton Shkaplerov of Roscosmos, flight engineer Scott Tingle of NASA, and flight engineer Norishige Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) are scheduled to launch at 2:21 a.m. Eastern Time (1:21 p.m. Baikonur time) on Dec. 17 and will spend the next five months living and working aboard the International Space Station.

Slidewire Basket Practice

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- This image of the Vehicle Assembly Building and surrounding roadways in the Launch Complex 39A area of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida was taken from a traffic survey helicopter after the successful launch of space shuttle Discovery at 4:53 p.m. EST on its final flight to the International Space Station.Discovery's six-member crew will 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 flying on its 39th and final 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.

AN aerial view of the Space Transportation System (STS) shuttle Columbia aboard the mobile launcher platform (MLP) as it leaves the vehicle assembly building (VAB) and heads toward Launch Pad 39. The shuttle is undergoing preparations prior to its maiden flight. Base: Kennedy Space Center State: Florida (FL) Country: United States Of America (USA)

The Soyuz rocket is seen as it is raised into a vertical position on the launch pad, Thursday, July 18, 2019 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Expedition 60 Soyuz Commander Alexander Skvortsov of Roscosmos, flight engineer Andrew Morgan of NASA, and flight engineer Luca Parmitano of ESA (European Space Agency) are scheduled to launch aboard their Soyuz MS-13 spacecraft at 12:28 p.m. Eastern time (9:28 p.m. Baikonur time) , on Saturday, July 20.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - One of the featured displays at the KSC Visitor Complex is a genuine external tank with twin solid rocket boosters, seen here. The tank and boosters are paired with a full-size replica of a Space Shuttle Orbiter in the Shuttle Plaza.

USA, Maine, Mt. Desert Island, Seal Cove, Seal Cove Auto Museum, 1910 Stoddard-Dayton with a Gabriel exhaust-operated horn that played musical tunes

Yavuz Sultan Selim Brücke Boot der Küstenwacha auf dem Bosporus vor der Yavuz-Sultan-Selim-Brücke im Nebel bei Istanbul, Türkei Coast guard boat on the Bosporus and the foggy Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge near Istanbul, Turkey *** Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge Coast guard boat on the Bosporus in front of the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge in the fog near Istanbul, Turkey Coast guard boat on the Bosporus and the foggy Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge near Istanbul, Turkey

Moon and 747 Tail Fin

Euro Space Center, space science and astronautics museum at Transinne, Libin, Luxembourg, Wallonia, Belgium, Europe

Nosecone of Space Shuttle Discovery

The iconic Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) and Launch Control Center cast reflections on the surface of a nearby waterway at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The lights illuminating the VAB provided a splendid nighttime view.

Low angle view of a spacecraft taking off from a launch pad, Mercury-Atlas 6, Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA, February 20, 1962

Launch rocket vector illustration, cartoon flat research shuttle, heavy rocket carrier taking off, spaceship station or spacecraft launching on Earth orbit

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the agency's Orion spacecraft passes the spaceport's Launch Complex 39B as it is transported to Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. After arrival at the launch pad, United Launch Alliance engineers and technicians will lift Orion and mount it atop its Delta IV Heavy rocket.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 flight test of Orion is scheduled to launch Dec. 4, 2014 atop a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket, and in 2018 on NASAs Space Launch System rocket.

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - At Naval Base San Diego in California, U.S. Navy personnel prepare the Orion boilerplate test vehicle to be lifted by stationary crane from the USS Salvor, a safeguard-class rescue and salvage ship, and lowered into the water during the first day of Underway Recovery Test 4A. The ship will head out to sea for four days to test crew module crane recovery operations. NASA, Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Navy are conducting the test to prepare for recovery of the Orion crew module on its return from a deep space mission. The underway recovery test will allow the teams to demonstrate and evaluate the recovery processes, procedures, new hardware and personnel in open waters.The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is conducting the underway recovery test. 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

The Space Shuttle Endeavour OV-105 (Orbiter Vehicle-105), the fifth shuttle manufactured for NASA, is suspended and raised using massive lifting structure at Rockwell International's Air Force Plant 42, Site 1, at Palmdale. Exact Date Shot Unknown. State: California (CA) Country: United States Of America (USA)

An aerial view of the iconic Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Jan. 13, 2021. The High Bay 3 in the VAB is where NASAs Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft will be stacked on top of the mobile launcher before it is rolled out atop crawler-transporter 2 to Launch Pad 39B for launch on the agencys Artemis I mission.

The Soyuz TMA-5 vehicle rolled to its launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Tuesday, October 12, 2004, in preparation for its launch October 14 to send Expedition 10 Commander and NASA Science Officer Leroy Chiao, Flight Engineer and Soyuz Commander Salizhan Sharipov and Russian Space Forces cosmonaut Yuri Shargin to the International Space Station. Chiao and Sharipov will replace the Expedition 9 crew of Gennady Padalka and Mike Fincke, while Shargin will conduct eight days of scientific experiments. He will return to earth with the Expedition 9 crew October 24.

KC135 AIRCRAFT ASCENT

Low angle view of a missile, Pearl Harbor, Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii Islands, USA

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The driver of the NASA Railroad train keeps his eye on the track ahead as the train moves through NASA Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39 Area. The train is hauling the solid rocket booster segments from the STS-122 mission. After a mission, the spent boosters are recovered, cleaned, disassembled, refurbished and reused after each launch. After hydrolasing the interior of each segment, they are placed on flatbed trucks. The individual booster segments are transferred to a railhead located at the railroad yard. The covered segments will be moved to Titusville for interchange with Florida East Coast Railway to begin the trip back to the Thiokol plant in Wa¬satch, Utah.

jsc2018e067956 (Aug. 2, 2018) --- NASA astronauts Bob Behnken (left) and Doug Hurley pose for a portrait in front of the SpaceX Dragon Commercial Crew vehicle mock up at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- On its transporter, external tank No. 125 moves toward the Vehicle Assembly Building, at right. The tank arrived at the Launch Complex 39 Area turn basin on the Pegasus barge from the Michoud Assembly Facility near New Orleans. The external tank will be used on space shuttle Atlantis for mission STS-122 targeted for launch on Dec. 6.

X-43A and Pegasus

jsc2021e004390 (Jan. 21, 2021) --- External view of the Sierra Nevada Dream Chaser mockup located in Building 9N, Space Vehicle Mockup Facility (SVMF) at the NASA Johnson Space Center.

COHETES Y MISILES en el MUSEO DE MISILES DE ARENAS BLANCAS (WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE MUSEUM). Estado de Nuevo México. Estados Unidos.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A truck moves NASA's MAVEN spacecraft, inside a payload fairing, from the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, or PHSF, to Space Launch Complex 41 where it will be hoisted atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket that will lift it into space and on to Mars. MAVEN is short for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution.

a rocket flying through the air with smoke coming out

At Cape Canaveral Air Station's Complex 5/6, a Redstone rocket lies broken on the pad after Hurricane Floyd passed along the East Coast of Florida, Sept. 14-15. Still standing behind it are the Explorer I (center) and Jupiter C (right) rockets. The complex, now dismantled, was the site of the first manned launch May 5, 1961. At a weather tower located between Shuttle Launch Pad 39A and Launch Complex 41, the highest winds recorded during the superstorm were 91 mph from the NNW at 4:50 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 15. The maximum sustained winds were recorded at 66 mph. The highest amount of rain recorded at KSC was 2.82 inches as the eye of Hurricane Floyd passed 121 miles east of Cape Canaveral at 4 a.m. Wednesday. A preliminary review of conditions at the Kennedy Space Center was positive, however, after the worst of Hurricane Floyd passed. There appeared to be no major damage to NASA assets, including the launch pads, the four Space Shuttle Orbiters, and flight hardware

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- Workers walking behind Space Shuttle Discovery appear miniscule against the gigantic vehicle as it crawls to Launch Pad 39B. Discovery will be flying on mission STS-102 to the International Space Station. Its payload is the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo, a moving van, to carry laboratory racks filled with equipment, experiments and supplies to and from the Space Station aboard the Space Shuttle. The flight will also carry the Expedition Two crew up to the Space Station, replacing Expedition One, who will return to Earth on Discovery. Launch is scheduled for March 8 at 6 45 a.m. EST

Space Shuttle

Night scene of a Thor missile, a standard launch vehicle, as it stands ready for launching. Base: Los Angeles State: California (CA) Country: United States Of America (USA)

This helicopter view of the NASA Causeway connecting NASA's Kennedy Space Center with Cape Canaveral Air Force Staton shows the thousands of vehicles parked where guests gather to see the launch of the Orion Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) on Dec. 4, 2014. The liftoff was postponed because of an issue related to fill and drain valves on the Delta IV Heavy rocket that teams could not troubleshoot by the time the launch window expired. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.

a rocket taking off into the sky at night

American flag in foreground and large NASA insignia on the side of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA Kennedy Space Center, Merritt Island, Florida, USA

The U.S. Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron, the Thunderbirds, take a tour of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Fla., October 25, 2022. The Thunderbirds perform hundreds of shows each year showcasing professionalism and precision to audiences around the world.

SpaceX vehicles size comparison

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - With a Security escort, the newly arrived external tank turns a corner toward the Vehicle Assembly Building (background) where the tank will await stacking for a future Shuttle mission. External tanks are built by the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans and transported by barge to Cape Canaveral and then to the turn basin in the Launch Complex 39 Area

Historic British Skylark sounding rocket, 1955 - 2005, Euro Space Center, Transinne, Belgium, europe, Europe

Sojourner at Wedge

Soviet space launch vehicles. Soviet space launch vehicles

Expedition 68 Launch. The Soyuz MS-22 rocket is launched to the International Space Station with Expedition 68 astronaut Frank Rubio of NASA, and cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin of Roscosmos onboard, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Rubio, Prokopyev, and Petelin will spend approximately six months on the orbital complex, returning to Earth in March 2023.

In the early morning on Oct. 20, 2020, the mobile launcher for the Artemis I mission rolls along the crawlerway atop crawler-transporter 2 after departing the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The nearly 400-foot-tall mobile launcher is being rolled to Launch Pad 39B. During its two-week stay at the pad, engineers with Exploration Ground Systems and Jacobs will perform several tasks, including a timing test to validate the launch teams countdown timeline, and a thorough, top-to-bottom wash down of the mobile launcher to remove any debris remaining from construction and installation of the umbilical arms. Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon in 2024.

Silhouetted against the dark, early morning Florida sky, the STS-3 Space Shuttle, aboard the Mobile Launcher, journeys toward its launch pad. Base: Kennedy Space Center State: Florida (FL) Country: United States Of America (USA)

Male astronaut saluting while standing on rail track

Expedition 70 Soyuz Rollout. The Soyuz rocket is rolled out by train to the launch pad at Site 31, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Expedition 70 NASA astronaut Loral O'Hara, Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko, and Nikolai Chub are scheduled to launch aboard their Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft on Sept. 15.

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