Space Shuttle Launches

Dramatic photographs of space shuttle launches, capturing the power and excitement of rocket liftoffs against stunning natural backdrops.

Launch of Shuttle Columbia on STS_32

Photograph of the Apollo 11 Spaceflight launched by a Saturn V rocket from the Kennedy Space Centre in Merritt Island, Florida. Dated 1969

Space Shuttle takes off to jupiter. Elements of this image furnished by NASA.

STS-49, the first flight of the Space Shuttle Orbiter Endeavour, lifted off from launch pad 39B on May 7, 1992 at 6 40 pm CDT. The STS-49 mission was the first U.S. orbital flight to feature 4 extravehicular activities (EVAs), and the first flight to involve 3 crew members working simultaneously outside of the spacecraft. The primary objective was the capture and redeployment of the INTELSAT VI (F-3) which was stranded in an unusable orbit since its launch aboard the Titan rocket in March 1990.

DF-SC-84-04222. Base: Kennedy Space Center State: Florida (FL) Country: United States Of America (USA)

A view of the Space Transportation System (STS-4) Columbia, seconds after being launched from Pad 39A. This is the fourth space shuttle mission and it is piloted by CDR Ken Mattingly and Henry Hartsfield Jr. Base: Kennedy Space Center State: Florida (FL) Country: United States Of America (USA)

S71-18395 (31 Jan. 1971) --- The huge, 363-feet tall Apollo 14 (Spacecraft 110/Lunar Module 8/Saturn 509) space vehicle is launched from Pad A, Launch Complex 39, Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida at 4 03 02 p.m. (EST), Jan. 31, 1971, on a lunar landing mission. Aboard the Apollo 14 spacecraft were astronauts Alan B. Shepard Jr., commander; Stuart A. Roosa, command module pilot; and Edgar D. Mitchell, lunar module pilot.

A Thor Delta missile is launched. Base: Vandenberg Air Force Base State: California (CA) Country: United States Of America (USA)

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STS062-S-051 (4 March 1994) --- Five veteran astronauts and the United States Microgravity Payload (USMP) are ushered into space via the sixteenth launch of Space Shuttle Columbia. Launch occurred at 8 53 a.m. (EST), March 4, 1994. Onboard were astronauts John H. Casper, Andrew M. Allen, Marsha S. Ivins, Charles D. (Sam) Gemar and Pierre J. Thuot.

The Space Shuttle Discovery cuts a bright swath through the early-morning darkness as it lifts off from Launch Pad 39A on a scheduled 10-day flight to service the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Liftoff of Mission STS-82 occurred on-time at 3:55:17 a.m. EST, Feb. 11, 1997. Leading the veteran crew is Mission Commander Kenneth D. Bowersox. Scott J. "Doc" Horowitz is the pilot. Mark C. Lee is the payload commander. Rounding out the seven-member crew are Mission Specialists Steven L. Smith, Gregory J. Harbaugh, Joseph R. "Joe" Tanner and Steven A. Hawley. Four of the astronauts will be divided into two teams to perform the scheduled four back-to-back extravehicular activities (EVAs) or spacewalks. Lee and Smith will team up for EVAs 1 and 3 on flight days 4 and 6; Harbaugh and Tanner will perform EVAs 2 and 4 on flight days 5 and 7. Among the tasks will be to replace two outdated scientific instruments with two new instruments the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) and the Near Inf

The launch of Thor/Able 3 launch vehicle on August 6, 1959, from the Atlantic Missile Range. The payload was Explorer VI for meteorology study.

Psyche at Sunset. NASAs Psyche spacecraft stands tall atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket at Kennedy Space Centers historic Launch Complex 39A in Florida on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023. Liftoff of Psyche is targeted for 10:19 a.m. EDT Friday, Oct. 13. The mission will explore an asteroid that scientists hope will help solve mysteries of our solar system for the benefit of humanity. This includes, for the first time, examining a world dominantly made not of rock or ice, but of metal, to answer fundamental questions about Earths own metal core and the formation of our solar system. Psyche also will carry a technology demonstration - NASAs Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) experiment - that will test a next-generation way to communicate from space.

S88-55870 (2 Dec. 1988) --- The space shuttle Atlantis and its five-man crew of astronauts are launched from Kennedy Space Center s Pad 39B at 9 30 a.m. (EST), Dec. 2, 1988. Onboard the Department of Defense dedicated mission are astronauts Robert L. Gibson, Guy S. Gardner, Jerry L. Ross, Richard M. (Mike) Mullane and Williams M. Shepherd.

STS114-S-024 (26 July 2005) --- Space Shuttle Discovery and its seven-member crew launched at 10:39 a.m. (EDT) on July 26, 2005 to begin the two-day journey to the international space station on the historic STS-114 Return to Flight mission.

S66-34610 (17 May 1966) --- An Agena Target Vehicle atop its Atlas Launch vehicle is launched from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Launch Complex 14 at 10 15 am., May 17, 1966. The Agena was intended as a rendezvous and docking vehicle for the Gemini-9 spacecraft. However, since the Agena failed to achieve orbit, the Gemini-9 mission was postponed.

61A-S-018 (30 Oct 1985) --- A record-sized crew of eight persons is lifted toward Earth-orbit as the space shuttle Challenger blasts from the launch pad at Complex 39, Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida. Almost all the service structure/gantry is obscured by smoke resulting from the boosters' firing. Inside the spacecraft are astronauts Henry W. Hartsfield, Jr., Steven R. Nagel, Bonnie J. Dunbar, James F. Buchli, Guion S. Bluford, Jr., along with payload specialists Wubbo J. Ockels, Reinhard Furrer and Ernst Messerschmid. Within hours of this photo, the Spacelab D-1 Science Module was activated and crew members were busy performing experiments. Launch occurred at noon (EST), Oct. 30, 1985.

The two-stage SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, carrying the SpaceX Dragon resupply spacecraft to the International Space Station. Liftoff was at 5:42 a.m. EDT on Friday, June 29, 2018. On the companys 15th Commercial Resupply Services mission to the International Space Station, Dragon is filled with supplies and payloads, including critical materials to support several science and research investigations that will occur during Expedition 56. The spacecrafts unpressurized trunk is carrying a Canadian-built Latching End Effector, or LEE. This new LEE will replace a failed unit astronauts removed during a series of spacewalks in the fall of 2017. Each end of the Canadarm2 robotic arm has an identical LEE, and they are used as the “hands” that grapple payloads and visiting cargo spaceships.

The huge, 363-foot tall Apollo XI Spacecraft 107/Lunar Module (LM)-5/Saturn 506) Space Vehicle is launched from Pad A , Launch Complex (LC)-39, KSC, at 9 32 a.m. (EDT), 07/16/1969. This view of the liftoff was taken by a camera mounted on the Mobile Launch Tower. KSC, FL

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif.. -- A Delta rocket leaps off Launch Complex 2W carrying the joint NASA_French Space Agency oceanography satellite Jason 1 and Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics satellite aboard. Liftoff occurred at 7 07 a.m. PST (10 07 a.m. EST or 15 07 GMT). Jason 1 joins the orbiting Topex_Poseidon satellite to continue observations of the global climate interaction occurring between the sea and the atmosphere as a result of stored solar energy. Instruments on Jason 1 will map variations in ocean surface topography to monitor world ocean circulation, study interactions of the oceans and atmosphere, improve climate predictions and observe events like El Nino. The mission is expected to last three years. The TIMED satellite will study a little-known region above the atmosphere, some 40 to 110 miles from the Earth's surface. Studying this region has been nearly impossible until now because conventional airplanes and balloons cannot reach this hi

Night launch of the NOVA I Scout missile with a Navy Navigational Satellite aboard. Base: Vandenberg Air Force Base State: California (CA) Country: United States Of America (USA)

After its Rotational Service Structure is rolled back, the Space Shuttle Discovery awaits the dawn of day on its scheduled day of launch on mission STS-95 at Launch Pad 39B. Liftoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Oct. 29. The STS-95 mission is expected to last almost 9 days, with a landing at KSC at 11:49 a.m. EST on Nov. 7

Launch of Pioneer 10 to Jupiter occured at 8 49 p.m. EST March 2, 1972

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - NASA's Phoenix Mars lander lifts off from Pad 17A aboard a Delta II 7925 rocket at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 5:26 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.

Space shuttle on a launch pad, Space Shuttle Challenger, Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- -- Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off Launch Pad 39A with a crew of seven on board. Flames from the solid rocket boosters and external tank are drawn away by a flame trench below while water jets flood the area to help suppress the deafening sound. A rainbird can be seen to the left of the white solid rocket booster. In the background is the Atlantic Ocean. Liftoff of Discovery on mission STS-105 occurred at 5:10:14 p.m. EDT. Besides the Shuttle crew of four, Discovery carries the Expedition Three crew who will replace Expedition Two on the Space Station. The mission includes the third flight of an Italian-built Multi-Purpose Logistics Module delivering additional scientific racks, equipment and supplies for the Space Station and the Early Ammonia Servicer (EAS) tank. The EAS, which will be attached to the Station during two spacewalks, contains spare ammonia for the Stations cooling system. The three-member Expedition Two crew will be returning to Earth a

Launch Of Space Shuttle Challenger, 6/22/83.

This is a breathtaking moonlit view of Apollo 17 on the Launch Pad at Kennedy Space Flight Center (KSC). The seventh and last manned lunar landing and return to Earth mission, the Apollo 17, carrying a crew of three astronauts Mission Commander Eugene A. Cernan, Lunar Module pilot Harrison H. Schmitt, and Command Module pilot Ronald E. Evans, lifted off on December 7, 1972. The basic objective of the Apollo 17 mission was to sample basin-rim highland material and adjacent mare material, and investigate the geological evolutionary relationship between these two major units. The mission marked the longest Apollo mission, 504 hours, and the longest lunar surface stay time, 75 hours, which allowed the astronauts to conduct an extensive geological investigation. They collected 257 pounds (117 kilograms) of lunar samples with the use of the Marshall Space Flight Center designed Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV). The mission ended on December 19, 1972

DN-SC-85-01741. Base: Cape Canaveral State: Florida (FL) Country: United States Of America (USA)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory levitates off Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station as its engines ignite. Liftoff was at 10 23 a.m. EST Feb. 11. This is the 100th launch of a commercial Atlas_Centaur rocket. The observatory, known as SDO, is the first mission in NASA's Living With a Star Program and is designed to study the causes of solar variability and its impacts on Earth. The spacecraft's long-term measurements will give solar scientists in-depth information to help characterize the interior of the Sun, the Sun's magnetic field, the hot plasma of the solar corona, and the density of radiation that creates the ionosphere of the planets. The information will be used to create better forecasts of space weather needed to protect the aircraft, satellites and astronauts living and working in space.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Sunset-shaded clouds of purple and pink fill the sky as the launch tower on pad 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, rolls back to reveal the Boeing Delta II rocket with NASA's Comet Nucleus Tour (CONTOUR) spacecraft attached. The launch is scheduled for 2:47 a.m. EDT July 3. Designed and built by The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md., the 2,138-pound (970-kilogram) spacecraft will be placed into an elliptical Earth orbit until Aug. 15, when it is scheduled to fire its main engine and enter a comet-chasing orbit around the sun. The mission's flexible four-year plan includes encounters with comets Encke (Nov. 12, 2003) and Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 (June 19, 2006), though it can add an encounter with a "new" and scientifically valuable comet from the outer solar system, should one be discovered in time for CONTOUR to fly past it. CONTOUR's four scientific instruments will take detailed pictures and measure the chemic

Launch of Apollo-Soyuz Test Project Saturn IB

Blast off of NASA's Shuttle Discovery STS-95

An interim contract for preliminary work on 120-inch diameter segmented solid propellant rocket motors for the booster stage of the Air Force Titan III Program has been awarded to United Technology Corp. by the Air Force Space Systems Division. This artist's conception shows the huge segmented, solid-propellant rockets, each 120 inches in diameter & producing more than a million lbs. of thrust, blasting the standardized Space Launch Vehicle into space. Titan III will stand over 103-ft. tall on the pad & will be utilized to put multi-ton payloads in orbit, including the X-20 or Dyna-Soar. October 15, 1962. (Photo by UPI Telephoto).

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- On Launch Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the Dawn spacecraft is lifted alongside the mobile service tower. At the top, Dawn will be prepared for mating with the awaiting Delta II rocket. Dawn is scheduled for launch in a window from 7:25 to 7:54 a.m. Sept. 26 from CCAFS. During its nearly decade-long mission, the Dawn mission will study the asteroid Vesta and dwarf planet Ceres, celestial bodies believed to have accreted early in the history of the solar system. To carry out its scientific mission, the Dawn spacecraft will carry a visible camera, a visible and infrared mapping spectrometer, and a gamma ray and neutron spectrometer, whose data will be used in combination to characterize these bodies. In addition to the three instruments, radiometric and optical navigation data will provide data relating to the gravity field and thus bulk properties and internal structure of the two bodies. Data returned from the Dawn spacecraft could p

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - With a glimpse of the Atlantic Ocean over the horizon, the Delta II rocket with its Mars Exploration Rover (MER-A) payload leaps off the launch pad into the blue sky to begin its journey to Mars. Liftoff occurred on time at 1:58 p.m. EDT from Launch Complex 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. MER-A, known as "Spirit," is the first of two rovers being launched to Mars. When the two rovers arrive at the red planet 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 the 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.

Space Shuttle at the Background of Star Field 1102804382

Like a rising sun lighting up the afternoon sky, the Space Shuttle Columbia soars from Launch Pad 39A at 2:20:32 p.m. EST, April 4, on the 16-day Microgravity Science Laboratory-1 (MSL-1) mission. The crew members are Mission Commander James D. Halsell, Jr.; Pilot Susan L. Still; Payload Commander Janice Voss; Mission Specialists Michael L. Gernhardt and Donald A. Thomas; and Payload Specialists Roger K. Crouch and Gregory T. Linteris. During the scheduled 16-day STS-83 mission, the MSL-1 will be used to test some of the hardware, facilities and procedures that are planned for use on the International Space Station as well as research in combustion, protein crystal growth and materials processing experiments

The Atlas-Agena-4 boosted the Ranger IV spacecraft for the first U.S. lunar impact on April 23, 1962.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - At Launch Pad 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the third in the third set of Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) for the Boeing Delta II rocket launch of Deep Impact is ready to be lifted and join the other two in the mobile service tower. All three will be mated to the Delta II, joining others for a complement of nine. Launch is scheduled for no earlier than January 8, 2005. 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 th

A Delta II rocket launches with the Aquarius/SAC-D spacecraft payload from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. on Friday, June 10, 2011. The joint U.S./Argentinian Aquarius/Satélite de Aplicaciones Científicas (SAC)-D mission will map the salinity at the ocean surface, information critical to improving our understanding of two major components of Earth's climate system: the water cycle and ocean circulation.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- Under partly cloudy skies and the Atlantic Ocean as a backdrop, Space Shuttle Endeavour, atop the mobile launcher platform, arrives at Launch Pad 39A for mission STS-99. The white cubicle at left is the environmental chamber, the White Room, that provides entry into the orbiter for the astronauts. It is at the outer end of the Orbiter Access Arm on the Fixed Service Structure. STS-99, named the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), involves an international project spearheaded by the National Imagery and Mapping Agency and NASA, with participation of the German Aerospace Center DLR. SRTM will chart a new course, using two antennae and a 200-foot-long section of space station-derived mast protruding from its payload bay, to produce unrivaled 3-D images of the Earth's surface. The result of the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission could be close to 1 trillion measurements of the Earth's topography. Besides contributing to the production of better maps, these

At Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 37, the United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket with NASA's Parker Solar Probe, lifts off at 3:31 a.m. EDT on Sunday, Aug. 12, 2018. The spacecraft was built by Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University in Laurel, Maryland. 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.

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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. - Trees and shrubs are silhouetted on the near bank by the brilliant exhaust of Space Shuttle Columbia as it hurtles into the pre-dawn sky on mission STS-109. Liftoff of Columbia occurred at 6:22:02:08 a.m. EST (11:22:02:08 GMT). This was the 27th flight of the vehicle and 108th in the history of the Shuttle program. The goal of the mission is the maintenance and upgrade of the Hubble Space Telescope, to be carried out in five spacewalks. The crew comprises Commander Scott D. Altman, Pilot Duane G. Carey, Payload Commander John M. Grunsfeld, and Mission Specialists Nancy Jane Currie, Richard M. Linnehan, James H. Newman and Michael J. Massimino. After the 11-day mission, Columbia is expected to return to KSC March 12 about 4:35 a.m. EST (09:35 GMT)

A Martin Marietta Atlas IIA/AC-110 was successfully launched from Complex 36A at 5:21 a.m. EST. It was carrying the Orion into orbit. Base: Cape Canaveral State: Florida (FL) Country: United States Of America (USA)

Psyche at Sunset. NASAs Psyche spacecraft stands tall atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket at Kennedy Space Centers historic Launch Complex 39A in Florida on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023. Liftoff of Psyche is targeted for 10:19 a.m. EDT Friday, Oct. 13. The mission will explore an asteroid that scientists hope will help solve mysteries of our solar system for the benefit of humanity. This includes, for the first time, examining a world dominantly made not of rock or ice, but of metal, to answer fundamental questions about Earths own metal core and the formation of our solar system. Psyche also will carry a technology demonstration - NASAs Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) experiment - that will test a next-generation way to communicate from space.

S69-58883 (14 Nov. 1969) --- The huge, 363-feet tall Apollo 12 (Spacecraft 108/Lunar Module 6/Saturn 507) space vehicle is launched from Pad A, Launch Complex 39, Kennedy Space Center (KSC), at 11 22 a.m. (EST), Nov. 14, 1969. Aboard the Apollo 12 spacecraft were astronauts Charles Conrad Jr., commander; Richard F. Gordon Jr., command module pilot; and Alan L. Bean, lunar module pilot. Apollo 12 is the United States' second lunar landing mission.

This image from 1997 is of the Titan IVB/Centaur carrying NASA's Cassini spacecraft at Launch Complex 40 on Cape Canaveral Air Station, the Mobile Service Tower has been retracted away.

NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft launched atop its Titan/Centaur-6 launch vehicle from the Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex in Florida on September 5, 1977, at 8 56 a.m. local time.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- A Boeing Delta II expendable launch vehicle lifts off with NASA's Mars Polar Lander into a cloud-covered sky at 3:21:10 p.m. EST from Launch Complex 17B, Cape Canaveral Air Station. The lander is a solar-powered spacecraft designed to touch down on the Martian surface near the northern-most boundary of the south polar cap, which consists of carbon dioxide ice. The lander will study the polar water cycle, frosts, water vapor, condensates and dust in the Martian atmosphere. It is equipped with a robotic arm to dig beneath the layered terrain at the polar cap. In addition, Deep Space 2 microprobes, developed by NASA's New Millennium Program, are installed on the lander's cruise stage. After crashing into the planet's surface, they will conduct two days of soil and water experiments up to 1 meter (3 feet) below the Martian surface, testing new technologies for future planetary descent probes. The lander is the second spacecraft to be launched in a pair of Mars

S68-19460 (22 Jan. 1968) --- The Apollo 5 (LM-1/Saturn 204) unmanned space mission was launched from the Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 37 at 5 48 09 p.m. (EST), Jan. 22, 1968. The Lunar Module-1 payload was boosted into Earth orbit by a launch vehicle composed of a Saturn IB first stage and a Saturn S-IVB second stage. The Apollo lunar module's first flight test was called a complete success. Ascent and descent propulsion systems and the ability to abort a lunar landing and return to orbit were demonstrated.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The MESSENGER spacecraft atop a Boeing Delta II rocket lifts off on time at 2:15:56 a.m. EDT, from Launch Pad 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. MESSENGER (Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry and Ranging) is on a seven-year, 4.9-billion-mile journey to the planet Mercury. The spacecraft will fly by Earth, Venus and Mercury several times, as well as circling the sun 15 times, to burn off energy before making its final approach to the inner planet on March 18, 2011. MESSENGER was built for NASA by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md.

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KENNEDY SPACE CENER, FLA. -- A timed exposure of the Space Shuttle at Launch Pad A, Complex 39, turns the space vehicle and support facilities into a night-time fantasy of light. To the left of the Shuttle are the fixed and the rotating service structures

NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft launched atop its Titan/Centaur-6 launch vehicle from the Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex in Florida on September 5, 1977, at 8 56 a.m. local time.

At Cape Canaveral Air Force Stations Space Launch Complex 37, the United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket with NASA's Parker Solar Probe, lifts off at 3:31 a.m. EDT on Sunday, Aug. 12, 2018. The spacecraft was built by Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University in Laurel, Maryland. 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.

Launch of Jupiter-C/Explorer 1 at Cape Canaveral, Florida on January 31, 1958. After the Russian Sputnik 1 was launched in October 1957, the launching of an American satellite assumed much greater importance. After the Vanguard rocket exploded on the pad in December 1957, the ability to orbit a satellite became a matter of national prestige. On January 31, 1958, slightly more than four weeks after the launch of Sputnik.The ABMA (Army Ballistic Missile Agency) in Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Alabama, in cooperation with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, launched a Jupiter from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The rocket consisted of a modified version of the Redstone rocket's first stage and two upper stages of clustered Baby Sergeant rockets developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and later designated as Juno boosters for space launches

An Atlas Rocket Ready For Liftoff

STS-41 Discovery, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 103, lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Launch Complex (LC) Pad 39 mobile launcher platform at 7 47 am (Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)). OV-103 riding atop the external tank (ET) and flanked by two solid rocket boosters (SRBs), is captured just moments after liftoff. Not yet clear of the fixed service structure (FSS) tower, OV-103 is highlighted against the cloudless morning sky. Exhaust smoke billows from the SRBs and the space shuttle main engines (SSMEs) creating a cloud over the launch pad area.

STS076-S-011 (22 March 1996) --- This wide view captures the nocturnal launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis, as it heads toward Earth-orbit and an eventual docking with Russias Mir Space Station. Mir has been in space for ten years and a two-man crew (Mir-21) currently awaits the arrival of Atlantis. The on-time launch occurred at 3:13:04 a.m. (EST) on March 22, 1996. Onboard for STS-76 are astronauts Kevin P. Chilton, Richard A. Searfoss, Ronald M. Sega, Michael R. (Rich) Clifford, Linda M. Godwin and Shannon W. Lucid. Lucid will remain onboard Mir for just under five months time, as a cosmonaut guest researcher.

S69-39526 (16 July 1969) --- The huge, 363-feet tall Apollo 11 (Spacecraft 107/Lunar Module 5/Saturn 506) space vehicle is launched from Pad A, Launch Complex 39 Kennedy Space Center (KSC), at 9 32 a.m. (EDT), July 16, 1969. Onboard the Apollo 11 spacecraft were astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, commander; Michael Collins, command module pilot; and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot. Apollo 11 is the United States first lunar landing mission. Astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin will descend in the Lunar Module (LM) Eagle to explore the Sea of Tranquility region of the moon, while astronaut Collins remains with the Command and Service Modules (CSM) Columbia in lunar orbit.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - On Launch Complex 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the launch tower begins to roll back from the Boeing Delta II rocket and its Mars Exploration Rover (MER-A) payload in preparation for another launch attempt. The first two attempts were postponed due to weather concerns. 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.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - At liftoff, clouds of smoke spread beneath the Delta II rocket carrying the STEREO spacecraft on top. Liftoff from Launch Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station was at 8:52 p.m. EDT. STEREO (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory) is a two-year mission using two nearly identical observatories, one ahead of Earth in its orbit and the other trailing behind. The duo will provide 3-D measurements of the sun and its flow of energy, enabling scientists to study the nature of coronal mass ejections and why they happen. The ejections are a major source of the magnetic disruptions on Earth and are a key component of space weather. The disruptions can greatly effect satellite operations, communications, power systems, humans in space and global climate. Designed and built by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) , the STEREO mission is being managed by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. APL will maintain command and control of the

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- The Space Coast's natural foliage frames the Space Shuttle Discovery and the reflection of the intense heat and light of its liftoff from Launch Pad 39A at 6:06:24 p.m. EDT June 2. On board Discovery are Mission Commander Charles J. Precourt; Pilot Dominic L. Gorie; and Mission Specialists Wendy B. Lawrence, Franklin R. Chang-Diaz, Janet Lynn Kavandi and Valery Victorovitch Ryumin. The nearly 10-day mission will feature the ninth and final Shuttle docking with the Russian space station Mir, the first Mir docking for the Space Shuttle orbiter Discovery, the first on-orbit test of the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS), and the first flight of the new Space Shuttle super lightweight external tank. Astronaut Andrew S. W. Thomas will be returning to Earth as an STS-91 crew member after living more than four months aboard Mir

Photograph taken during the launch of Mercury-Atlas 8. Dated 20th century

Early morning view of Pad A, Launch Complex 39, Kennedy Space Center, showing Apollo 4 (Spacecraft 017/Saturn 501) unmanned, earth-orbital space mission ready for launch, with a full moon in the upper left part of the image. The 363-foot tall Apollo/Saturn V space vehicle was launched at 7 00 01 AM (EST), November 9, 1967.

Launch of Mariner 1

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The Boeing Delta II rocket and its Mars Exploration Rover (MER-A) payload is viewed from under the launch tower as it moves away on Launch Complex 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. This will be 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.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The Rotating Service Structure is rolled back from around Space Shuttle Discovery at Launch Pad 39B for a propellant-loading test of Discovery's External Tank (ET) on April 14. During the test, the tank will be filled to launch levels with ultra-cold hydrogen and oxygen propellants, known as 'cryogenics.' The test is designed to evaluate how the tank, orbiter, Solid Rocket Boosters and ground systems are performing under full 'cryo-load.' Throughout testing, engineers will observe the effectiveness of key safety modifications made to the External Tank. NASAs Return to Flight mission, STS-114 on Space Shuttle Discovery, is targeted for launch on May 15 with a launch window that extends to June 3.

Lighting up the night sky at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 37, the United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket with NASA's Parker Solar Probe, lifts off at 3:31 a.m. EDT on Sunday, Aug. 12, 2018. The spacecraft was built by Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University in Laurel, Maryland. 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 of first flight of Atlantis and the STS 51-J mission. Mid-day skies of Florida form the backdrop for this smokey scene of the 51-J launch (001); This photograph, taken from the support structure at Launch Pad 39A, captures the first moments of the initial blastoff of the shuttle Atlantis (002); This frame was taken moments after the Atlantis cleared the launch tower. The view is from the below the orbiter and show its solid rocket boosters firing (003).

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At Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 37, the Delta IV Heavy rocket with NASA's Parker Solar Probe, lifts off at 3:31 a.m. EDT on Sunday, Aug. 12, 2018. The spacecraft was built by Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University in Laurel, Maryland. 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.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- With the Rotating Service Structure rolled back, Space Shuttle Discovery is revealed on the Mobile Launcher Platform at Launch Pad 39A. Discovery is being readied for the STS-92 mission launch to the International Space Station (ISS). At the top is the 13-foot-wide beanie cap,” at the end of the Gaseous Oxygen Vent Arm, designed to vent gaseous oxygen vapors away from the Space Shuttle. Lower is the Orbiter Access Arm with the environmental chamber, known as the white room,” extended to the orbiter. The chamber provides entry for the crew into the orbiter and also serves as emergency egress up to 7 minutes 24 seconds before launch. The STS-92 mission payload includes Integrated Truss Structure Z-1, an early exterior framework to allow the first U.S. solar arrays on a future flight to be temporarily installed on Unity for early power; Ku-band communication to support early science capability and U.S. television; and the third Pressurized Mating Adapter t

Vintage Photograph. Pre-launch view of "Thor" Missile prepared for blast off.

Like a rising sun lighting up the afternoon sky, the Space Shuttle Columbia soars from Launch Pad 39A at 2:20:32 p.m. EST, April 4, on the 16-day Microgravity Science Laboratory-1 (MSL-1) mission. The crew members are Mission Commander James D. Halsell, Jr.; Pilot Susan L. Still; Payload Commander Janice Voss; Mission Specialists Michael L. Gernhardt and Donald A. Thomas; and Payload Specialists Roger K. Crouch and Gregory T. Linteris. During the scheduled 16-day STS-83 mission, the MSL-1 will be used to test some of the hardware, facilities and procedures that are planned for use on the International Space Station as well as research in combustion, protein crystal growth and materials processing experiments

The Boeing Delta II rocket carrying the 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft blasts into the clear blue sky from Launch Complex 17-A at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Liftoff occurred at 11 02 a.m. EDT. The launch sends the Mars Odyssey on an approximate 7-month journey to orbit the planet Mars. The spacecraft, built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, will map the Martian surface looking for geological features that could indicate the presence of water, now or in the past. Science gathered by three science instruments on board will be key to future missions to Mars, including orbital reconnaissance, lander and human missions

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- At Launch Pad 39B, the payload canister carrying the Chandra X-ray Observatory begins its ascent up the Rotating Service Structure (RSS) to the Payload Changeout Room. Umbilical hoses, which maintain a controlled environment for the observatory, are still attached to the payload canister transporter below that transferred the observatory from the Vertical Processing Facility. The observatory will be moved into the payload bay of the Space Shuttle Columbia, seen in the background, after the RSS rotates to a position behind Columbia. The world's most powerful X-ray telescope, Chandra will allow scientists from around the world to see previously invisible black holes and high-temperature gas clouds, giving the observatory the potential to rewrite the books on the structure and evolution of our universe. Chandra is scheduled for launch no earlier than July 20 aboard Space Shuttle Columbia, on mission STS-93

Billows of exhaust fill Launch Pad 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Station, as the Boeing Delta II rocket carrying the Stardust spacecraft launches on time. After a 24-hour postponement, the rocket lifted off at 4:04:15 p.m. EST. Stardust is destined for a close encounter with the comet Wild 2 in January 2004. Using a silicon-based substance called aerogel, Stardust will capture comet particles flying off the nucleus of the comet. The spacecraft also will bring back samples of interstellar dust. These materials consist of ancient pre-solar interstellar grains and other remnants left over from the formation of the solar system. Scientists expect their analysis to provide important insights into the evolution of the sun and planets and possibly into the origin of life itself. The collected samples will return to Earth in a sample return capsule to be jettisoned as Stardust swings by Earth in January 2006

The Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft is launched with Expedition 57 Flight Engineer Nick Hague of NASA and Flight Engineer Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. During the Soyuz spacecraft's climb to orbit, an anomaly occurred, resulting in an abort downrange. The crew was quickly recovered and is in good condition.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - On Launch Pad 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., the Boeing Delta II rocket carrying the Deep Impact spacecraft is bathed in light waiting for tower rollback before launch. Scheduled for liftoff at 1 47 p.m. EST today, Deep Impact will head for space and a rendezvous with Comet Tempel 1 when the comet is 83 million miles from Earth. After releasing a 3- by 3-foot projectile (impactor) to crash onto the surface July 4, 2005, Deep Impacts flyby spacecraft will reveal the secrets of the comets interior by collecting 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 is a NASA Discovery mission.

Juno II (AM-14) on the launch pad just prior to launch, March 3, 1959. The payload of AM-14 was Pioneer IV, America's first successful lunar mission. The Juno II was a modification of Jupiter ballistic missile

S63-00193 (29 July 1960) --- Launch of the unmanned Mercury-Atlas 1 (MA-1) from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Premature engine cutoff at launch terminated the test. Emergency escape system jettisoned. The Altas exploded 65 seconds after launch.

An Atlas V rocket with NASA's Juno spacecraft payload is seen the evening before it's planned launch at Space Launch Complex 41 of the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Thursday, August 4, 2011. The Juno spacecraft will make a five-year, 400-million-mile voyage to Jupiter, orbit the planet, investigate its origin and evolution with eight instruments to probe its internal structure and gravity field, measure water and ammonia in its atmosphere, map its powerful magnetic field and observe its intense auroras.

A McDonnell Douglas DELTA II Space Launch Vehicle successfully launched the NASA Mars pathfinder into orbit from Complex 17B at Cape Canaveral Air Station at 1:58 A.M. EST today. Base: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station State: Florida (FL) Country: United States Of America (USA)

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - The launch gantry is rolled back to reveal the United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket with the Soil Moisture Active Passive, or SMAP, satellite aboard, at the Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. SMAP is a remote sensing mission designed to measure and map the Earth's soil moisture distribution and freeze/thaw stat with unprecedented accuracy, resolution and coverage.SMAP will provide global measurements of soil moisture and its freeze/thaw state. These measurements will be used to enhance understanding of processes that link the water, energy and carbon cycles, and to extend the capabilities of weather and climate prediction models. SMAP data also will be used to quantify net carbon flux in boreal landscapes and to develop improved flood prediction and drought monitoring capabilities. Launch is scheduled for Jan. 29, 2015.

Space Shuttle Columbia

Space Shuttle Discovery STS-48 launch from Kennedy Space Center, FLA to deploy the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS)

NASAs Space Launch System (SLS) rocket arrives at Launch Pad 39B at the agencys Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 18, 2022, for a wet dress rehearsal ahead of the uncrewed Artemis I launch. The rocket, with the Orion spacecraft atop, was carried from the Vehicle Assembly Building to the pad - a 4.2-mile journey that took nearly 11 hours to complete - by the agencys crawler-transporter 2. Artemis I will test SLS and Orion as an integrated system prior to crewed flights to the Moon. Through Artemis, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the lunar surface, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone on the way to Mars.

Developed at MSFC under the direction of Dr. Wernher von Braun, the SA-5 incorporated a Saturn I, Block II engine. Launched on January 29, 1964, SA-5 was the first two stage (Block II) Saturn with orbital capability and performed the first test of Instrument Unit and successful stage separation. Block II vehicles had two live stages, and were basically in the two-stage configuration of the Saturn I vehicle. There were marked changes between the Block I and II versions. The Block II S-I stage had eight fins added for greater aerodynamic stability in the lower atmosphere. All Block II H-1 engines had a thrust of 188,000 pounds each for a combined thrust over 1,500,000 pounds. The Block II second stage (S-IV) had six RL-10 hydrogen-oxygen engines, each producing a thrust of 15,000 pounds for a total combined thrust of 90,000 pounds. A motion picture camera capsule loated on stage I was successful recovered.

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