← Transportation

Space Shuttle Operations

Images of space shuttles in various stages of operation, focusing on assembly and transport, highlighting aerospace engineering.

Teams peform Orion Parachute Test Vehicle (PTV) loading operations on July 22, 2013 in preparation for the July 24 parachute drop test at the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.
Teams peform Orion Parachute Test Vehicle (PTV) loading operations on July 22, 2013 in preparation for the July 24 parachute drop test at the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.
260 assets in this story
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Nozzles of a jet plane Nozzles of a jet plane, close-up. Copyright: xZoonar.com/SergeyxKohlx 21834021
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A left side view of two Patrol Squadron 46 (VP-46) P-3 Orion aircraft parked in front of a hangar. Base: Naval Air Station, Moffett Field State: California (CA) Country: United States Of America (USA)
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T&R Endeavour, Alta Pod Installation/Demo, Enterprise/Smithsonian, Day 2
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Loading of a military vehicle onto a Boing 777 cargo plane at Frankfurt-Hahn airport, Lautzenhausen, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, Europe
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A truck hauls a full-size, 149-foot-long, space shuttle solid rocket booster, or SRB, replica from the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex as the space-themed attraction makes way for a new exhibit featuring space shuttle Atlantis, which is currently undergoing preparations to go on public display. The SRB is being placed into temporary storage at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The SRB was part of a mockup of the external tank and two SRBs at the visitor complex that were used to show visitors the size of actual space shuttle components. A space shuttle rode piggyback on the tank and boosters at liftoff and during the ascent into space. The SRBs burned out after about two-and-a-half minutes of flight. After recovery from the ocean, the boosters could be used repeatedly.
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Northwest Airlines Boeing 747 200 freighter at LAX airport. Freight being off loaded from the cargo section of the aircraft.
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old rusted military helicopter in the desert at sunset
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VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, CALIF. - The SciSat-1 payload, with fairing installed and attached to its Pegasus launch vehicle, begins rollout to the hot pad and mating to the L-1011 carrier aircraft. The SciSat-1 weighs approximately 330 pounds and after launch will be placed in a 400-mile-high polar orbit to investigate processes that control the distribution of ozone in the upper atmosphere. The data from the satellite will provide Canadian and international scientists with improved measurements relating to global ozone processes and help policymakers assess existing environmental policy and develop protective measures for improving the health of our atmosphere, preventing further ozone depletion. The mission is designed to last two years.
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NASAs all-electric X-57 Maxwell, in its Mod II configuration, arrives at NASAs Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. The X-plane was delivered by prime contractor Empirical Systems Aerospace of San Luis Obispo, California, in two parts, with the wing separated from the fuselage, to aid in a more timely delivery. X-57 is NASAs first crewed X-plane in two decades, and seeks to further advance the design and airworthiness process for distributed electric propulsion technology for general aviation aircraft.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden, right, shows off space shuttle Discovery at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, following its final return from space. Touchdown on the Shuttle Landing Facility's Runway 15 was at 11:57 a.m. EST, bringing an end to the 13-day STS-133 mission to the International Space Station.Discovery and its six-member crew delivered 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. STS-133 was Discovery's 39th and final mission. This was the 133rd Space Shuttle Program mission and the 35th shuttle voyage to the space station.
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Nahaufnahme des Flugzeugchassis closeup of plane chassis Copyright: xZoonar.com/IrinaxKvyatkovskayax 22685484
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Space shuttles Endeavour and Atlantis are parked nose-to-nose for a brief photo opportunity. The shuttles are switching locations at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Endeavour backed out of Bay 2 of the Orbiter Processing Facility and Atlantis moved out of the Vehicle Assembly Building VAB. Endeavour is undergoing final preparations for its cross-country ferry flight targeted for mid-September.The work is part of Transition and Retirement of the remaining space shuttles, Endeavour and Atlantis. Endeavour is being prepared for public display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Endeavour was the last space shuttle added to NASAs orbiter fleet. Over the course of its 19-year career, Endeavour spent 299 days in space during 25 missions.
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STOLAND Simulator N-210 - fixed base cab
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DN-ST-89-11039. Country: Mediterranean Sea (MED)
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An MRAP armored vehicle goes through a training run on the Shuttle Landing Facility to support NASA's Commercial Crew Program at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The 45,000-pound mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle, or MRAP, was originally designed for military applications. The MRAP offers a mobile bunker for astronauts and ground crews in the unlikely event they have to get away from the launch pad quickly in an emergency.
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INTERIOR DE UNA DE LAS SALAS-ENTRADA A UNA DE LAS NAVES ESPACIALES. Location: JOHNSON SPACE CENTER / MUSEO. HOUSTON-TEXAS.
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PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. - Following arrival at Port Canaveral, Fla., the United Launch Alliance Atlas V first stage and Centaur upper stage that will boost the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, or TDRS-L, spacecraft into orbit is being transported to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Atlas Spaceflight Operations Center for checkout in preparation for launch.TDRS-L is the second of three next-generation satellites designed to ensure vital operational continuity for the NASA Space Network. It is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral's Space Launch Complex 41 atop an Atlas V rocket in January 2014. The current Tracking and Data Relay Satellite system consists of eight in-orbit satellites distributed to provide near continuous information relay service to missions such as the Hubble Space Telescope and International Space Station.
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USA, Florida, Titusville, Kennedy Space Center, Apollo/Saturn V center, NASA, Saturn V.
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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.
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An Emergency Response Vehicle is uploaded and secured into a C-17 Globemaster III for transport during a mobility exercise at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, Oct. 27, 2022. An ERV is a Deployable Communication Capability System capable of supporting up to 50 people to ensure redundant communications and survivability of systems in an arctic environment.
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Russian security officers walk along the railroad tracks as the Soyuz rocket is rolled out to the launch pad Monday, Sept. 28, 2009 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Soyuz is scheduled to launch the crew of Expedition 21 and a spaceflight participant on Sept. 30, 2009.
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Humanitarian aid supplies delivered by U.S. Air Force C-130 to Skardu airfield. U.S. military aircraft, working in close coordination with the Pakistan military, have transported more than 6.6 million kilograms of relief supplies and evacuated 21,000 people in the flood-affected regions of Pakistan during the last two months. Although the cargo aircraft flights have ended, U.S. commitment to supporting Pakistans flood relief efforts remains strong.
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HAMPTON, Va. - At the Naval Station Norfolk near NASAs Langley Research Center in Virginia, the Orion boilerplate test article and support equipment for a stationary recovery test are transferred by floating dock system to a U.S. Navy ship. NASA and the U.S. Navy are conducting tests to prepare for recovery of the Orion crew module and forward bay cover on its return from a deep space mission. The stationary recovery test will allow the teams to demonstrate and evaluate the recovery processes, procedures, hardware and personnel in a controlled environment before conducting a second recovery test next year in open waters.Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to destinations not yet explored by humans, including an asteroid and Mars. It will have emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. The first unpiloted test flight of the Orion is scheduled to launch in 2014 atop a Delta
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A crane lifts space shuttle Atlantis higher into the upper levels of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The shuttle will be moved into high bay 3 and lowered for stacking with its external fuel tank and twin solid rocket boosters. After additional preparations are made, the shuttle will be rolled out to Launch Pad 39A to prepare for launch on the STS-125 mission targeted for 1:34 a.m. EDT Oct. 8.
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(TRACT) Transport Rotorcraft Aircraft Testbed: Helicopter airframe drop test at NASA Langley's Landing and Impact Research Facility (LandIR)
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Tiltrotor Aircraft, Transport Aircraft T-Cab moving into NASA Ames Vertical Motion Simulaotor (VMS) from I-Cab Fixed Base Area in bldg. N-243 using trolly.
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New York, United States may 1975: Saturn v moon rocket displayed horizontally on a crawler transporter at kennedy space center in florida
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VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - At Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the second of three solid rocket boosters for the United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket for launch of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, is delivered to the pad.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.
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VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - A convoy accompanies NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, enclosed in a transportation canister, from the Astrotech payload processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California to Space Launch Complex 2.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. 9. For additional information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/wise.
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Lockheed Martin S-3B Viking Aircraft #N601NA, Preparation for Icing Research Instrumentation Installation
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Mr. Ed Vita, Project Manager for the base school bus contractor BMAR and Associates Inc., sweeps snow and ice from a bus prior to taking it out on a school pickup. Base: Grand Forks Air Force Base State: North Dakota (ND) Country: United States Of America (USA)
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 2 at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the tail cone has been placed in position surrounding the replica main engines on the space shuttle Endeavour. The tail cone covers the main engines in the aft providing aerodynamic stability during the cross-country ferry flight.The work is part of Transition and Retirement of the remaining space shuttles, Endeavour and Atlantis. Endeavour is being prepared for public display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Its ferry flight to California is targeted for mid-September. Endeavour was the last space shuttle added to NASAs orbiter fleet. Over the course of its 19-year career, Endeavour spent 299 days in space during 25 missions.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Jeff Moultrie, wearing a blue shirt, pilot on the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, or SCA, speaks with news media inside the SCA at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The SCA will take space shuttle Endeavour from Florida to Los Angeles for public display.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the emblems along the body of space shuttle Endeavour are seen as preparations are made to move the spacecraft to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). Endeavour is switching places with shuttle Discovery which temporarily has been stored in the VAB. Both shuttles will stop briefly outside OPF-3 for a "nose-to-nose" photo opportunity. Discovery then will be rolled into OPF-1 and Endeavour into the VAB.In OPF-1, Discovery will undergo further preparations for public display at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia. Endeavour will be stored in the VAB until October when it will be moved into OPF-2 for further work to get it ready for public display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles.
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The Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft is rolled out to the launch pad by train on Monday, April 17, 2017 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Launch of the Soyuz rocket is scheduled for April 20 and will carry Expedition 51 Soyuz Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin of Roscosmos and Flight Engineer Jack Fischer of NASA into orbit to begin their four and a half month mission on the International Space Station.
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Statue head in London,England,United Kingdom
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D_Day landing craft, Omaha Beach Museum, Normandy, France, Europe
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The Soyuz TMA-18 spacecraft is rolled out by train to the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, March, 31, 2010. The launch of the Soyuz spacecraft with Expedition 23 Soyuz Commander Alexander Skvortsov of Russia, Flight Engineer Mikhail Kornienko of Russia and NASA Flight Engineer Tracy Caldwell Dyson is scheduled for Friday, April 2, 2010 at 10:04 a.m. Kazakhstan time.
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Countryside of Queensland, Australia In the Heart of Queensland, Eastern Australia, August 2009 Copyright: xZoonar.com/GiovannixGagliardix 4912398
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Jody Singer, director of NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center inHuntsville, Alabama, joins local government officials and others as the Marshall moveteam prepares to transport the Artemis I launch vehicle stage adapter for the agencysSpace Launch System (SLS) rocket. Huntsville-based Teledyne Brown Engineeringbuilt the launch vehicle stage adapter at a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility atMarshall. Teledyne officials joined Singer to see the adapter one last time before itheads to the barge. This is the last piece of Marshall-built SLS rocket hardware set fordelivery to Kennedy in preparation of the Artemis I mission to the Moon. A move teamled by Marshalls Center Operations will transport the adapter from the manufacturingfacility to NASAs Pegasus barge. The barge will take the adapter to NASAs KennedySpace Center in Florida for assembly and launch. Other parts of the Artemis I SLSrocket that were manufactured in Alabama include the Orion stage adapter built byMars
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Ames 70_year picture day on Flight line.
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T&R/Endeavour - Canadian Arm Leaving KSC by Truck
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The Orion crew module, stacked atop its service module, has moved out of the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A convoy leads the way as the spacecraft for Exploration Flight Test-1 begins its trek to the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility where it will be fueled ahead of its December flight 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 space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. The first unpiloted test flight of the Orion is scheduled to launch atop a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida to an altitude of 3,600 miles above the Earth's surface. The two-orbit, four-hour flight test will help engineers evaluate the systems critical to crew safety i
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Cars Vehicles Automobiles, navy, UN vehicles, bombay mumbai, maharashtra, india Copyright: xFawzanxHusain/DinodiaxPhotox
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers at the mate-demate device complete final preparations to lift and mate space shuttle Discovery to a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.The device, known as the MDD, is a large gantry-like steel structure used to hoist a shuttle off the ground and position it onto the back of the aircraft, or SCA. The SCA is a Boeing 747 jet, originally manufactured for commercial use, which was modified by NASA to transport the shuttles between destinations on Earth. The SCA designated NASA 905 is assigned to the remaining ferry missions, delivering the shuttles to their permanent public display sites. NASA 905 is scheduled to ferry Discovery to the Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia on April 17, after which the shuttle will be placed on display in the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.
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Elvis Presley' private plane. Tennessee. Memphis.USA.
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Russian security is seen as the Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft is rolled out to the launch pad by train on Monday, April 17, 2017 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Launch of the Soyuz rocket is scheduled for April 20 and will carry Expedition 51 Soyuz Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin of Roscosmos and Flight Engineer Jack Fischer of NASA into orbit to begin their four and a half month mission on the International Space Station.
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Fixed Wing Aviat Airplanes DC-3 mosquito sprayer crop duster white front overhead palm trees tropical Florida buildings
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Travelers take a photo with the Orion crew module flown on NASAs Pad Abort-1 (PA-1) flight test on the road on June 15, 2011. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.
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Missile sculpture in a park, Pearl Harbor, Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii Islands, USA
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The Soyuz TMA-11M rocket is rolled out to the launch pad by train on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2013, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Launch of the Soyuz rocket is scheduled for November 7 and will send Expedition 38 Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin of Roscosmos, Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio of NASA and Flight Engineer Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency on a six-month mission aboard the International Space Station.
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Bomb Squad Robot on a road
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Viewed from the roof of the Launch Control Center in the Launch Complex 39 Area, the newly redesigned External Tank is seen moving past the parking area on its way to the Vehicle Assembly Building. Behind the tank is Operations Support Building II, currently under construction. In the transfer aisle of the VAB, the tank will be raised from a horizontal to a vertical position, then lifted high up into a storage cell, or checkout cell, where it will undergo inspections of the mechanical, electrical and thermal protection systems. New processing activities resulting from re-design of the tank include inspection of the bipod heater and External Tank separation camera, which includes charging the camera batteries. The tank will be then prepared for mating to the Solid Rocket Boosters. When preparations are complete, the tank will be lifted from the checkout cell, moved across the transfer aisle and into High Bay 1, where it will be lowered and attached to the bo
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(TRACT) Transport Rotorcraft Aircraft Testbed: Helicopter airframe drop test at NASA Langley's Landing and Impact Research Facility (LandIR)
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MTPV - MOBILE TELEVISION PRODUCTION VEHICLE - NIGHT VIEW ON THE RAMP AT THE HANGAR
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The final shipment of Columbia debris is offloaded at KSC. The recovery efforts have been concluded in East Texas. Prior to this final shipment, the total number of items at KSC is 82,567, weighing 84,800 pounds or 38 percent of the total dry weight of Columbia. Of those items, 78,760 have been identified, with 753 placed on the left wing grid in the RLV Hangar.
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Greenland, Kangerlussuaq, Greenland's Main international airport, playground
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FEMA Region 10 staff board plane to Alaska as part of the Capstone 2014 National Exercise.. Photographs Relating to Disasters and Emergency Management Programs, Activities, and Officials
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The Orion space capsule along with NASA Astronauts Lee Morin, Alvin Drew, Kjell Lindgren, Serena Aunon, Kate Rubins, and Mike Massimino pass the Presidential viewing stand and President Barack Obama during the inaugural parade honoring Obama, Monday Jan. 21, 2013, in Washington. Obama was sworn-in as the nation's 44th President earlier in the day.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Technicians guide the MAVEN spacecraft as it is offloaded from a C-17 aircraft at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The aircraft delivered MAVEN for processing ahead of a launch later this year on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.MAVEN, short for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, will orbit Mars to study the Red Planet's upper atmosphere in unprecedented detail.