CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A canister, carrying the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module (MPLM) for space shuttle Atlantis' STS-135 mission to the International Space Station, arrives at Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The canister will be lifted to the payload changeout room. The payload ground-handling mechanism then will be used to transfer Raffaello out of the canister into Atlantis' payload bay. Next, the rotating service structure that protects the shuttle from the elements and provides access will be rotated back into place. Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley and Mission Specialists Sandra Magnus and Rex Walheim are targeted to lift off on Atlantis July 8, taking with them the MPLM packed with supplies, logistics and spare parts to the station. The STS-135 mission also will fly a system to investigate the potential for robotically refueling existing satellites and return a failed ammonia pump module to help NASA better understand the failure mechanism and improve pump designs for future systems. STS-135 will be the 33rd flight of Atlantis, the 37th shuttle mission to the space station, and the 135th and final mission of NASA's Space Shuttle Program. For more information visit, www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts135/index.html. Photo credit: NASA/Frank Michaux

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, construction continues on a new mobile launcher for the Constellation Program. The new mobile launcher will be the base for the Ares rockets to launch the Orion crew exploration vehicle and the cargo vehicle. The base is being made lighter than space shuttle mobile launcher platforms so the crawler-transporter can pick up the added load of the 345-foot tower and taller rocket. When the structural portion of the new launcher is complete, umbilical lines, access arms, communications equipment and command/control equipment will be installed. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The first set of Ogive panels for the Orion Launch Abort System arrives by truck at the Launch Abort System Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During processing, the Ogive panels will enclose and protect the Orion spacecraft and attach to the Launch Abort System. Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to destinations not yet explored by humans, including an asteroid and Mars. It will have emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. The first unpiloted test flight of Orion is scheduled to launch in 2014 atop a Delta IV rocket and in 2017 on NASA’s Space Launch System rocket. For more information, visit www.nasa.gov/orion. Photo credit: Daniel Casper

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space shuttle Atlantis, attached to its external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters atop a mobile launcher platform, awaits its final journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. "Rollout," as it's called, began at 8:42 p.m. EDT. It will take the crawler-transporter about six hours to carry the shuttle stack to its seaside launch pad. The milestone move paves the way for the launch of the STS-135 mission to the International Space Station, targeted for July 8. STS-135 will be the 33rd flight of Atlantis, the 37th shuttle mission to the space station, and the 135th and final mission of NASA's Space Shuttle Program. For more information visit, www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts135/index.html. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Space shuttle Atlantis STS-122 Commander Steve Frick puts on his helmet, part of his launch and entry suit, in astronaut crew quarters. The STS-122 crew is preparing for a simulated launch countdown aboard Atlantis, part of terminal countdown demonstration test, or TCDT, activities at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The TCDT is a dress rehearsal for launch and also provides astronauts and ground crews with equipment familiarization and emergency egress training. On mission STS-122, Atlantis will deliver the Columbus module to the International Space Station. The European Space Agency's largest single contribution to the station, Columbus is a multifunctional, pressurized laboratory that will be permanently attached to U.S. Node 2, called Harmony. The laboratory will expand the research facilities aboard the station, providing crew members and scientists from around the world the ability to conduct a variety of experiments in the physical, materials and life sciences. Launch is targeted for Dec. 6. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

Hong Kong police officers gather in the KSC Visitor Complex Rocket Garden during opening ceremonies of the 2000 International Law Enforcement Games. More than 1,850 participants and their families took part in the opening, held in the Rocket Garden. The ceremony included parades, torch lighting and a tug of war. The games feature officers from 15 countries and 37 United States in competitions around Brevard County, Fla

With Commander Kevin Kregel and Pilot Steven Lindsey at the controls, the orbiter Columbia touches its main gear down on Runway 33 at KSC’s Shuttle Landing Facility at 7:20:04 a.m. EST Dec. 5 to complete the 15-day, 16-hour and 34-minute-long STS-87 mission of 6.5 million miles. Also onboard the orbiter are Mission Specialists Winston Scott; Kalpana Chawla, Ph.D.; and Takao Doi, Ph.D., of the National Space Development Agency of Japan; along with Payload Specialist Leonid Kadenyuk of the National Space Agency of Ukraine. During the 88th Space Shuttle mission, the crew performed experiments on the United States Microgravity Payload-4 and pollinated plants as part of the Collaborative Ukrainian Experiment. This was the 12th landing for Columbia at KSC and the 41st KSC landing in the history of the Space Shuttle program

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Vertical Processing Facility, the replacement Reaction Wheel Actuator for the Hubble Space Telescope is moved from its shipping container. Part of Hubble's Pointing Control System, the actuators receiving information from sensors and physically adjust Hubble's position and orientation so that Hubble can view the required celestial bodies. The reaction wheels work by rotating a large flywheel up to 3000 rpm or braking it to exchange momentum with the spacecraft which will make Hubble turn. The RWA is part of the payload on mission STS-109, the Hubble Servicing Mission, scheduled to launch Feb. 28, 2002

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Workers in the Vertical Processing Facility oversee the installation of the NICMOS radiator onto the MULE (Multi-Use Lightweight Equipment) carrier. Part of the payload on mission STS-109, the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) is a new experimental cooling system consisting of a compressor and tiny turbines. With the experimental cryogenic system, NASA hopes to re-cool the infrared detectors to below -315 degrees F (-193 degrees Celsius). NICMOS II was previously tested aboard STS-95 in 1998. NICMOS could extend the life of the Hubble Space Telescope by several years. Astronauts aboard Columbia on mission STS-109 will be replacing the original NICMOS with the newer version. Launch of Columbia on mission STS-109 is scheduled Feb. 28, 2002

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – As the sun rises over the turn basin at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the barge transporting the high-fidelity space shuttle model begins the journey from Kennedy to Johnson Space Center's visitor center in Houston. The model was built in Apopka, Fla., by Guard-Lee and installed at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in 1993.The model has been parked at the turn basin the past five months to allow the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex to begin building a new facility to display space shuttle Atlantis in 2013. For more information about Johnson’s visitor center, called Space Center Houston, visit http://www.spacecenter.org. Photo credit: NASA/Charisse Nahser

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, modifications to Firing Room 3 in the Launch Control Center, or LCC, continue. Wiring and conduits below the floor have been upgraded. The legacy flooring was removed and new flooring has been installed. Some of the new launch control work stations are being positioned for installation in the room. Firing Rooms inside the LCC are being upgraded by the Ground System Development and Operations Program at Kennedy to support the processing and launch of multiple types of rockets and spacecraft, whether they are government or commercial models. Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39 is transitioning to support multiple users with the Firing Rooms being modified to be more generic in nature for upcoming programs. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the high bay of the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, a worker from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center documents the installation of a pallet support strut on the Super Lightweight Interchangeable Carrier for the Hubble Space Telescope. The Super Lightweight Interchangeable Carrier, or SLIC, is one of four carriers supporting hardware for space shuttle Atlantis' STS-125 mission to service the telescope. SLIC is built with state-of-the-art, lightweight, composite materials - carbon fiber with a cyanate ester resin and a titanium metal matrix composite. These composites have greater strength-to-mass ratios than the metals typically used in spacecraft design. The Orbital Replacement Unit Carrier, or ORUC, and the Flight Support System, or FSS, have also arrived at Kennedy. The Multi-Use Lightweight Equipment carrier will be delivered in early August. The carriers will be prepared for the integration of telescope science instruments, both internal and external replacement components, as well as the flight support equipment to be used by the astronauts during the Hubble servicing mission, targeted for launch Oct. 8. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, an agency helicopter flies past the Vehicle Assembly Building prior to landing for a training exercise. The activity taking place in Kennedy's Launch Complex 39 turn-basin parking lot was only one of several drills. It was part of a new training program that was developed by Kennedy's Fire Rescue department along with NASA Aircraft Operations to sharpen the skills needed to help rescue personnel learn how to collaborate with helicopter pilots in taking injured patients to hospitals as quickly as possible. Photo credit: NASA/Dan Casper

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Orbiter Endeavour is lifted off the transporter to raise it to a vertical position inside the Vehicle Assembly Building where it will be mated with the solid rocket boosters and external tank. Endeavour is scheduled to fly on mission STS-88, the first flight for the International Space Station, on Dec. 3, 1998. The primary payload on the mission is the Unity connecting module, which will be mated to the Russian-built Zarya control module expected to already be in orbit at that time

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – STS-135 Commander Chris Ferguson talks with Atlantis Flow Director Angie Brewer, while Mission Specialist Sandra Magnus sign autographs for employees inside Kennedy Space Center's Orbiter Processing Facility-2, where space shuttle Atlantis is being prepared for eventual display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. The astronauts, along with Pilot Doug Hurley, were at the center for the traditional post-flight crew return presentation. STS-135 Mission Specialist Rex Walheim was unable to attend the Kennedy event. In July 2011, Atlantis and its crew delivered to the International Space Station the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module packed with more than 9,400 pounds of spare parts, equipment and supplies that will sustain station operations for the next year. STS-135 was the 33rd and final flight for Atlantis and the final mission of the Space Shuttle Program. For more information, visit www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts135/index.html. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, an overhead crane is lifting the Mars Exploration Rover 2 (MER-2) to move it to a spin table. NASA’s twin Mars Exploration Rovers are designed to study the history of water on Mars. These robotic geologists are equipped with a robotic arm, a drilling tool, three spectrometers, and four pairs of cameras that allow them to have a human-like, 3D view of the terrain. Each rover could travel as far as 100 meters in one day to act as Mars scientists' eyes and hands, exploring an environment where humans can’t yet go. The MER-2 is scheduled to launch June 5 from Launch Pad 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Cheryl Hurst, director of Education and External Relations at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, speaks during a ceremony marking the placement of a steel beam at the highest point of a new exhibit facility under construction at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. The 90,000-square-foot facility will house space shuttle Atlantis and 62 shuttle program exhibits. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

Taking a tour of KSC is Lady Margaret Thatcher (second from right), former Prime Minister of Britain.  Next to her (far right) is JoAnn H. Morgan, director, External Relations and Business Development at KSC. They are outside the Orbiter Processing Facility bay 2, which contains Endeavour, next flying on mission STS-100, the ninth construction flight to the International Space Station

During the STS-97 Crew Equipment Interface Test (CEIT), Mission Specialist Carlos Noriega (right) gets hands-on experience with parts of the Orbital Docking System in Endeavour’s payload bay. The CEIT provides an opportunity for crew members to check equipment and facilities that will be on board the orbiter during their mission. The STS-97 mission will be the sixth construction flight to the International Space Station. The payload includes a photovoltaic (PV) module, providing solar power to the Station. STS-97 is scheduled to launch Nov. 30 from KSC for the 10-day mission

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility bay 3, technicians on the Hyster forklift maneuver main engine No. 3 into place in Discovery. The main engine configuration is manufactured by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne in Canoga Park, Calif., and includes a Pratt & Whitney high-pressure fuel turbo pump. Each space shuttle main engine is 14 feet long, weighs about 6,700 pounds, and is 7.5 feet in diameter at the end of the nozzle. Discovery is being processed for its next mission, STS-116 (12A.1), to deliver a third truss segment, a SPACEHAB module and other key components to the International Space Station. The launch is currently scheduled no earlier than Dec. 14. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Outside the RTG storage facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a plexiglass shield has been installed on the forklift enlisted to move the protective mesh container, known as the "gorilla cage," enclosing the multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator (MMRTG) for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission. The shield minimizes the amount of debris dispersed by the wheels of the forklift that can contact the gorilla cage. The cage protects the MMRTG and allows any excess heat generated to dissipate into the air. The MMRTG is being moved to the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHSF) where it temporarily will be installed on the MSL rover, Curiosity, for a fit check but will be installed on the rover for launch at the pad. The MMRTG will generate the power needed for the mission from the natural decay of plutonium-238, a non-weapons-grade form of the radioisotope. Heat given off by this natural decay will provide constant power through the day and night during all seasons. Curiosity, MSL's car-sized rover, has 10 science instruments designed to search for signs of life, including methane, and help determine if the gas is from a biological or geological source. Waste heat from the MMRTG will be circulated throughout the rover system to keep instruments, computers, mechanical devices and communications systems within their operating temperature ranges. Launch of MSL aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket is planned for Nov. 25 from Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/msl. Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – STS-127 Pilot Doug Hurley smiles after practicing driving the M-113 armored personnel carrier. The crew members of space shuttle Endeavour's STS-127 mission will each practice driving the M-113 in turn as part of their training on emergency egress procedures. An M-113 will be available to transport the crew to safety in the event of a contingency on the pad before their launch. The crew is at NASA's Kennedy Space Center for a launch dress rehearsal called the terminal countdown demonstration test, or TCDT, which includes the emergency egress training and equipment familiarization. The STS-127 mission is the final of three flights dedicated to the assembly of the Japanese Kibo laboratory complex. Endeavour's launch is targeted for June 13. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, steam and smoke billow in the light from space shuttle Discovery's fiery launch on the STS-128 mission. Liftoff from Launch Pad 39A was on time at 11:59 p.m. EDT. The first launch attempt on Aug. 24 was postponed due to unfavorable weather conditions. The second attempt on Aug. 25 also was postponed due to an issue with a valve in space shuttle Discovery's main propulsion system. The STS-128 mission is the 30th International Space Station assembly flight and the 128th space shuttle flight. The 13-day mission will deliver more than 7 tons of supplies, science racks and equipment, as well as additional environmental hardware to sustain six crew members on the International Space Station. The equipment includes a freezer to store research samples, a new sleeping compartment and the COLBERT treadmill. Photo courtesy of Scott Andrews

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Technicians in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center help guide the Fine Guidance Sensor, or FGS, as it is lifted over the crossbar of the stand at right. The sensor will be installed on the Orbital Replacement Unit Carrier or ORUC, below. An FGS consists of a large structure housing a collection of mirrors, lenses, servos, prisms, beam splitters and photomultiplier tubes. There are three fine guidance sensors on Hubble located at 90-degree intervals around the circumference of the telescope. Along with the gyroscopes, the optical sensors are a key component of Hubble’s highly complex but extraordinarily effective “pointing control system.” The ORUC is one of three carriers that are being prepared for the integration of telescope science instruments, both internal and external replacement components, as well as the flight support equipment to be used by the astronauts during the fifth and final Hubble servicing mission, STS-125, on space shuttle Atlantis. Launch is targeted for Oct. 8. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The STS-111 crew and Expedition 5 walk eagerly to the Astrovan that will take them to Launch Pad 39A for a simulated countdown. From left are Mission Specialists Philippe Perrin and Franklin Chang-Diaz; the Expedition 5 crew, Sergei Treschev, Peggy Whitson and Valeri Korzun; Pilot Paul Lockhart; and Commander Kenneth Cockrell. The simulation is part of STS-111 Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test activities for the crew and Expedition 5. The payload on the mission to the International Space Station includes the Mobile Base System (MBS), an Orbital Replacement Unit and Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo. The MBS will be installed on the Mobile Transporter to complete the Canadian Mobile Servicing System, or MSS, enabling Canadarm 2 to "inchworm" from the U.S. Lab Destiny to the MSS and travel along the truss to work sites. The Expedition 5 crew is traveling on Endeavour to replace the Expedition 4 crew on the Station. Launch of Endeavour is scheduled for May 30, 2002

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – A Huey helicopter from the Aircraft Operations branch at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida flies over the Indian River Lagoon with a group of Emergency Response Team officers from the center's Protective Services branch during a training exercise. The training session focused on safely entering the water, something the ERT could be required to perform in certain situations at the center. Photo credit: NASA/ Dan Casper

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A fire and rescue truck is in place beside Runway 33 if needed to support the landing of space shuttle Atlantis at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. After 11 days in space, Atlantis completed the 4.5-million mile STS-129 mission on orbit 171. Main gear touchdown was at 9:44:23 a.m. EST. Nose gear touchdown was at 9:44:36 a.m., and wheels stop was at 9:45:05 a.m. Aboard Atlantis are Commander Charles O. Hobaugh; Pilot Barry E. Wilmore; Mission Specialists Leland Melvin, Randy Bresnik, Mike Foreman and Robert L. Satcher Jr.; and Expedition 20 and 21 Flight Engineer Nicole Stott who spent 87 days aboard the International Space Station. STS-129 is the final space shuttle Expedition crew rotation flight on the manifest. On STS-129, the crew delivered 14 tons of cargo to the orbiting laboratory, including two ExPRESS Logistics Carriers containing spare parts to sustain station operations after the shuttles are retired next year. For information on the STS-129 mission and crew, visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts129/index.html. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Orbiter Processing Facility, STS-123 crew members are lowered into space shuttle Endeavour's payload bay to check out the equipment. At right is Mission Specialist Garrett Reisman; at left is Mission Specialist Takao Doi. The crew is at NASA's Kennedy Space Center for a crew equipment interface test, a process of familiarization with payloads, hardware and the space shuttle. Doi represents the Japanese Aerospace and Exploration Agency. Reisman will join the Expedition 16 crew on the International Space Station, replacing flight engineer Leopold Eyharts. The STS-123 mission is targeted for launch on space shuttle Endeavour on Feb. 14. It will be the 25th assembly flight of the station. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a Lockheed Martin technician dressed in a clean room suit works on the back shell tile panels on the Orion crew module. Preparations are underway for Orion's first 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. Orion's first flight test is scheduled to launch in December 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 including the heat shield, parachute system and launch abort system. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/orion. Photo credit: NASA/Gianni Woods

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The crew of space shuttle Atlantis' STS-135 and final Space Shuttle Program Flight, participates in a news conference in the Press Site auditorium at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on landing day. Seen here are STS-135 Commander Chris Ferguson (left), Mission Specialists Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim and Pilot Doug Hurley. Securing the space shuttle fleet's place in history, Atlantis marked the 26th nighttime landing of NASA's Space Shuttle Program and the 78th landing at Kennedy. Main gear touchdown was at 5:57:00 a.m. EDT, followed by nose gear touchdown at 5:57:20 a.m., and wheelstop at 5:57:54 a.m. Atlantis and its crew delivered to the International Space Station the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module packed with more than 9,400 pounds of spare parts, equipment and supplies that will sustain station operations for the next year. STS-135 was the 33rd and final flight for Atlantis, which has spent 307 days in space, orbited Earth 4,848 times and traveled 125,935,769 miles. For more information, visit www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts135/index.html. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

Cape Canaveral, Fla. -- Technicians at the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, prepare to move NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover, known as Curiosity, to the high bay floor where the instrument mast and science boom will undergo deployment testing. A United Launch Alliance Atlas V-541 configuration will be used to loft MSL into space. Curiosity’s 10 science instruments are designed to search for evidence on whether Mars has had environments favorable to microbial life, including chemical ingredients for life. The unique rover will use a laser to look inside rocks and release its gasses so that the rover’s spectrometer can analyze and send the data back to Earth. MSL is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida Nov. 25 with a window extending to Dec. 18 and arrival at Mars Aug. 2012. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/msl. Photo credit: NASA/Frankie Martin

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers monitor the progress of external fuel tank, ET-138, for space shuttle Atlantis' STS-135 mission, as it is lifted from its test cell for transfer to high bay-1 for joining with the twin solid rocket boosters on the mobile launcher platform. Shuttle Atlantis' move, or "rollover," from Orbiter Processing Facility-1 to the VAB is targeted for May 10. Once there it will be mated with the external tank and boosters. Atlantis and its crew of four will deliver the Raffaello multipurpose logistics module packed with supplies and spare parts to the International Space Station. STS-135 is targeted to launch June 28, and will be the last spaceflight for the Space Shuttle Program. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In Orbiter Processing Facility bay 2, United Space Alliance employees Charles Bell, Terri Halverstadt, Loralee Woodbury, and Rob Lewis monitor a display in Space Shuttle Endeavour's cockpit the first time the orbiter is powered up after nearly two years. Endeavour has been in its Orbiter Major Modification (OMM) period since December 2003. Engineers and technicians spent 900,000 hours performing 124 modifications to the vehicle. These included all recommended return to flight safety modifications, bonding more than 1,000 thermal protection system tiles and inspecting more than 150 miles of wiring throughout Endeavour. Eighty five of the modifications are completed, with work on the additional 39 modifications continuing throughout the next few months. Shuttle major modification periods are scheduled at regular intervals to enhance safety and performance, infuse new technology and allow for thorough inspections of the airframe and wiring of the vehicles. This was the second of these modification periods performed entirely at Kennedy Space Center. Endeavour's previous modification was completed in March 1997.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- After his presentation, Center Director Jim Kennedy signs a memento for a student at Howard A. Doolin Middle School, Miami, Fla. The school is one of 100 taking part in the NASA Explorer Schools (NES) program. Kennedy visited the school to share America’s new vision for space exploration with the next generation of explorers. He is talking with students in Florida and Georgia Explorer Schools about our destiny as explorers, NASA’s stepping stone approach to exploring Earth, the Moon, Mars and beyond, how space impacts our lives, and how people and machines rely on each other in space.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - William Gaetjens (background), with the Vehicle Integration Test Team (VITT) directs Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata’s attention to the spars installed on the wing of the orbiter Atlantis. Reinforced Carbon Carbon (RCC) panels are mechanically attached to the wing via the spars - a series of floating joints - to reduce loading on the panels caused by wing deflections. The aluminum and the metallic attachments are protected from exceeding temperature limits by internal insulation.

EDWARDS, Calif. – After space shuttle Endeavour's landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California, STS-126 Pilot Eric Boe examines the underside of the orbiter for any visible damage. The decision to land at Edwards was made due to weather concerns at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. In the 52nd landing at Edwards, Endeavour touched down at 4:25 p.m. EST to end the STS-126 mission, completing its 16-day journey of over 6.6 million miles in space. The STS-126 mission was the 27th flight to the International Space Station, carrying equipment and supplies in the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo. The mission featured four spacewalks and work to prepare the space station to house six crew members for long-duration missions. Photo credit: NASA/Tom Tschida, VAFB

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Swarms of people are at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida to watch space shuttle Discovery lift off on its final scheduled mission from Launch Pad 39A. Liftoff is set for 4:50 p.m. EST on Feb. 24. Discovery and its six-member STS-133 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 International Space Station. Discovery, which will fly its 39th mission, is scheduled to be retired following STS-133. This will be the 133rd Space Shuttle Program mission and the 35th shuttle voyage to the space station. For more information on the STS-133 mission, visit www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts133/. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- This panoramic image of space shuttle Discovery was photographed in Orbiter Processing Facility-3 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, as the shuttle was being prepared for "rollover," or moved, to the Vehicle Assembly Building. Once inside the VAB, the shuttle will be joined to its solid rocket boosters and external fuel tank. Later this month, Discovery is scheduled to "rollout" to Launch Pad 39A for its launch to the International Space Station on the STS-133 mission. Targeted to liftoff Nov. 1, Discovery will take the Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM) packed with supplies and critical spare parts, as well as Robonaut 2 (R2) to the station. Photo credit: NASA/Frankie Martin

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- During Crew Equipment Interface Test (CEIT), members of the STS-116 crew pose in front of trusses they will be working with during their mission to the International Space Station. From left are Mission Specialist Christer Fugelsang, with the European Space Agency, Pilot William Oefelein and Mission Specialist Robert Curbeam. The 19th assembly flight to the ISS, the mission will deliver the third port truss segment, the P5 Truss, to attach to second port truss segment, the P3/P4 Truss, to be assembled in an earlier mission. STS-116 is scheduled for launch in June 2003.

NASA astronaut and Mir 24 crew member David Wolf, M.D., who was on the Russian Space Station Mir since late September 1997, greets his friend, Tammy Kruse, shortly after his return to Earth on Jan. 31. Dr. Wolf returned aboard the orbiter Endeavour with the rest of the STS-89 crew, including Commander Terrence Wilcutt; Pilot Joe Edwards Jr.; and Mission Specialists James Reilly, Ph.D.; Michael Anderson; Bonnie Dunbar, Ph.D.; and Salizhan Sharipov with the Russian Space Agency. STS-89 Mission Specialist Andrew Thomas, Ph.D., succeeded Dr. Wolf on Mir and is scheduled to remain on the Russian space station until the STS-91 Shuttle mission returns in June 1998. In addition to the docking and crew exchange, STS-89 included the transfer of science, logistical equipment and supplies between the two orbiting spacecrafts

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Media from around the globe gather at the Press Site bull pen at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to cover the prelaunch activities and lift off of space shuttle Atlantis on its STS-135 mission to the International Space Station. Atlantis and its crew of four; Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley and Mission Specialists Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim, are scheduled to lift off at 11:26 a.m. EDT on July 8 to deliver the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module packed with supplies and spare parts to the station. Atlantis also will fly the Robotic Refueling Mission experiment that will investigate the potential for robotically refueling existing satellites in orbit. In addition, Atlantis will return with a failed ammonia pump module to help NASA better understand the failure mechanism and improve pump designs for future systems. STS-135 will be the 33rd flight of Atlantis, the 37th shuttle mission to the space station, and the 135th and final mission of NASA's Space Shuttle Program. For more information visit, www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts135/index.html. Photo credit: NASA/Frankie Martin

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- The orbiter drag chute deploys after the Space Shuttle orbiter Atlantis lands on Runway 15 of the KSC Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) at the conclusion of the nearly 11-day STS-86 mission. The Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) can be seen in the background. Main gear touchdown was at 5:55:09 p.m. EDT, Oct. 6, 1997, with an unofficial mission-elapsed time of 10 days, 19 hours, 20 minutes and 50 seconds. The first two KSC landing opportunities on Sunday were waved off because of weather concerns. The 87th Space Shuttle mission was the 40th landing of the Shuttle at KSC. On Sunday evening, the Space Shuttle program reached a milestone: The total flight time of the Shuttle passed the two-year mark. STS86 was the seventh of nine planned dockings of the Space Shuttle with the Russian Space Station Mir. STS-86 Mission Specialist David A. Wolf replaced NASA astronaut and Mir 24 crew member C. Michael Foale, who has been on the Mir since mid-May. Foale returned to Earth on Atlantis with the remainder of the STS-86 crew. The other crew members are Commander James D. Wetherbee, Pilot Michael J. Bloomfield, and Mission Specialists Wendy B. Lawrence, Scott E. Parazynski, Vladimir Georgievich Titov of the Russian Space Agency, and Jean-Loup J.M. Chretien of the French Space Agency, CNES. Wolf is scheduled to remain on the Mir until the STS-89 Shuttle mission in January. Besides the docking and crew exchange, STS-86 included the transfer of more than three-and-a-half tons of science/logistical equipment and supplies between the two orbiting spacecraft. Parazynski and Titov also conducted a spacewalk while Atlantis and the Mir were docked

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the SPACEHAB Facility, the STS-96 crew looks at equipment as part of a payload Interface Verification Test (IVT) for their upcoming mission to the International Space Station . From left are Mission Specialist Ellen Ochoa (behind the opened storage cover ), Commander Kent Rominger, Pilot Rick Husband (holding a lithium hydroxide canister) and Mission Specialists Dan Barry, Valery Tokarev of Russia and Julie Payette. In the background is TTI interpreter Valentina Maydell. The other crew member at KSC for the IVT is Mission Specialist Tamara Jernigan. Mission STS-96 carries the SPACEHAB Logistics Double Module, which has equipment to further outfit the International Space Station service module and equipment that can be off-loaded from the early U.S. assembly flights. The SPACEHAB carries internal logistics and resupply cargo for station outfitting, plus an external Russian cargo crane to be mounted to the exterior of the Russian station segment and used to perform space walking maintenance activities. The double module stowage provides capacity of up to 10,000 lbs. with the ability to accommodate powered payloads, four external rooftop stowage locations, four double-rack locations (two powered), up to 61 bulkhead-mounted middeck locker locations, and floor storage for large unique items and Soft Stowage. STS-96 is targeted to launch May 20 about 9:32 a.m

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, or SCA, rolls onto the ramp area at NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Shuttle Landing Facility in Florida. The SCA touched down at 5:05 p.m. EDT to prepare for shuttle Endeavour’s ferry flight to the Los Angeles International Airport on Sept. 17. The Mate/Demate Device, or MDD, is located at the ramp area and will be used to hoist and lower Endeavour onto the back of the SCA. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- STS-101 Mission Specialist James Voss takes his seat inside Space Shuttle Atlantis for a simulated launch countdown. The countdown is part of Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT) activities that also include emergency egress training and familiarization with the payload. Other crew members taking part are Commander James D. Halsell Jr., Pilot Scott J. "Doc" Horowitz and Mission Specialists Mary Ellen Weber, Jeffrey N. Williams, Susan J. Helms, and Yury Usachev of Russia. During their mission to the International Space Station, the STS-101 crew will be delivering logistics and supplies, plus preparing the Station for the arrival of the Zvezda Service Module, expected to be launched by Russia in July 2000. Also, the crew will conduct one space walk to perform maintenance on the Space Station. This will be the third assembly flight for the Space Station. STS-101 is scheduled to launch April 24 at 4:15 p.m. from Launch Pad 39A

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - At Pad 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the first Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) for the MESSENGER spacecraft launch is raised from the transporter. The SRB will be mated to the Boeing Delta II Heavy rocket for the Aug. 2 launch of MESSENGER to the planet Mercury. The spacecraft is expected to reach orbit around the planet in March 2011. MESSENGER was built for NASA by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, testing of the Tilt-Up Umbilical Arm (TUUA) prototype's Environmental Control System Quick Disconnect takes place in the Launch Equipment Test Facility's 6,000-square-foot high bay. The prototype is used to demonstrate the safe disconnect and retraction of ground umbilical plates and associated hardware of a launch vehicle's upper stage and service module. The Environmental Control System consists of regulated air, which would be used to purge an inner tank and crew module. Since 1977, the facility has supported NASA’s Launch Services, shuttle, International Space Station, and Constellation programs, as well as commercial providers. The facility recently underwent a major upgrade to support even more programs, projects and customers. It houses a cable fabrication and molding shop, pneumatics shop, machine and weld shop and full-scale control room. Outside, the facility features a water flow test loop, vehicle motion simulator, 600-ton test fixture, launch simulation towers and a cryogenic system. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller

Workers in the Space Station Processing Facility control room monitor computers during a Multi-Equipment Interface Test (MEIT) in the U.S. Lab Destiny. Members of the STS-98 crew are taking part in the MEIT checking out some of the equipment in the Lab. During the STS-98 mission, the crew will install the Lab on the station during a series of three space walks. The crew comprises five members: Commander Kenneth D. Cockrell, Pilot Mark L. Polansky, and Mission Specialists Robert L. Curbeam Jr., Thomas D. Jones (Ph.D.) and Marsha S. Ivins. The mission will provide the station with science research facilities and expand its power, life support and control capabilities. The U.S. Laboratory Module continues a long tradition of microgravity materials research, first conducted by Skylab and later Shuttle and Spacelab missions. Destiny is expected to be a major feature in future research, providing facilities for biotechnology, fluid physics, combustion, and life sciences research. The Lab is planned for launch aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis on the sixth ISS flight, currently targeted no earlier than Aug. 19, 2000

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – STS-128 Mission Specialist Danny Olivas signals the fit of his launch and entry suit and helmet before heading to the NASA Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A for the simulated launch countdown. The countdown is the culmination of terminal countdown demonstration test activities to prepare the STS-128 crew for launch on space shuttle Discovery's STS-128 mission. Discovery will deliver 33,000 pounds of equipment to the station, including science and storage racks, a freezer to store research samples, a new sleeping compartment and the COLBERT treadmill. Launch is targeted for late August. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- STS-95 Mission Specialist Scott Parazynski, M.D., (left) and Payload Specialist John Glenn (right), who is a senator from Ohio, look over experiments in the SPACEHAB Payload Processing Facility (SPPF) for the mission scheduled to launch Oct. 29. STS-95 crew members have been participating in SPACEHAB familiarization in the SPPF. Scheduled to launch Oct. 29, the mission includes research payloads such as the Spartan solar-observing deployable spacecraft, the Hubble Space Telescope Orbital Systems Test Platform, the International Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker, as well as the SPACEHAB single module with experiments on space flight and the aging process

Cape Canaveral, Fla. -- At the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the name of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover, Curiosity, is emblazoned on its framework. A United Launch Alliance Atlas V-541 configuration will be used to loft MSL into space. Curiosity’s 10 science instruments are designed to search for evidence on whether Mars has had environments favorable to microbial life, including chemical ingredients for life. The unique rover will use a laser to look inside rocks and release its gasses so that the rover’s spectrometer can analyze and send the data back to Earth. MSL is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida Nov. 25 with a window extending to Dec. 18 and arrival at Mars Aug. 2012. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/msl. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The crew for space shuttle Endeavour's STS-123 mission pose for a group portrait following their arrival at NASA Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility. From left are Commander Dominic Gorie; Mission Specialists Takao Doi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Garrett Reisman and Rick Linnehan; Pilot Gregory H. Johnson; and Mission Specialists Robert L. Behnken and Mike Foreman. The crew is at Kennedy for a full launch dress rehearsal, known as the terminal countdown demonstration test or TCDT. Endeavour's seven astronauts arrived at Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility in their T-38 training aircraft between 10:45 and 10:58 a.m. EST. The terminal countdown demonstration test provides astronauts and ground crews with an opportunity to participate in various simulated countdown activities, including equipment familiarization and emergency training. Endeavour is targeted to launch March 11 at 2:28 a.m. EDT on a 16-day mission to the International Space Station. On the mission, Endeavour and its crew will deliver the first section of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory and the Canadian Space Agency's two-armed robotic system, Dextre. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, United Space Alliance technicians prepare to steady space shuttle Endeavour as it is lifted. Next, Endeavour will be hoisted over a transom and lowered into High Bay 1, where it will be attached to its external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters. Rollout of the shuttle stack to Kennedy’s Launch Pad 39A, a significant milestone in launch processing activities, is planned for early January 2010. The Italian-built Tranquility module, the primary payload for Endeavour's STS-130 mission, will be installed in the payload bay after the shuttle arrives at the pad. Launch is targeted for early February. For information on the STS-130 mission and crew, visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts130/index.html. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- On Launch Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, one of nine solid rocket boosters is lifted into the mobile service tower. It will be attached to the Delta II first stage for the launch of the Dawn spacecraft. Dawn's mission is to explore two of the asteroid belt's most intriguing and dissimilar occupants: asteroid Vesta and the dwarf planet Ceres. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a worker listens to a presentation by a RehabWorks staff member in the Operations and Checkout building during the center’s 2012 Innovation Expo. The center-wide event gave researchers a chance to show some of their work to others at the center and gave employees the opportunity to see facilities they hadn’t seen before. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians begin the process of attaching an overhead hoist to the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) for its move to a rotation stand to begin processing for flight. AMS, a state-of-the-art particle physics detector, is designed to operate as an external experiment on the International Space Station. It will use the unique environment of space to study the universe and its origin by searching for dark matter. AMS will fly to the station aboard space shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 mission targeted to launch February, 2011. For more information visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts134/index.html. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The covered fifth segment simulator of the Ares I-X is transported from Astrotech in Titusville, Fla. It is being moved to the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for stacking operations. Ares I-X is the test vehicle for the Ares I, which is part of the Constellation Program to return men to the moon and beyond. Ares I is the essential core of a safe, reliable, cost-effective space transportation system that eventually will carry crewed missions back to the moon, on to Mars and out into the solar system. Ares I-X is targeted for launch in July 2009. Photo credit: NASA/Tim Jacobs

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA's twin Radiation Belt Storm Probes, enclosed in protective shipping containers, have been secured on a flatbed truck at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The spacecraft will be transported to the Astrotech payload processing facility near Kennedy Space Center where Applied Physics Laboratory technicians will begin spacecraft testing and prelaunch preparations. The spacecraft arrived at Kennedy in the cargo bay of the U.S. Air Force C-17 airplane at right. The RBSP mission will help us understand the sun’s influence on Earth and near-Earth space by studying the Earth’s radiation belts on various scales of space and time. The RBSP instruments will provide the measurements needed to characterize and quantify the plasma processes that produce very energetic ions and relativistic electrons. The mission is part of NASA’s broader Living With a Star Program that was conceived to explore fundamental processes that operate throughout the solar system, and in particular those that generate hazardous space weather effects in the vicinity of Earth and phenomena that could impact solar system exploration. RBSP is scheduled to begin its mission of exploration of Earth's Van Allen Radiation Belts and the extremes of space weather after launch. Launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket is scheduled for August 23. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/rbsp. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Photographers Stan Hernda of AFP News, left, and Scott Andrews of Canon record space shuttle Atlantis as it is revealed on Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida following the move of the rotating service structure (RSS). The structure provides weather protection and access to the shuttle while it awaits liftoff on the pad. RSS "rollback" marks a major milestone in Atlantis' STS-135 mission countdown. Atlantis and its crew of four; Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley and Mission Specialists Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim, are scheduled to lift off at 11:26 a.m. EDT on July 8 to deliver the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module packed with supplies and spare parts to the International Space Station. Atlantis also will fly the Robotic Refueling Mission experiment that will investigate the potential for robotically refueling existing satellites in orbit. In addition, Atlantis will return with a failed ammonia pump module to help NASA better understand the failure mechanism and improve pump designs for future systems. STS-135 will be the 33rd flight of Atlantis, the 37th shuttle mission to the space station, and the 135th and final mission of NASA's Space Shuttle Program. For more information visit, www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts135/index.html. Photo credit: NASA/Ken Thornsley

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space shuttle Discovery arrives at Launch Pad 39A from the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It took the shuttle, attached to its external fuel tank, twin solid rocket boosters and mobile launcher platform, about seven hours to complete the move atop a crawler-transporter. This is the second time Discovery has rolled out to the pad for the STS-133 mission, and comes after a thorough check and modifications to the shuttle's external tank. Targeted to liftoff Feb. 24, Discovery will take the Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM) packed with supplies and critical spare parts, as well as Robonaut 2 (R2) to the International Space Station. For more information on STS-133, visit www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts133/. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

In a ceremony held in front of Orbiter Processing Facility-1 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden announced the facilities where four shuttle orbiters will be displayed permanently at the conclusion of the Space Shuttle Program. Shuttle Enterprise, the first orbiter built, will move from the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York. The Udvar-Hazy Center will become the new home for shuttle Discovery, which retired after completing its 39th mission in March. Shuttle Endeavour, which is preparing for its final flight at the end of the month, will go to the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Atlantis, which will fly the last planned shuttle mission in June, will be displayed at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. The event also commemorated the 30th anniversary of the first space shuttle launch with the launch of shuttle Columbia. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A mission science briefing was held at NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Press Site in Florida for the Radiation Belt Storm Probes, or RBSP, mission. From left, are George Diller, public affairs specialist and news conference moderator, Mona Kessel, RBSP program scientist from NASA Headquarters in Washington, Nicola Fox, RBSP deputy project scientist at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., Craig Kletzing, principal investigator from the University of Iowa, Harlan Spence, principal investigator from the University of New Hampshire, and Lou Lanzerotti, principal investigator from the New Jersey Institute of Technology. NASA’s RBSP mission will help us understand the sun’s influence on Earth and near-Earth space by studying the Earth’s radiation belts on various scales of space and time. RBSP will begin its mission of exploration of Earth’s Van Allen radiation belts and the extremes of space weather after its launch aboard an Atlas V rocket. Launch is targeted for Aug. 24. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/rbsp. Photo credit: NASA/Glenn Benson

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- The launch team inside the blockhouse on Launch Complex 36-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station makes final checks before launch of the GOES-M satellite. . GOES-M is the last in the current series of advanced geostationary weather satellites in service. GOES-M has a new instrument not on earlier spacecraft, a Solar X-ray Imager, which can be used in forecasting space weather and the effects of solar storms. The satellite is scheduled to launch atop an Atlas rocket on July 23 during a window that extends from 3:02 to 4:26 a.m. EDT

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - During their tour of KSC, members of the North American Treaty Organization (NATO) Parliamentary Assembly visit the Convoy Command Center, the prime vehicle to control critical communications between the orbiter, the crew and the Launch Control Center after a Shuttle landing, to monitor the health of the Shuttle Orbiter systems and to direct convoy operations at the Shuttle Landing Facility. The Parliamentarians are meeting in Orlando this year for their 49th annual gathering. They chose to visit KSC with their families during their one-day excursion break from meetings.

After signing a Framework for Cooperation to build the Habitation Module for the International Space Station, Italian Space Agency President Sergio DeJulio (standing, left) shakes hands with NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin (right). Also at the signing are The Honorable Lamberto Dini, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Italy (far left) and John Schumacher, assistant administrator, NASA External Relations. The Framework is a potential bilateral cooperative agreement that could result in ASI development of a U.S. Habitation Module for the International Space Station. This agreement allows the U.S. to explore an alternative approach to achieve full crew habitation for the ISS. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between NASA and ASI will be required to formally document NASA and ASI’s respective responsibilities in a legally binding document. The Framework signed today would form the basis for a potential MOU which NASA and ASI would sign after completion of the program assessment and subsequent negotiations.The ceremony took place at the IMAX Theater, Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- At Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Fla., one of the five THEMIS probes is ready to be covered for its move to the hazardous processing facility. There it will be placed on a stand in preparation for fueling operations. Once fueling is complete, each probe will be weighed and individually mated to the payload carrier before pyrotechnics are installed. The fully integrated THEMIS payload is then ready for spin-balance testing and weighing. The final milestone is mating THEMIS to its upper stage booster. THEMIS consists of five identical probes, the largest number of scientific satellites ever launched into orbit aboard a single rocket. This unique constellation of satellites will resolve the tantalizing mystery of what causes the spectacular sudden brightening of the aurora borealis and aurora australis - the fiery skies over the Earth's northern and southern polar regions. These lights are the visible manifestations of invisible energy releases, called geomagnetic substorms, in near-Earth space. THEMIS will not only seek to answer where and when substorms start, but will also provide clues as to how and why these space storms create havoc on satellites, terrestrial power grids, and communication systems. THEMIS will be transported to Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on February 1 for mating to the Delta II rocket. Launch is scheduled for Feb. 15. Photo credit: NASA/George Shelton

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building, orbiter Atlantis is lifted toward a vertical position in the transfer aisle. The 122-foot long orbiter is easily accommodated inside the 525-foot-tall, 518-foot-wide VAB. Once in position, Atlantis will be mated with its external tank and solid rocket boosters before being transported to Launch Pad 39A. Atlantis will fly on mission STS-101 to the International Space Station, where its crew of seven will prepare the Station for the arrival of the next pressurized module, the Russian-built Zvezda. Atlantis is expected to launch no earlier than April 17, 2000

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - As part of Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT) activities, the STS-113 and Expedition 6 crews receive training in emergency exit from the orbiter on Launch Pad 39A. Shown are (from left) Mission Commander James Wetherbee and cosmonaut Nikolai Budarin and astronaut Donald Pettit of the Expedition 6 crew. The TCDT also includes a simulated launch countdown. The 16th assembly flight to the International Space Station, STS-113 will carry the Port 1 (P1) truss aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour as well as the Expedition 6 crew, who will replace Expedition 5 on the Station. Mission STS-113 is scheduled to launch Nov. 10, 2002.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- STS-135 Pilot Doug Hurley, left, and Commander Chris Ferguson put on the finishing touches of their launch-and-entry suits with the help of United Space Alliance suit technicians in the Operations and Checkout Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Hurley and Ferguson are two of the final four astronauts to launch aboard a space shuttle. STS-135 is scheduled to lift off aboard space shuttle Atlantis at 11:26 a.m. EDT on July 8 for a mission to the International Space Station. STS-135 will deliver the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module packed with supplies and spare parts for the orbiting outpost. Atlantis also will fly the Robotic Refueling Mission experiment that will investigate the potential for robotically refueling existing satellites in orbit. In addition, Atlantis will return with a failed ammonia pump module to help NASA better understand the failure mechanism and improve pump designs for future systems. STS-135 will be the 33rd flight of Atlantis, the 37th shuttle mission to the space station, and the 135th and final mission of NASA's Space Shuttle Program. For more information visit, www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts135/index.html. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - STS-114 Mission Specialist Andrew Thomas is helped by the Closeout Crew with his launch and entry suit before entering Space Shuttle Discovery. The Return to Flight mission to the International Space Station carries the External Stowage Platform-2, equipped with spare part assemblies, and a replacement Control Moment Gyroscope contained in the Lightweight Multi-Purpose Experiment Support Structure and Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Raffaello, housing 15 tons of hardware and supplies that will be transferred to the Station after the Shuttle docks to the complex . On this mission, the crew will perform inspections on-orbit for the first time of all of the Reinforced Carbon-Carbon (RCC) panels on the leading edge of the wings and the Thermal Protection System tiles using the new Canadian-built Orbiter Boom Sensor System and the data from 176 impact and temperature sensors. Mission Specialists will also practice repair techniques on RCC and tile samples during a spacewalk in the payload bay.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - On Launch Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the MESSENGER (Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry and Ranging) spacecraft is seen atop the Delta II upper stage booster (middle) and the Delta II launch vehicle below. The spacecraft is ready for installation of the fairing, a molded structure that fits flush with the outside surface of the upper stage booster and forms an aerodynamically smooth joint, protecting the spacecraft during launch. Seen on the right is one of the solar panels on the spacecraft. On the left is the heat-resistant, ceramic-cloth sunshade that will protect the spacecraft’s instruments as MESSENGER orbits the Mercury where the surface reaches a high temperature near 840 degrees Fahrenheit and the solar intensity can be 11 times greater than on Earth. MESSENGER is scheduled to launch Aug. 2 and is expected to enter Mercury orbit in March 2011. MESSENGER was built for NASA by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- Seen in the landing lights, an illuminated Space Shuttle Atlantis approaches touchdown on KSC’s Shuttle Landing Facility Runway 15 to complete the 9-day, 20-hour, 9-minute-long STS-101 mission. At the controls are Commander James D. Halsell Jr. and Pilot Scott “Doc” Horowitz. Also onboard the orbiter are Mission Specialists Mary Ellen Weber, James S. Voss, Jeffrey N. Williams, Susan J. Helms and Yury Usachev of Russia. The crew is returning from the third flight to the International Space Station. This was the 98th flight in the Space Shuttle program and the 21st for Atlantis, also marking the 51st landing at KSC, the 22nd consecutive landing at KSC, the 14th nighttime landing in Shuttle history and the 29th in the last 30 Shuttle flights. Main gear touchdown was at 2:20:17 a.m. EDT May 29 , landing on orbit 155 of the mission. Nose gear touchdown was at 2:20:30 a.m. EDT, and wheel stop at 2:21:19 a.m. EDT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians prepare to secure a latching end effector to the EXPRESS Logistics Carrier on which it is being installed for flight. The carrier is part of the STS-129 payload on space shuttle Atlantis, which will deliver to the International Space Station two spare gyroscopes, two nitrogen tank assemblies, two pump modules, an ammonia tank assembly and a spare latching end effector for the station's robotic arm. STS-129 is targeted to launch Nov. 12. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A flatbed trailer carrying the final components of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory for the International Space Station delivers them to the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The components are the Kibo Exposed Facility, or EF, and the Experiment Logistics Module Exposed Section, or ELM-ES. The EF provides a multipurpose platform where science experiments can be deployed and operated in the exposed environment. The payloads attached to the EF can be exchanged or retrieved by Kibo's robotic arm, the JEM Remote Manipulator System. The ELM-ES will be attached to the end of the EF to provide payload storage space and can carry up to three payloads at launch. In addition, the ELM-ES provides a logistics function where it can be detached from the EF and returned to the ground aboard the space shuttle. The two JEM components will be carried aboard space shuttle Endeavour on the STS-127 mission targeted for launch in May 2009. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA Kennedy Space Center's Press Site in Florida, participants in NASA's Tweetup photograph the launch of the agency's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) from the turn basin. The tweeters will share their experiences with followers through the social networking site Twitter. The 197-foot-tall United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifted off Space Launch Complex-41 on neighboring Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 10:02 a.m. EST at the opening of the launch window. MSL's components include a car-sized rover, Curiosity, which has 10 science instruments designed to search for signs of life, including methane, and help determine if the gas is from a biological or geological source. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/msl. Photo credit: NASA/Frankie Martin

For the second time in two days, the STS-103 crew have breakfast before suiting up for launch. From left are Mission Specialists Claude Nicollier of Switzerland and C. Michael Foale (Ph.D.), Pilot Scott J. Kelly, Commander Curtis L. Brown Jr., and Mission Specialists Jean-Francois Clervoy of France, John M. Grunsfeld (Ph.D.) and Steven L. Smith. Nicollier and Clervoy are with the European Space Agency. The previous launch attempt on Dec. 17 was scrubbed about 8:52 p.m. due to numerous violations of weather launch commit criteria at KSC. The mission, to service the Hubble Space Telescope, is now scheduled for launch Dec. 19 at 7:50 p.m. EST from Launch Pad 39B. Mission objectives include replacing gyroscopes and an old computer, installing another solid state recorder, and replacing damaged insulation in the telescope. After the 7-day, 21-hour mission, Discovery is expected to land at KSC Monday, Dec. 27, at about 5:24 p.m. EST

STS-93 Commander Eileen M. Collins sits on the flight deck of the orbiter Columbia during Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT) activities that include emergency exit training and a launch-day dress rehearsal culminating with a simulated main engine cut-off. Other crew members participating are Pilot Jeffrey S. Ashby, and Mission Specialists Catherine G. Coleman (Ph.D.), Steven A. Hawley (Ph.D.) and Michel Tognini of France, who represents the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES). Collins is the first woman to serve as a Shuttle commander. The primary mission of STS-93 is the release of the Chandra X-ray Observatory, which will allow scientists from around the world to obtain unprecedented X-ray images of exotic environments in space to help understand the structure and evolution of the universe. The targeted launch date for STS-93 is no earlier than July 20 at 12:36 a.m. EDT from Launch Pad 39B

STS-84 Mission Specialist C. Michael Foale, who will become the fifth U.S. astronaut to live and work on the Russian Space Station Mir, arrives at KSC’s Shuttle Landing Facility for the STS-84 Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT), a dress rehearsal for launch. Foale will be dropped off on Mir when the Space Shuttle Atlantis docks with Mir next month. He will become a member of the Mir 23 crew, replacing U.S. astronaut Jerry M. Linenger, who will return to Earth on Atlantis after about four months on the orbiting station. STS-84 will be the sixth Shuttle-Mir docking. Liftoff is targeted for May 15

NEW ORLEANS -- Workers monitor the progress of the Space Shuttle Program's last external fuel tank, ET-122, at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans as it is being loaded onto the Pegasus BargeThe tank will travel 900 miles by sea to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida secured aboard the barge, offloaded and moved to Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building where it will be integrated to space shuttle Endeavour for the STS-134 mission to the International Space Station. The tank, which is the largest element of the space shuttle stack, was damaged during Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 and restored to flight configuration by Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company employees. STS-134, targeted to launch Feb. 2011, currently is scheduled to be the last mission in the Space Shuttle Program. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- On the tower at Launch Complex 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the Comet Nucleus Tour (CONTOUR) spacecraft waits for removal of the bottom of the canister. CONTOUR will provide the first detailed look into the heart of a comet -- the nucleus. Flying as close as 60 miles (100 kilometers) to at least two comets, the spacecraft will take the sharpest pictures yet of a nucleus while analyzing the gas and dust that surround these rocky, icy building blocks of the solar system. Launch of CONTOUR aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket is scheduled for July 1, 2002

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Space shuttle Endeavour is seen inside the Mate-Demate Device, or MDD, at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, or SCA, is seen on the ramp. The SCA will carry Endeavour to Los Angeles where it will be placed on public display. The center's Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB, and the mobile launcher built for the Space Launch System are also visible in the background. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

Cape Canaveral, Fla. – At Fire Station 1 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the American flag is at half-mast after a ceremony commemorating the 13th anniversary of 9/11 that included a minute of silence at 10:28 a.m., which was the moment of collapse of the north tower of the World Trade Center. Photo credit: Jim Grossmann

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Orbiter Processing Facility, United Space Alliance employee Dave Sanborn installs Thermal Protection System tiles on a main landing gear door of Space Shuttle orbiter Enterprise (OV-101). Sections of Enterprise were borrowed from the Smithsonian Institution's Air and Space Museum where the orbiter is being stored at the Washington Dulles International Airport. Enterprise was the first orbiter built in the Shuttle fleet and was used to conduct the Approach and Landing Test Program before the first powered Shuttle flight. After the tile installation is complete, the sections will be transferred to the Southwest Research Institute for testing requested by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida hosts a Sustainability Fair in observance of Earth Day. The fair was held adjacent to the Pathfinder Fitness Trail across the street from the 525-foot-tall Vehicle Assembly Building in Launch Complex 39. Kennedy Earth Day events included booths by a dozen sustainable companies and environmental organizations, displays on organic gardening, recycling, sustainable materials, alternative fuels and wildlife, and test-drives of several alternative-fuel vehicles. In keeping with the national theme, "Green Cities," the fair provided employees with the opportunity to learn how to do their parts in securing a healthy and sustainable future for their cities and the planet. The space center's sustainability objective is to "promote, maintain and pioneer green practices in all aspects of our mission, striving to be an agency leader in everything we do." For more information on Kennedy's sustainability policy, visit http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/about/sustainability. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Inside the Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA and Lockheed Martin technicians and engineers prepare to conduct a center of gravity, or CG, test on the Orion crew module. The CG tool will measure the exact location of the vehicle's center of gravity. This test is important as it affects the handling and control characteristics of the vehicle. The Orion crew module will be stacked on the service module in the Final Assembly and System Testing, or FAST, cell and then both modules will be put through their final system tests for Exploration Flight Test-1, or EFT-1, before rolling out of the facility for integration with the United Launch Alliance 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 test flight of Orion, EFT-1, is scheduled to launch later this year atop a Delta IV 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 including the heat shield, parachute system and launch abort system. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/orion. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, an overhead crane lifts the Flight Support System carrier with the Soft Capture Mechanism under protective cover. The carrier is one of four associated with the STS-125 mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. It will be installed in the payload canister for transfer to Launch Pad 39A. At the pad, all the carriers will be loaded into space shuttle Atlantis’ payload bay. Launch of Atlantis is targeted for Oct. 10. Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A wreath is displayed at the foot of the Space Mirror Memorial at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida during a ceremony to honor space shuttle Challenger's STS-51L crew members who gave their lives for while furthering the cause of exploration and discovery. 2011 marks the 25th anniversary of the loss of Challenger, which broke apart over the Atlantic Ocean 73 seconds into flight on Jan. 28, 1986. NASA/Jack Pfaller

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The tail cone for space shuttle Discovery’s three replica shuttle main engines (RSMEs) is being transported to Orbiter processing Facility-1 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The tail cone will be installed around Discovery’s RSMEs for protection. The work is part of the Space Shuttle Program’s transition and retirement processing of shuttle Discovery. Discovery is being prepared for display at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Workers load NASA's TDRS-L satellite onto a trailer at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The TDRS is the latest spacecraft destined for the agency's constellation of communications satellites that allows nearly continuous contact with orbiting spacecraft ranging from the International Space Station and Hubble Space Telescope to the array of scientific observatories. Photo credit: NASA/Charisse Nahser

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- This fledgling eagle, at right, stares at his mother, at left, in their nest at the north end of S.R. 3 near Kennedy Space Center. The resident eagle parents are raising two offspring. This year-old nest is one of a dozen eagle nests both in KSC and in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, which surrounds KSC. The refuge includes several wading bird rookeries, many osprey nests, up to 400 manatees during the spring, and approximately 2,500 Florida scrub jays. It also is a major wintering area for migratory birds. More than 500 species of wildlife inhabit the refuge, with 15 considered federally threatened or endangered. Photo credit: NASA/Ken Thornsley

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Center Director Bill Parsons talks to employees in his first all-hands meeting of 2007 and his first as director. Topics discussed included the year ahead at KSC. A brief question-and-answer segment followed. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Some of the former Apollo program astronauts admire an Apollo Command and Service Module during a tour the new Apollo/Saturn V Center (ASVC) at KSC prior to the gala grand opening ceremony for the facility that was held Jan. 8, 1997. The astronauts were invited to participate in the event, which also featured NASA Administrator Dan Goldin and KSC Director Jay Honeycutt. The astronauts are (from left): Apollo 10 Command Module Pilot and Apollo 16 Commander John W. Young;. Apollo 11 Lunar Module Pilot Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin, Jr.; Apollo 17 Commander Eugene A. Cernan; and Apollo 10 Commander Thomas P. Stafford. The ASVC also features several other Apollo program spacecraft components, multimedia presentations and a simulated Apollo/Saturn V liftoff. The facility will be a part of the KSC bus tour that embarks from the KSC Visitor Center

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The Joint Airlock Module, the gateway from which crew members aboard the International Space Station (ISS) will enter and exit the 470-ton orbiting research facility, rolls out of NASA's Super Guppy aircraft. It will be transferred to the Operations and Checkout Building in the KSC industrial area where it will undergo vacuum chamber testing. It will then be moved to the Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF) for further prelaunch preparation and checkout. The massive, spindle-shaped airlock is 20 feet long, has a diameter of 13 feet at its widest point, and weighs six and a half tons. It was manufactured at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center by the Huntsville division of The Boeing Company. The Space Shuttle Atlantis will carry the airlock to orbit on mission STS-104, the tenth International Space Station flight, currently targeted for liftoff in May 2001

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Project Morpheus lander sits inside the bay of a support building at the Shuttle Landing Facility, or SLF. Testing of the prototype lander has been ongoing at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston in preparation for free flight testing at Kennedy. The SLF will provide the lander with the kind of field necessary for realistic testing, complete with rocks, craters and hazards to avoid. Morpheus utilizes an autonomous landing and hazard avoidance technology, or ALHAT, payload that will allow it to navigate to clear landing sites amidst rocks, craters and other hazards during its descent. Project Morpheus is one of 20 small projects comprising the Advanced Exploration Systems, or AES, program in NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. AES projects pioneer new approaches for rapidly developing prototype systems, demonstrating key capabilities and validating operational concepts for future human missions beyond Earth orbit. For more information on Project Morpheus, visit http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/exploration/morpheus/index.html. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Lifted by the overhead crane, the container with the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) remote manipulator system inside is carried across the Space Station Processing Facility to another location. The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency developed the laboratory known as "Kibo" (Hope) and includes an exposed facility (platform) for space environment experiments, the RMS and two logistics modules. Japan's primary contribution to the International Space Station, it will enhance the unique research capabilities of the orbiting complex by providing an additional environment for astronauts to conduct science experiments. The various JEM components will be assembled in space over the course of three Shuttle missions. The JEM and RMS are scheduled to launch on mission STS-124 no earlier than February 2008. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- The STS-91 flight crew visits Launch Pad 39A from which they are scheduled to be launched aboard Space Shuttle Discovery on June 2 around 6:10 p.m. EDT. From left to right, they are Mission Specialists Franklin Chang-Diaz, Ph.D.; Janet Kavandi, Ph.D.; Valery Ryumin, with the Russian Space Agency; Mission Commander Charles Precourt; Pilot Dominic Gorie; and Mission Specialist Wendy B. Lawrence. STS-91 will feature the ninth Shuttle docking with the Russian Space Station Mir, the first Mir docking for Discovery, the conclusion of Phase I of the joint U.S.-Russian International Space Station Program, and the first flight of the new Space Shuttle super lightweight external tank. Andrew Thomas, Ph.D., will be returning to Earth with the crew after living more than four months aboard Mir

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Viewed from inside the Payload Changeout Room on Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Super Lightweight Interchangeable Carrier is installed behind the shuttle external airlock (top) in space shuttle Atlantis’ payload bay for the STS-125 mission. STS-125 is the fifth and final shuttle servicing mission for NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. The payload comprises four carriers holding various equipment for the mission. Atlantis is targeted to launch Oct. 14 on the 11-day mission. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Expedition 6 crew member Donald Pettit concentrates on driving an M-113 armored personnel carrier during emergency egress training at the pad. The crew is preparing for the mission aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour, which is scheduled to launch Nov. 10, by taking part in Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test activities. The TCDT includes a simulated launch countdown.. The Expedition 6 crew will travel on Space Shuttle Endeavour to the International Space Station to replace Expedition 5, returning to Earth after 4 months. The primary payloads on mission STS-113 are the first port truss segment, P1, and the Crew and Equipment Translation Aid (CETA) Cart B. Once delivered, the P1 truss will remain stowed until flight 12A.1 in 2003 when it will be attached to the central truss segment, S0, on the Space Station. Launch is scheduled for Nov. 10, 2002.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - A soft-shell turtle with only three legs is seen crossing the tow-way at KSC. The turtle is one of 65 amphibians and reptiles found in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, which surrounds KSC. The Wildlife Refuge encompasses 92,000 acres that are also a habitat for more than 331 species of birds, 31 mammals and 117 fishes. The marshes and open water of the refuge provide wintering areas for 23 species of migratory waterfowl, as well as a year-round home for great blue herons, great egrets, wood storks, cormorants, brown pelicans and other species of marsh and shore birds, plus a variety of insects.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Members of the Expedition 6 crew look over equipment they will be handling during their residency on the International Space Station. Holding equipment (center) is Commander Ken Bowersox. Other crew members are Nikolai Budarin and Donald Thomas. The Expedition 6 crew is attached to mission STS-113, scheduled to launch in September 2002