An overhead crane lowers the backshell with the Phoenix Mars Lander inside toward a spin table for spin testing in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility. The Phoenix mission is the first project in NASA's first openly competed program of Mars Scout missions. Phoenix will land in icy soils near the north polar permanent ice cap of Mars and explore the history of the water in these soils and any associated rocks, while monitoring polar climate. Landing is planned in May 2008 on arctic ground where a mission currently in orbit, Mars Odyssey, has detected high concentrations of ice just beneath the top layer of soil. It will serve as NASA's first exploration of a potential modern habitat on Mars and open the door to a renewed search for carbon-bearing compounds, last attempted with NASA’s Viking missions in the 1970s. A stereo color camera and a weather station will study the surrounding environment while the other instruments check excavated soil samples for water, organic chemicals and conditions that could indicate whether the site was ever hospitable to life. Microscopes can reveal features as small as one one-thousandth the width of a human hair. Launch of Phoenix aboard a Delta II rocket is targeted for Aug. 3 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
Teams inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida encapsulate the agency’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope within the payload fairing on Friday, Aug. 21, 2026, ahead of mating to a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. Encapsulation shields the spacecraft during rollout, ascent, and the early phases of flight. Roman will investigate dark energy and dark matter, conduct a statistical census of planetary systems, and enable a broad range of additional astrophysics research. Liftoff from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy is targeted for no earlier than Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026.
Technicians at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida perform work on the agency’s Psyche spacecraft inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHSF) on May 3, 2022. While inside the PHSF, the spacecraft will undergo routine processing and servicing ahead of launch. Psyche is targeting to lift off aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket on Aug. 1, 2022. The spacecraft will use solar-electric propulsion to travel approximately 1.5 billion miles to rendezvous with its namesake asteroid in 2026. The Psyche mission is led by Arizona State University. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, is responsible for the mission’s overall management, system engineering, integration and testing, and mission operations. Maxar Technologies in Palo Alto, California, provided the high-power solar electric propulsion spacecraft chassis. NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP), based at Kennedy, is managing the launch. Psyche will be the 14th mission in the agency's Discovery program and LSP’s 100th primary mission.
In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, technicians prepare to install the heat shield on the Phoenix Mars Lander spacecraft. The Phoenix mission is the first project in NASA's first openly competed program of Mars Scout missions. Phoenix will land in icy soils near the north polar permanent ice cap of Mars and explore the history of the water in these soils and any associated rocks, while monitoring polar climate. Landing is planned in May 2008 on arctic ground where a mission currently in orbit, Mars Odyssey, has detected high concentrations of ice just beneath the top layer of soil. It will serve as NASA's first exploration of a potential modern habitat on Mars and open the door to a renewed search for carbon-bearing compounds, last attempted with NASA's Viking missions in the 1970s. A stereo color camera and a weather station will study the surrounding environment while the other instruments check excavated soil samples for water, organic chemicals and conditions that could indicate whether the site was ever hospitable to life. Microscopes can reveal features as small as one one-thousandth the width of a human hair. Launch of Phoenix aboard a Delta II rocket is targeted for Aug. 3 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
Technicians wear Self-Contained Atmospheric Protective Ensemble (SCAPE) suits as they prepare to perform propellant loading operations inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida Friday, July 24, 2026. With fuel tanks capable of carrying about 290 gallons (roughly 1,100 liters) of hydrazine – a monopropellant not requiring a second chemical to combust – Roman’s primary mission is to settle essential questions about dark energy, exoplanets, and infrared astrophysics by conducting wide-field surveys that explore the universe’s structure, evolution, and composition. Liftoff atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A is targeted no earlier than Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026.
Technicians test the system to deploy NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft solar arrays, which uses “thermal knives” to cut the restraints holding the solar arrays in place inside the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024. The Europa Clipper spacecraft will travel to Jupiter’s icy moon to determine its potential to support life. After launch the thermal knives will cut the restraints, allowing the solar arrays to deploy and collect sunlight to power the spacecraft as it begins its journey to investigate Europa.
Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHSF) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, technicians prepare to move the agency’s Psyche spacecraft – recently removed from its shipping container and inside a protective covering – to a work stand on May 2, 2022. Psyche is scheduled to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket on Aug. 1, 2022. The spacecraft will use solar-electric propulsion to travel approximately 1.5 billion miles to rendezvous with its namesake asteroid in 2026. The Psyche mission is led by Arizona State University. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, is responsible for the mission’s overall management, system engineering, integration and testing, and mission operations. Maxar Technologies in Palo Alto, California, provided the high-power solar electric propulsion spacecraft chassis. NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP), based at Kennedy, is managing the launch. Psyche will be the 14th mission in the agency's Discovery program and LSP’s 100th primary mission.
Technicians install and align the second set of solar arrays for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. The Europa Clipper spacecraft will need the 46.5 feet (14.2 meter) long, five-panel solar arrays on each side, to gather enough sunlight to power the spacecraft to perform flybys around Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, so science instruments aboard the spacecraft can determine if the moon could hold the building blocks necessary to sustain life.
Technicians install and align the second set of solar arrays for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. The Europa Clipper spacecraft will need the 46.5 feet (14.2 meter) long, five-panel solar arrays on each side, to gather enough sunlight to power the spacecraft to perform flybys around Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, so science instruments aboard the spacecraft can determine if the moon could hold the building blocks necessary to sustain life.
Technicians move NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility to accommodate installation of its five-panel solar array at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. After moving the spacecraft, the team had to precisely align the spacecraft in preparation for the installation. The huge arrays – spanning more than 100 feet when fully deployed, or about the length of a basketball court – will collect sunlight to power the spacecraft as it flies multiple times around Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, conducting science investigations to determine its potential to support life.
In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, workers monitor the Phoenix spacecraft during a heat shield deployment test, with a firing of ordnance associated with the separation device. Phoenix will land in icy soils near the north polar permanent ice cap of Mars and explore the history of the water in these soils and any associated rocks, while monitoring polar climate. Landing is planned in May 2008 on arctic ground where a mission currently in orbit, Mars Odyssey, has detected high concentrations of ice just beneath the top layer of soil. Launch of Phoenix aboard a Delta II rocket is targeted for Aug. 3 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
The payload fairing for NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is moved inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Inside the facility, TESS will be encapsulated in the payload fairing. The satellite is scheduled to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on April 16. The satellite is the next step in NASA's search for planets outside our solar system, known as exoplanets. TESS is a NASA Astrophysics Explorer mission led and operated by MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Dr. George Ricker of MIT’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research serves as principal investigator for the mission. Additional partners include Orbital ATK, NASA’s Ames Research Center, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and the Space Telescope Science Institute. More than a dozen universities, research institutes and observatories worldwide are participants in the mission. NASA’s Launch Services Program is responsible for launch management.
Technicians align, install, and then extend the second set of solar arrays, measuring 46.5 feet (14.2 meters) long and about 13.5 feet (4.1 meters) high, for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. The huge arrays – spanning more than 100 feet when fully deployed, or about the length of a basketball court – will collect sunlight to power the spacecraft as it flies multiple times around Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, conducting science investigations to determine its potential to support life.
Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHSF) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the agency’s Psyche spacecraft – recently removed from its shipping container and inside a protective covering – is moved by crane to a work stand on Monday, May 2, 2022. Psyche is scheduled to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket on Aug. 1, 2022. The spacecraft will use solar-electric propulsion to travel approximately 1.5 billion miles to rendezvous with its namesake asteroid in 2026. The Psyche mission is led by Arizona State University. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, is responsible for the mission’s overall management, system engineering, integration and testing, and mission operations. Maxar Technologies in Palo Alto, California, provided the high-power solar electric propulsion spacecraft chassis. NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP), based at Kennedy, is managing the launch. Psyche will be the 14th mission in the agency's Discovery program and LSP’s 100th primary mission.
Technicians prepare to encapsulate NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy payload fairing in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. The payload fairing will protect the spacecraft during liftoff from Launch Complex 39A on its journey to explore Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa. The spacecraft will complete nearly 50 flybys of Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, to determine if there are conditions suitable for life beyond Earth.
Technicians encapsulated NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside payload fairings on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The fairings will protect the spacecraft during launch as it begins its journey to explore Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa. The mission will help scientists determine if the moon could support life. NASA and SpaceX are targeting launch at 12:31 p.m. EDT on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Technicians tested deploying a set of massive solar arrays measuring about 46.5 feet (14.2 meters) long and about 13.5 feet (4.1 meters) high for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. Once launched to study Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, the solar arrays will fully extend to power the spacecraft to perform flybys to gather science and data to determine if the moon can support habitable conditions.
Technicians test the system to deploy NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft solar arrays, which uses “thermal knives” to cut the restraints holding the solar arrays in place inside the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024. The Europa Clipper spacecraft will travel to Jupiter’s icy moon to determine its potential to support life. After launch the thermal knives will cut the restraints, allowing the solar arrays to deploy and collect sunlight to power the spacecraft as it begins its journey to investigate Europa.
Self-Contained Atmospheric Protective Ensemble (SCAPE) suits hang on a rack the Multi Operations Support Building on Thursday, July 23, 2026, before technicians began operations to load propellant into NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Once suited up technicians fueled Roman inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida with about 290 gallons (roughly 1,100 liters) of hydrazine. Roman’s primary mission is to settle essential questions about dark energy, exoplanets, and infrared astrophysics by conducting wide-field surveys that explore the universe’s structure, evolution, and composition. Liftoff atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A is targeted no earlier than Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026.
Technicians encapsulated NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside payload fairings on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The fairings will protect the spacecraft during launch as it begins its journey to explore Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa. The mission will help scientists determine if the moon could support life. NASA and SpaceX are targeting launch at 12:31 p.m. EDT on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Teams inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida encapsulate the agency’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope within the payload fairing on Friday, Aug. 21, 2026, ahead of mating to a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. Encapsulation shields the spacecraft during rollout, ascent, and the early phases of flight. Roman will investigate dark energy and dark matter, conduct a statistical census of planetary systems, and enable a broad range of additional astrophysics research. Liftoff from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy is targeted for no earlier than Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026.
Technicians prepare to encapsulate NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy payload fairing in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. The payload fairing will protect the spacecraft during liftoff from Launch Complex 39A on its journey to explore Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa. The spacecraft will complete nearly 50 flybys of Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, to determine if there are conditions suitable for life beyond Earth.
Technicians test the system to deploy NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft solar arrays, which uses “thermal knives” to cut the restraints holding the solar arrays in place inside the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024. The Europa Clipper spacecraft will travel to Jupiter’s icy moon to determine its potential to support life. After launch the thermal knives will cut the restraints, allowing the solar arrays to deploy and collect sunlight to power the spacecraft as it begins its journey to investigate Europa.
This closeup shows the spin test of the Phoenix Mars Lander in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility. The Phoenix mission is the first project in NASA's first openly competed program of Mars Scout missions. Phoenix will land in icy soils near the north polar permanent ice cap of Mars and explore the history of the water in these soils and any associated rocks, while monitoring polar climate. Landing is planned in May 2008 on arctic ground where a mission currently in orbit, Mars Odyssey, has detected high concentrations of ice just beneath the top layer of soil. It will serve as NASA's first exploration of a potential modern habitat on Mars and open the door to a renewed search for carbon-bearing compounds, last attempted with NASA’s Viking missions in the 1970s. A stereo color camera and a weather station will study the surrounding environment while the other instruments check excavated soil samples for water, organic chemicals and conditions that could indicate whether the site was ever hospitable to life. Microscopes can reveal features as small as one one-thousandth the width of a human hair. Launch of Phoenix aboard a Delta II rocket is targeted for Aug. 3 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, technicians install the heat shield on the Phoenix Mars Lander spacecraft. The Phoenix mission is the first project in NASA's first openly competed program of Mars Scout missions. Phoenix will land in icy soils near the north polar permanent ice cap of Mars and explore the history of the water in these soils and any associated rocks, while monitoring polar climate. Landing is planned in May 2008 on arctic ground where a mission currently in orbit, Mars Odyssey, has detected high concentrations of ice just beneath the top layer of soil. It will serve as NASA's first exploration of a potential modern habitat on Mars and open the door to a renewed search for carbon-bearing compounds, last attempted with NASA's Viking missions in the 1970s. A stereo color camera and a weather station will study the surrounding environment while the other instruments check excavated soil samples for water, organic chemicals and conditions that could indicate whether the site was ever hospitable to life. Microscopes can reveal features as small as one one-thousandth the width of a human hair. Launch of Phoenix aboard a Delta II rocket is targeted for Aug. 3 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
Technicians tested deploying a set of massive solar arrays measuring about 46.5 feet (14.2 meters) long and about 13.5 feet (4.1 meters) high for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. Once launched to study Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, the solar arrays will fully extend to power the spacecraft to perform flybys to gather science and data to determine if the moon can support habitable conditions.
Technicians tested deploying a set of massive solar arrays measuring about 46.5 feet (14.2 meters) long and about 13.5 feet (4.1 meters) high for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. Once launched to study Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, the solar arrays will fully extend to power the spacecraft to perform flybys to gather science and data to determine if the moon can support habitable conditions.
Technicians tested deploying a set of massive solar arrays measuring about 46.5 feet (14.2 meters) long and about 13.5 feet (4.1 meters) high for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. Once launched to study Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, the solar arrays will fully extend to power the spacecraft to perform flybys to gather science and data to determine if the moon can support habitable conditions.
Technicians prepare NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) for encapsulation in the SpaceX payload fairing inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The satellite is scheduled to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on April 16. The satellite is the next step in NASA's search for planets outside our solar system, known as exoplanets. TESS is a NASA Astrophysics Explorer mission led and operated by MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Dr. George Ricker of MIT’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research serves as principal investigator for the mission. Additional partners include Orbital ATK, NASA’s Ames Research Center, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and the Space Telescope Science Institute. More than a dozen universities, research institutes and observatories worldwide are participants in the mission. NASA’s Launch Services Program is responsible for launch management.
The payload fairing for NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is being prepared for the move to the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Inside the facility, TESS will be encapsulated in the payload fairing. The satellite is scheduled to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on April 16. The satellite is the next step in NASA's search for planets outside our solar system, known as exoplanets. TESS is a NASA Astrophysics Explorer mission led and operated by MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Dr. George Ricker of MIT’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research serves as principal investigator for the mission. Additional partners include Orbital ATK, NASA’s Ames Research Center, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and the Space Telescope Science Institute. More than a dozen universities, research institutes and observatories worldwide are participants in the mission. NASA’s Launch Services Program is responsible for launch management.
Technicians install and align the second set of solar arrays for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. The Europa Clipper spacecraft will need the 46.5 feet (14.2 meter) long, five-panel solar arrays on each side, to gather enough sunlight to power the spacecraft to perform flybys around Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, so science instruments aboard the spacecraft can determine if the moon could hold the building blocks necessary to sustain life.
In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, workers help guide the heat shield onto a platform. The heat shield was removed from the Phoenix Mars Lander spacecraft.. The Phoenix mission is the first project in NASA's first openly competed program of Mars Scout missions. Phoenix will land in icy soils near the north polar permanent ice cap of Mars and explore the history of the water in these soils and any associated rocks, while monitoring polar climate. Landing is planned in May 2008 on arctic ground where a mission currently in orbit, Mars Odyssey, has detected high concentrations of ice just beneath the top layer of soil. It will serve as NASA's first exploration of a potential modern habitat on Mars and open the door to a renewed search for carbon-bearing compounds, last attempted with NASA’s Viking missions in the 1970s. A stereo color camera and a weather station will study the surrounding environment while the other instruments check excavated soil samples for water, organic chemicals and conditions that could indicate whether the site was ever hospitable to life. Microscopes can reveal features as small as one one-thousandth the width of a human hair. Launch of Phoenix aboard a Delta II rocket is targeted for Aug. 3 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, technicians complete the installation of the heat shield on the Phoenix Mars Lander spacecraft. The Phoenix mission is the first project in NASA's first openly competed program of Mars Scout missions. Phoenix will land in icy soils near the north polar permanent ice cap of Mars and explore the history of the water in these soils and any associated rocks, while monitoring polar climate. Landing is planned in May 2008 on arctic ground where a mission currently in orbit, Mars Odyssey, has detected high concentrations of ice just beneath the top layer of soil. It will serve as NASA's first exploration of a potential modern habitat on Mars and open the door to a renewed search for carbon-bearing compounds, last attempted with NASA's Viking missions in the 1970s. A stereo color camera and a weather station will study the surrounding environment while the other instruments check excavated soil samples for water, organic chemicals and conditions that could indicate whether the site was ever hospitable to life. Microscopes can reveal features as small as one one-thousandth the width of a human hair. Launch of Phoenix aboard a Delta II rocket is targeted for Aug. 3 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
From left, technicians Jacob Stahl and Ryan Renehan don Self-Contained Atmospheric Protective Ensemble (SCAPE) suits as they prepare to perform propellant loading operations inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the agency’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope on Thursday, July 23, 2026. With fuel tanks capable of carrying about 290 gallons (roughly 1,100 liters) of hydrazine – Roman’s primary mission is to settle essential questions about dark energy, exoplanets, and infrared astrophysics by conducting wide-field surveys that explore the universe’s structure, evolution, and composition. Liftoff atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A is targeted no earlier than Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026.
NASA’s Psyche spacecraft undergoes processing and servicing ahead of launch atop a work stand inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 3, 2022. Psyche is targeting to lift off aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket on Aug. 1, 2022. The spacecraft will use solar-electric propulsion to travel approximately 1.5 billion miles to rendezvous with its namesake asteroid in 2026. The Psyche mission is led by Arizona State University. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, is responsible for the mission’s overall management, system engineering, integration and testing, and mission operations. Maxar Technologies in Palo Alto, California, provided the high-power solar electric propulsion spacecraft chassis. NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP), based at Kennedy, is managing the launch. Psyche will be the 14th mission in the agency's Discovery program and LSP’s 100th primary mission.
Technicians test and extend one of the two “wings” comprising the solar arrays for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft on Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, at the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Each array measures about 46.5 feet (14.2 meters) long and about 13.5 feet (4.1 meters) high. The spacecraft needs the massive solar arrays to power to Jupiter’s icy moon Europa to help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet.
Technicians test and extend one of the two “wings” comprising the solar arrays for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft on Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, at the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Each array measures about 46.5 feet (14.2 meters) long and about 13.5 feet (4.1 meters) high. The spacecraft needs the massive solar arrays to power to Jupiter’s icy moon Europa to help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet.
In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, the heat shield for the Phoenix Mars Lander is moved into position for installation on the spacecraft. The Phoenix mission is the first project in NASA's first openly competed program of Mars Scout missions. Phoenix will land in icy soils near the north polar permanent ice cap of Mars and explore the history of the water in these soils and any associated rocks, while monitoring polar climate. Landing is planned in May 2008 on arctic ground where a mission currently in orbit, Mars Odyssey, has detected high concentrations of ice just beneath the top layer of soil. It will serve as NASA's first exploration of a potential modern habitat on Mars and open the door to a renewed search for carbon-bearing compounds, last attempted with NASA's Viking missions in the 1970s. A stereo color camera and a weather station will study the surrounding environment while the other instruments check excavated soil samples for water, organic chemicals and conditions that could indicate whether the site was ever hospitable to life. Microscopes can reveal features as small as one one-thousandth the width of a human hair. Launch of Phoenix aboard a Delta II rocket is targeted for Aug. 3 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
Teams inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida encapsulate the agency’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope within the payload fairing on Friday, Aug. 21, 2026, ahead of mating to a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. Encapsulation shields the spacecraft during rollout, ascent, and the early phases of flight. Roman will investigate dark energy and dark matter, conduct a statistical census of planetary systems, and enable a broad range of additional astrophysics research. Liftoff from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy is targeted for no earlier than Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026.
Technicians install and align the second set of solar arrays for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. The Europa Clipper spacecraft will need the 46.5 feet (14.2 meter) long, five-panel solar arrays on each side, to gather enough sunlight to power the spacecraft to perform flybys around Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, so science instruments aboard the spacecraft can determine if the moon could hold the building blocks necessary to sustain life.
Technicians at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida perform work on the agency’s Psyche spacecraft inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHSF) on May 3, 2022. While inside the PHSF, the spacecraft will undergo routine processing and servicing ahead of launch. Psyche is targeting to lift off aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket on Aug. 1, 2022. The spacecraft will use solar-electric propulsion to travel approximately 1.5 billion miles to rendezvous with its namesake asteroid in 2026. The Psyche mission is led by Arizona State University. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, is responsible for the mission’s overall management, system engineering, integration and testing, and mission operations. Maxar Technologies in Palo Alto, California, provided the high-power solar electric propulsion spacecraft chassis. NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP), based at Kennedy, is managing the launch. Psyche will be the 14th mission in the agency's Discovery program and LSP’s 100th primary mission.
In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, an overhead crane moves the heat shield toward a platform at left. The heat shield was removed from the Phoenix Mars Lander spacecraft at right. The Phoenix mission is the first project in NASA's first openly competed program of Mars Scout missions. Phoenix will land in icy soils near the north polar permanent ice cap of Mars and explore the history of the water in these soils and any associated rocks, while monitoring polar climate. Landing is planned in May 2008 on arctic ground where a mission currently in orbit, Mars Odyssey, has detected high concentrations of ice just beneath the top layer of soil. It will serve as NASA's first exploration of a potential modern habitat on Mars and open the door to a renewed search for carbon-bearing compounds, last attempted with NASA’s Viking missions in the 1970s. A stereo color camera and a weather station will study the surrounding environment while the other instruments check excavated soil samples for water, organic chemicals and conditions that could indicate whether the site was ever hospitable to life. Microscopes can reveal features as small as one one-thousandth the width of a human hair. Launch of Phoenix aboard a Delta II rocket is targeted for Aug. 3 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
Technicians test and extend one of the two “wings” comprising the solar arrays for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft on Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, at the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Each array measures about 46.5 feet (14.2 meters) long and about 13.5 feet (4.1 meters) high. The spacecraft needs the massive solar arrays to power to Jupiter’s icy moon Europa to help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet.
Ryan Renehan, technician, wears a Self-Contained Atmospheric Protective Ensemble (SCAPE) suit as he prepares to perform propellant loading operations inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida Thursday, July 23, 2026. With fuel tanks capable of carrying about 290 gallons (roughly 1,100 liters) of hydrazine – a monopropellant not requiring a second chemical to combust – Roman’s primary mission is to settle essential questions about dark energy, exoplanets, and infrared astrophysics by conducting wide-field surveys that explore the universe’s structure, evolution, and composition. Liftoff atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A is targeted no earlier than Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026.
Teams inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida encapsulate the agency’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope within the payload fairing on Friday, Aug. 21, 2026, ahead of mating to a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. Encapsulation shields the spacecraft during rollout, ascent, and the early phases of flight. Roman will investigate dark energy and dark matter, conduct a statistical census of planetary systems, and enable a broad range of additional astrophysics research. Liftoff from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy is targeted for no earlier than Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026.
Technicians install and align the second set of solar arrays for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. The Europa Clipper spacecraft will need the 46.5 feet (14.2 meter) long, five-panel solar arrays on each side, to gather enough sunlight to power the spacecraft to perform flybys around Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, so science instruments aboard the spacecraft can determine if the moon could hold the building blocks necessary to sustain life.
An overhead crane lifts the backshell with the Phoenix Mars Lander inside off its work stand in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility. The spacecraft is being moved to a spin table (back left) for spin testing. The Phoenix mission is the first project in NASA's first openly competed program of Mars Scout missions. Phoenix will land in icy soils near the north polar permanent ice cap of Mars and explore the history of the water in these soils and any associated rocks, while monitoring polar climate. Landing is planned in May 2008 on arctic ground where a mission currently in orbit, Mars Odyssey, has detected high concentrations of ice just beneath the top layer of soil. It will serve as NASA's first exploration of a potential modern habitat on Mars and open the door to a renewed search for carbon-bearing compounds, last attempted with NASA’s Viking missions in the 1970s. A stereo color camera and a weather station will study the surrounding environment while the other instruments check excavated soil samples for water, organic chemicals and conditions that could indicate whether the site was ever hospitable to life. Microscopes can reveal features as small as one one-thousandth the width of a human hair. Launch of Phoenix aboard a Delta II rocket is targeted for Aug. 3 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, an overhead crane lifts the heat shield from the Phoenix Mars Lander spacecraft. The Phoenix mission is the first project in NASA's first openly competed program of Mars Scout missions. Phoenix will land in icy soils near the north polar permanent ice cap of Mars and explore the history of the water in these soils and any associated rocks, while monitoring polar climate. Landing is planned in May 2008 on arctic ground where a mission currently in orbit, Mars Odyssey, has detected high concentrations of ice just beneath the top layer of soil. It will serve as NASA's first exploration of a potential modern habitat on Mars and open the door to a renewed search for carbon-bearing compounds, last attempted with NASA’s Viking missions in the 1970s. A stereo color camera and a weather station will study the surrounding environment while the other instruments check excavated soil samples for water, organic chemicals and conditions that could indicate whether the site was ever hospitable to life. Microscopes can reveal features as small as one one-thousandth the width of a human hair. Launch of Phoenix aboard a Delta II rocket is targeted for Aug. 3 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
Technicians test the system to deploy NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft solar arrays, which uses “thermal knives” to cut the restraints holding the solar arrays in place inside the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024. The Europa Clipper spacecraft will travel to Jupiter’s icy moon to determine its potential to support life. After launch the thermal knives will cut the restraints, allowing the solar arrays to deploy and collect sunlight to power the spacecraft as it begins its journey to investigate Europa.
In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, the Phoenix Mars Lander spacecraft undergoes spin testing. The Phoenix mission is the first project in NASA's first openly competed program of Mars Scout missions. Phoenix will land in icy soils near the north polar permanent ice cap of Mars and explore the history of the water in these soils and any associated rocks, while monitoring polar climate. Landing is planned in May 2008 on arctic ground where a mission currently in orbit, Mars Odyssey, has detected high concentrations of ice just beneath the top layer of soil. It will serve as NASA's first exploration of a potential modern habitat on Mars and open the door to a renewed search for carbon-bearing compounds, last attempted with NASA's Viking missions in the 1970s. A stereo color camera and a weather station will study the surrounding environment while the other instruments check excavated soil samples for water, organic chemicals and conditions that could indicate whether the site was ever hospitable to life. Microscopes can reveal features as small as one one-thousandth the width of a human hair. Launch of Phoenix aboard a Delta II rocket is targeted for Aug. 3 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
Technicians align, install, and then extend the second set of solar arrays, measuring 46.5 feet (14.2 meters) long and about 13.5 feet (4.1 meters) high, for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. The huge arrays – spanning more than 100 feet when fully deployed, or about the length of a basketball court – will collect sunlight to power the spacecraft as it flies multiple times around Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, conducting science investigations to determine its potential to support life.
This closeup shows the Phoenix Mars Lander spacecraft nestled inside the backshell. The spacecraft is ready for spin testing on the spin table to which it is attached in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility. The Phoenix mission is the first project in NASA's first openly competed program of Mars Scout missions. Phoenix will land in icy soils near the north polar permanent ice cap of Mars and explore the history of the water in these soils and any associated rocks, while monitoring polar climate. Landing is planned in May 2008 on arctic ground where a mission currently in orbit, Mars Odyssey, has detected high concentrations of ice just beneath the top layer of soil. It will serve as NASA's first exploration of a potential modern habitat on Mars and open the door to a renewed search for carbon-bearing compounds, last attempted with NASA’s Viking missions in the 1970s. A stereo color camera and a weather station will study the surrounding environment while the other instruments check excavated soil samples for water, organic chemicals and conditions that could indicate whether the site was ever hospitable to life. Microscopes can reveal features as small as one one-thousandth the width of a human hair. Launch of Phoenix aboard a Delta II rocket is targeted for Aug. 3 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
Technicians encapsulate NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy payload fairing in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. The payload fairing will protect the spacecraft during liftoff from Launch Complex 39A on its journey to explore Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa. The spacecraft will complete nearly 50 flybys of Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, to determine if there are conditions suitable for life beyond Earth.
In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, the Phoenix Mars Lander (foreground) can be seen inside the backshell. In the background, workers are helping place the heat shield, just removed from the Phoenix, onto a platform. The Phoenix mission is the first project in NASA's first openly competed program of Mars Scout missions. Phoenix will land in icy soils near the north polar permanent ice cap of Mars and explore the history of the water in these soils and any associated rocks, while monitoring polar climate. Landing is planned in May 2008 on arctic ground where a mission currently in orbit, Mars Odyssey, has detected high concentrations of ice just beneath the top layer of soil. It will serve as NASA's first exploration of a potential modern habitat on Mars and open the door to a renewed search for carbon-bearing compounds, last attempted with NASA’s Viking missions in the 1970s. A stereo color camera and a weather station will study the surrounding environment while the other instruments check excavated soil samples for water, organic chemicals and conditions that could indicate whether the site was ever hospitable to life. Microscopes can reveal features as small as one one-thousandth the width of a human hair. Launch of Phoenix aboard a Delta II rocket is targeted for Aug. 3 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
Technicians test, retract, and stow one of the two “wings” comprising the solar arrays for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft on Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, at the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Each array measures about 46.5 feet (14.2 meters) long and about 13.5 feet (4.1 meters) high when extended. The spacecraft needs the massive solar arrays to power to Jupiter’s icy moon Europa to help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet.
Teams inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida encapsulate the agency’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope within the payload fairing on Friday, Aug. 21, 2026, ahead of mating to a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. Encapsulation shields the spacecraft during rollout, ascent, and the early phases of flight. Roman will investigate dark energy and dark matter, conduct a statistical census of planetary systems, and enable a broad range of additional astrophysics research. Liftoff from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy is targeted for no earlier than Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026.
Technicians test, retract, and stow one of the two “wings” comprising the solar arrays for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft on Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, at the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Each array measures about 46.5 feet (14.2 meters) long and about 13.5 feet (4.1 meters) high when extended. The spacecraft needs the massive solar arrays to power to Jupiter’s icy moon Europa to help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet.
In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, technicians attach a crane to the Phoenix Mars Lander spacecraft. The crane will be used to remove the heat shield from around the Phoenix. The Phoenix mission is the first project in NASA's first openly competed program of Mars Scout missions. Phoenix will land in icy soils near the north polar permanent ice cap of Mars and explore the history of the water in these soils and any associated rocks, while monitoring polar climate. Landing is planned in May 2008 on arctic ground where a mission currently in orbit, Mars Odyssey, has detected high concentrations of ice just beneath the top layer of soil. It will serve as NASA's first exploration of a potential modern habitat on Mars and open the door to a renewed search for carbon-bearing compounds, last attempted with NASA’s Viking missions in the 1970s. A stereo color camera and a weather station will study the surrounding environment while the other instruments check excavated soil samples for water, organic chemicals and conditions that could indicate whether the site was ever hospitable to life. Microscopes can reveal features as small as one one-thousandth the width of a human hair. Launch of Phoenix aboard a Delta II rocket is targeted for Aug. 3 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
Teams inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida prepare the agency’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope for encapsulation within its payload fairing on Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, ahead of mating to a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. Encapsulation shields the spacecraft during rollout, ascent, and the early phases of flight. Roman will investigate dark energy and dark matter, conduct a statistical census of planetary systems, and enable a broad range of additional astrophysics research. Liftoff from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy is targeted for no earlier than Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026.
Technicians move NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility to accommodate installation of its five-panel solar array at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. After moving the spacecraft, the team had to precisely align the spacecraft in preparation for the installation. The huge arrays – spanning more than 100 feet when fully deployed, or about the length of a basketball court – will collect sunlight to power the spacecraft as it flies multiple times around Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, conducting science investigations to determine its potential to support life.
Technicians tested deploying a set of massive solar arrays measuring about 46.5 feet (14.2 meters) long and about 13.5 feet (4.1 meters) high for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. Once launched to study Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, the solar arrays will fully extend to power the spacecraft to perform flybys to gather science and data to determine if the moon can support habitable conditions.
Members of NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope propellant, safety, and quality assurance team pose for a photo on Monday July 20, 2026, inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, prior to technicians loading propellant into the observatory. With fuel tanks capable of carrying about 290 gallons (roughly 1,100 liters) of hydrazine – a monopropellant not requiring a second chemical to combust – Roman’s primary mission is to settle essential questions about dark energy, exoplanets, and infrared astrophysics by conducting wide-field surveys that explore the universe’s structure, evolution, and composition. Liftoff atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A is targeted no earlier than Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026.
In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, technicians secure the backshell with the Phoenix Mars Lander inside onto a spin table for spin testing. The Phoenix mission is the first project in NASA's first openly competed program of Mars Scout missions. Phoenix will land in icy soils near the north polar permanent ice cap of Mars and explore the history of the water in these soils and any associated rocks, while monitoring polar climate. Landing is planned in May 2008 on arctic ground where a mission currently in orbit, Mars Odyssey, has detected high concentrations of ice just beneath the top layer of soil. It will serve as NASA's first exploration of a potential modern habitat on Mars and open the door to a renewed search for carbon-bearing compounds, last attempted with NASA’s Viking missions in the 1970s. A stereo color camera and a weather station will study the surrounding environment while the other instruments check excavated soil samples for water, organic chemicals and conditions that could indicate whether the site was ever hospitable to life. Microscopes can reveal features as small as one one-thousandth the width of a human hair. Launch of Phoenix aboard a Delta II rocket is targeted for Aug. 3 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, a worker monitors the Phoenix spacecraft during a heat shield deployment test, with a firing of ordnance associated with the separation device. Phoenix will land in icy soils near the north polar permanent ice cap of Mars and explore the history of the water in these soils and any associated rocks, while monitoring polar climate. Landing is planned in May 2008 on arctic ground where a mission currently in orbit, Mars Odyssey, has detected high concentrations of ice just beneath the top layer of soil. Launch of Phoenix aboard a Delta II rocket is targeted for Aug. 3 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
NASA’s Psyche spacecraft undergoes processing and servicing ahead of launch atop a work stand inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 3, 2022. Psyche is targeting to lift off aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket on Aug. 1, 2022. The spacecraft will use solar-electric propulsion to travel approximately 1.5 billion miles to rendezvous with its namesake asteroid in 2026. The Psyche mission is led by Arizona State University. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, is responsible for the mission’s overall management, system engineering, integration and testing, and mission operations. Maxar Technologies in Palo Alto, California, provided the high-power solar electric propulsion spacecraft chassis. NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP), based at Kennedy, is managing the launch. Psyche will be the 14th mission in the agency's Discovery program and LSP’s 100th primary mission.
Technicians test the system to deploy NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft solar arrays, which uses “thermal knives” to cut the restraints holding the solar arrays in place inside the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024. The Europa Clipper spacecraft will travel to Jupiter’s icy moon to determine its potential to support life. After launch the thermal knives will cut the restraints, allowing the solar arrays to deploy and collect sunlight to power the spacecraft as it begins its journey to investigate Europa.
Technicians monitor propellant loading from a control room in the Multi Operations Support Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida Friday, July 24, 2026. With fuel tanks capable of carrying about 290 gallons (roughly 1,100 liters) of hydrazine – a monopropellant not requiring a second chemical to combust – Roman’s primary mission is to settle essential questions about dark energy, exoplanets, and infrared astrophysics by conducting wide-field surveys that explore the universe’s structure, evolution, and composition. Liftoff atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A is targeted no earlier than Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026.
Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHSF) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the agency’s Psyche spacecraft – recently removed from its shipping container and inside a protective covering – is moved by crane to a work stand on Monday, May 2, 2022. Psyche is scheduled to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket on Aug. 1, 2022. The spacecraft will use solar-electric propulsion to travel approximately 1.5 billion miles to rendezvous with its namesake asteroid in 2026. The Psyche mission is led by Arizona State University. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, is responsible for the mission’s overall management, system engineering, integration and testing, and mission operations. Maxar Technologies in Palo Alto, California, provided the high-power solar electric propulsion spacecraft chassis. NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP), based at Kennedy, is managing the launch. Psyche will be the 14th mission in the agency's Discovery program and LSP’s 100th primary mission.
Technicians wear Self-Contained Atmospheric Protective Ensemble (SCAPE) suits as they prepare to perform propellant loading operations inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida Friday, July 24, 2026. With fuel tanks capable of carrying about 290 gallons (roughly 1,100 liters) of hydrazine – a monopropellant not requiring a second chemical to combust – Roman’s primary mission is to settle essential questions about dark energy, exoplanets, and infrared astrophysics by conducting wide-field surveys that explore the universe’s structure, evolution, and composition. Liftoff atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A is targeted no earlier than Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026.
Technicians prepare to encapsulate NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy payload fairing in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. The payload fairing will protect the spacecraft during liftoff from Launch Complex 39A on its journey to explore Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa. The spacecraft will complete nearly 50 flybys of Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, to determine if there are conditions suitable for life beyond Earth.
In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, technicians lower a crane over the Phoenix Mars Lander spacecraft. The crane will be used to remove the heat shield from around the Phoenix. The Phoenix mission is the first project in NASA's first openly competed program of Mars Scout missions. Phoenix will land in icy soils near the north polar permanent ice cap of Mars and explore the history of the water in these soils and any associated rocks, while monitoring polar climate. Landing is planned in May 2008 on arctic ground where a mission currently in orbit, Mars Odyssey, has detected high concentrations of ice just beneath the top layer of soil. It will serve as NASA's first exploration of a potential modern habitat on Mars and open the door to a renewed search for carbon-bearing compounds, last attempted with NASA’s Viking missions in the 1970s. A stereo color camera and a weather station will study the surrounding environment while the other instruments check excavated soil samples for water, organic chemicals and conditions that could indicate whether the site was ever hospitable to life. Microscopes can reveal features as small as one one-thousandth the width of a human hair. Launch of Phoenix aboard a Delta II rocket is targeted for Aug. 3 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
Technicians prepare NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) for encapsulation in the SpaceX payload fairing inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The satellite is scheduled to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on April 16. The satellite is the next step in NASA's search for planets outside our solar system, known as exoplanets. TESS is a NASA Astrophysics Explorer mission led and operated by MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Dr. George Ricker of MIT’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research serves as principal investigator for the mission. Additional partners include Orbital ATK, NASA’s Ames Research Center, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and the Space Telescope Science Institute. More than a dozen universities, research institutes and observatories worldwide are participants in the mission. NASA’s Launch Services Program is responsible for launch management.
Technicians move NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility to accommodate installation of its five-panel solar array at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. After moving the spacecraft, the team had to precisely align the spacecraft in preparation for the installation. The huge arrays – spanning more than 100 feet when fully deployed, or about the length of a basketball court – will collect sunlight to power the spacecraft as it flies multiple times around Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, conducting science investigations to determine its potential to support life.
Technicians test and extend one of the two “wings” comprising the solar arrays for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft on Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, at the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Each array measures about 46.5 feet (14.2 meters) long and about 13.5 feet (4.1 meters) high. The spacecraft needs the massive solar arrays to power to Jupiter’s icy moon Europa to help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet.
Technicians encapsulated NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside payload fairings on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The fairings will protect the spacecraft during launch as it begins its journey to explore Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa. The mission will help scientists determine if the moon could support life. NASA and SpaceX are targeting launch at 12:31 p.m. EDT on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Technicians install and align the second set of solar arrays for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. The Europa Clipper spacecraft will need the 46.5 feet (14.2 meter) long, five-panel solar arrays on each side, to gather enough sunlight to power the spacecraft to perform flybys around Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, so science instruments aboard the spacecraft can determine if the moon could hold the building blocks necessary to sustain life.
Technicians prepare to encapsulate NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy payload fairing in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. The payload fairing will protect the spacecraft during liftoff from Launch Complex 39A on its journey to explore Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa. The spacecraft will complete nearly 50 flybys of Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, to determine if there are conditions suitable for life beyond Earth.
The payload fairing for NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is moved inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Inside the facility, TESS will be encapsulated in the payload fairing. The satellite is scheduled to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on April 16. The satellite is the next step in NASA's search for planets outside our solar system, known as exoplanets. TESS is a NASA Astrophysics Explorer mission led and operated by MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Dr. George Ricker of MIT’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research serves as principal investigator for the mission. Additional partners include Orbital ATK, NASA’s Ames Research Center, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and the Space Telescope Science Institute. More than a dozen universities, research institutes and observatories worldwide are participants in the mission. NASA’s Launch Services Program is responsible for launch management.
Teams inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida encapsulate the agency’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope within the payload fairing on Friday, Aug. 21, 2026, ahead of mating to a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. Encapsulation shields the spacecraft during rollout, ascent, and the early phases of flight. Roman will investigate dark energy and dark matter, conduct a statistical census of planetary systems, and enable a broad range of additional astrophysics research. Liftoff from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy is targeted for no earlier than Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026.
Technicians tested deploying a set of massive solar arrays measuring about 46.5 feet (14.2 meters) long and about 13.5 feet (4.1 meters) high for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. Once launched to study Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, the solar arrays will fully extend to power the spacecraft to perform flybys to gather science and data to determine if the moon can support habitable conditions.
Self-Contained Atmospheric Protective Ensemble (SCAPE) suits hang on a rack the Multi Operations Support Building on Thursday, July 23, 2026, before technicians began operations to load propellant into NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Once suited up technicians fueled Roman inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida with about 290 gallons (roughly 1,100 liters) of hydrazine. Roman’s primary mission is to settle essential questions about dark energy, exoplanets, and infrared astrophysics by conducting wide-field surveys that explore the universe’s structure, evolution, and composition. Liftoff atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A is targeted no earlier than Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026.
Technicians tested deploying a set of massive solar arrays measuring about 46.5 feet (14.2 meters) long and about 13.5 feet (4.1 meters) high for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. Once launched to study Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, the solar arrays will fully extend to power the spacecraft to perform flybys to gather science and data to determine if the moon can support habitable conditions.
Teams inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida encapsulate the agency’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope within the payload fairing on Friday, Aug. 21, 2026, ahead of mating to a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. Encapsulation shields the spacecraft during rollout, ascent, and the early phases of flight. Roman will investigate dark energy and dark matter, conduct a statistical census of planetary systems, and enable a broad range of additional astrophysics research. Liftoff from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy is targeted for no earlier than Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026.
The payload fairing for NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is moved to the entrance of the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Inside the facility, TESS will be encapsulated in the payload fairing. The satellite is scheduled to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on April 16. The satellite is the next step in NASA's search for planets outside our solar system, known as exoplanets. TESS is a NASA Astrophysics Explorer mission led and operated by MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Dr. George Ricker of MIT’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research serves as principal investigator for the mission. Additional partners include Orbital ATK, NASA’s Ames Research Center, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and the Space Telescope Science Institute. More than a dozen universities, research institutes and observatories worldwide are participants in the mission. NASA’s Launch Services Program is responsible for launch management.
Technicians move NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility to accommodate installation of its five-panel solar array at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. After moving the spacecraft, the team had to precisely align the spacecraft in preparation for the installation. The huge arrays – spanning more than 100 feet when fully deployed, or about the length of a basketball court – will collect sunlight to power the spacecraft as it flies multiple times around Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, conducting science investigations to determine its potential to support life.
Teams inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida encapsulate the agency’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope within the payload fairing on Friday, Aug. 21, 2026, ahead of mating to a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. Encapsulation shields the spacecraft during rollout, ascent, and the early phases of flight. Roman will investigate dark energy and dark matter, conduct a statistical census of planetary systems, and enable a broad range of additional astrophysics research. Liftoff from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy is targeted for no earlier than Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026.
Technicians encapsulated NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside payload fairings on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The fairings will protect the spacecraft during launch as it begins its journey to explore Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa. The mission will help scientists determine if the moon could support life. NASA and SpaceX are targeting launch at 12:31 p.m. EDT on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Teams inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida encapsulate the agency’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope within the payload fairing on Friday, Aug. 21, 2026, ahead of mating to a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. Encapsulation shields the spacecraft during rollout, ascent, and the early phases of flight. Roman will investigate dark energy and dark matter, conduct a statistical census of planetary systems, and enable a broad range of additional astrophysics research. Liftoff from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy is targeted for no earlier than Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026.
NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope pictured on Friday, Aug. 7, 2026, after engineers and technicians working inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida had carefully mated the observatory to its payload adapter and a strut payload attach fitting, a specialized piece of hardware designed for large, heavy loads. This allows the team to secure the payload to the second stage on SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket. Named for NASA’s first chief astronomer and “mother of the Hubble Space Telescope,” Roman will offer a field of view over 100 times larger than Hubble’s to study up to a billion galaxies, directly image exoplanets and planet‑forming disks, and address fundamental questions about dark energy, exoplanets, and infrared astrophysics.
Technicians move NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility to accommodate installation of its five-panel solar array at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. After moving the spacecraft, the team had to precisely align the spacecraft in preparation for the installation. The huge arrays – spanning more than 100 feet when fully deployed, or about the length of a basketball court – will collect sunlight to power the spacecraft as it flies multiple times around Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, conducting science investigations to determine its potential to support life.
Technicians tested deploying a set of massive solar arrays measuring about 46.5 feet (14.2 meters) long and about 13.5 feet (4.1 meters) high for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. Once launched to study Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, the solar arrays will fully extend to power the spacecraft to perform flybys to gather science and data to determine if the moon can support habitable conditions.
In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, the Phoenix Mars Lander spacecraft undergoes spin testing. The Phoenix mission is the first project in NASA's first openly competed program of Mars Scout missions. Phoenix will land in icy soils near the north polar permanent ice cap of Mars and explore the history of the water in these soils and any associated rocks, while monitoring polar climate. Landing is planned in May 2008 on arctic ground where a mission currently in orbit, Mars Odyssey, has detected high concentrations of ice just beneath the top layer of soil. It will serve as NASA's first exploration of a potential modern habitat on Mars and open the door to a renewed search for carbon-bearing compounds, last attempted with NASA's Viking missions in the 1970s. A stereo color camera and a weather station will study the surrounding environment while the other instruments check excavated soil samples for water, organic chemicals and conditions that could indicate whether the site was ever hospitable to life. Microscopes can reveal features as small as one one-thousandth the width of a human hair. Launch of Phoenix aboard a Delta II rocket is targeted for Aug. 3 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
Technicians encapsulated NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside payload fairings on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The fairings will protect the spacecraft during launch as it begins its journey to explore Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa. The mission will help scientists determine if the moon could support life. NASA and SpaceX are targeting launch at 12:31 p.m. EDT on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Teams inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida encapsulate the agency’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope within the payload fairing on Friday, Aug. 21, 2026, ahead of mating to a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. Encapsulation shields the spacecraft during rollout, ascent, and the early phases of flight. Roman will investigate dark energy and dark matter, conduct a statistical census of planetary systems, and enable a broad range of additional astrophysics research. Liftoff from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy is targeted for no earlier than Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026.
Teams inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida encapsulate the agency’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope within the payload fairing on Friday, Aug. 21, 2026, ahead of mating to a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. Encapsulation shields the spacecraft during rollout, ascent, and the early phases of flight. Roman will investigate dark energy and dark matter, conduct a statistical census of planetary systems, and enable a broad range of additional astrophysics research. Liftoff from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy is targeted for no earlier than Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026.
Technicians pose for a photo in front of one of the two “wings” comprising the solar arrays for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft on Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, at the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Each array measures about 46.5 feet (14.2 meters) long and about 13.5 feet (4.1 meters) high. The spacecraft needs the massive solar arrays to power to Jupiter’s icy moon Europa to help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet.
Technicians encapsulated NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside payload fairings on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The fairings will protect the spacecraft during launch as it begins its journey to explore Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa. The mission will help scientists determine if the moon could support life. NASA and SpaceX are targeting launch at 12:31 p.m. EDT on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Billy Keim, a senior integration technician for NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope wears a Self-Contained Atmospheric Protective Ensemble (SCAPE) suit as he prepares to perform propellant loading operations inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida Friday, July 24, 2026. With fuel tanks capable of carrying about 290 gallons (roughly 1,100 liters) of hydrazine – a monopropellant not requiring a second chemical to combust – Roman’s primary mission is to settle essential questions about dark energy, exoplanets, and infrared astrophysics by conducting wide-field surveys that explore the universe’s structure, evolution, and composition. Liftoff atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A is targeted no earlier than Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026.
Technicians test the system to deploy NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft solar arrays, which uses “thermal knives” to cut the restraints holding the solar arrays in place inside the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024. The Europa Clipper spacecraft will travel to Jupiter’s icy moon to determine its potential to support life. After launch the thermal knives will cut the restraints, allowing the solar arrays to deploy and collect sunlight to power the spacecraft as it begins its journey to investigate Europa.
Technicians monitor propellant loading from a control room in the Multi Operations Support Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida Friday, July 24, 2026. With fuel tanks capable of carrying about 290 gallons (roughly 1,100 liters) of hydrazine – a monopropellant not requiring a second chemical to combust – Roman’s primary mission is to settle essential questions about dark energy, exoplanets, and infrared astrophysics by conducting wide-field surveys that explore the universe’s structure, evolution, and composition. Liftoff atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A is targeted no earlier than Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026.