The United Launch Alliance Atlas V payload fairing, containing the Solar Orbiter spacecraft, is being secured on top of the company’s Atlas V rocket inside the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Jan. 31, 2020. Solar Orbiter is an international cooperative mission between ESA (European Space Agency) and NASA. The mission aims to study the Sun, its outer atmosphere and solar wind. The spacecraft will provide the first images of the Sun’s poles. NASA’s Launch Services Program based at Kennedy is managing the launch. The spacecraft has been developed by Airbus Defence and Space. Solar Orbiter will launch in February 2020 aboard the Atlas V rocket.
A construction trailer damaged by Hurricane Matthew is seen in front of the Mobile Launcher within the Launch Complex 39 area at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Assessments and repairs are in progress at various structures and facilities across the spaceport, part of the ongoing recovery from Hurricane Matthew, which passed to the east of Kennedy on Oct. 6 and 7, 2016. The center received some isolated roof damage, damaged support buildings, a few downed power lines, and limited water intrusion. Beach erosion also occurred, although the storm surge was less than expected.
A baby eagle perches in a nest in a tree along State Road 3 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The center shares a border with the 140,000-acre Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. More than 330 native and migratory bird species, 25 mammals, 117 fishes and 65 amphibians and reptiles call Kennedy and the wildlife refuge home.
The mission insignia of NOAA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-U (GOES-U) mission is pictured in front of the satellite in a vertical position on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024, at the Astrotech Space Operations Facility near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Part of a collaborative NOAA and NASA program, GOES-U is the fourth in a series of four advanced geostationary weather satellites. Data from the GOES satellite constellation – consisting of the GOES-R, GOES-S, GOES-T and GOES-U spacecraft – enables forecasters to predict, observe, and track local weather events that affect public safety like thunderstorms, hurricanes, and wildfires.
Inside the Launch Abort System Facility (LASF) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers are preparing to integrate a test version of the Orion crew module with the Launch Abort System (LAS) on March 13, 2019. The test vehicle and the LAS will be used for the Orion Ascent Abort-2 (AA-2) Flight Test. AA-2 is a full-stress test of the LAS, scheduled for spring 2019. AA-2 will launch from Space Launch Complex 46, carrying a fully functional LAS and a 22,000-pound Orion test vehicle to an altitude of 31,000 feet and traveling at more than 1,000 miles an hour. The test will verify the LAS can steer the crew module and astronauts aboard to safety in the event of an issue with the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket when the spacecraft is under the highest aerodynamic loads it will experience during a rapid climb into space. NASA's Orion and Exploration Ground Systems programs and contractors from Jacob's and Northrop Grumman in conjunction with the Air Force Space and Missile Center's Launch Operations branch are performing flight operations for AA-2.
The United Launch Alliance Atlas V payload fairing, containing the Solar Orbiter spacecraft, is moved into the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Jan. 31, 2020. The payload fairing will be lowered and mated to the Atlas V rocket. Solar Orbiter is an international cooperative mission between ESA (European Space Agency) and NASA. The mission aims to study the Sun, its outer atmosphere and solar wind. The spacecraft will provide the first images of the Sun’s poles. NASA’s Launch Services Program based at Kennedy is managing the launch. The spacecraft has been developed by Airbus Defence and Space. Solar Orbiter will launch in February 2020 aboard the Atlas V rocket.
Students from San Diego State College prepare their robotic miner for its second turn to dig in the mining arena during NASA’s LUNABOTICS competition on May 27, 2022, at the Center for Space Education near the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. More than 35 teams from around the U.S. have designed and built remote-controlled robots for the mining competition. Teams used their autonomous or remote-controlled robots to maneuver and dig in a supersized sandbox filled with lunar simulant and rocks. The objective of the challenge is to see which team’s robot can collect and deposit the most rocky regolith within a specified amount of time.
A view from above in the Vertical Integration Facility near Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The first stage of a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy is being prepared to be lifted to vertical in the facility. The Delta IV Heavy will launch NASA's upcoming Parker Solar Probe mission in July 2018. The mission will perform the closest-ever observations of a star when it travels through the Sun's atmosphere, called the corona. The probe will rely on measurements and imaging to revolutionize our understanding of the corona and the Sun-Earth connection.
NASA Communications’ Jasmine Hopkins, left, interviews Kennedy Space Center Life Sciences Plant Scientist Gioia Massa on the Florida spaceport’s Operations and Support Building II balcony during the launch broadcast for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 mission on April 23, 2021. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft lifted off from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A at 5:49 a.m. EDT. Part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, Crew-2 delivered NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Thomas Pesquet to the International Space Station for a six-month science mission.
Technicians are shown at NASA’s Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida in Florida on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026, with one of two side flame deflectors that will be used to support NASA’s Artemis II launch. Each side flame deflector has two pillar-like extensible columns which are jacked into place to help support mobile launcher 1 when the vehicle is being fueled. During liftoff, the flame deflectors help contain the plume of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket down into the flame trench.
A full rainbow is in view over the Launch Complex 39B area at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 12, 2022. The Artemis I Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft atop the mobile launcher were moved to Pad 39B atop the crawler-transport 2 for a prelaunch test called a wet dress rehearsal. Artemis I will be the first integrated test of the SLS and Orion spacecraft. In later missions, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone on the way to Mars.
Seen here is the “Launch America” banner for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program (CCP) on the iconic Vehicle Assembly Building at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 28, 2021. NASA and SpaceX are preparing for Crew-3 – the third crew rotation flight to the International Space Station for CCP – and part of that includes conducting a dress rehearsal ahead of launch. On Oct. 28, NASA’s SpaceX Crew-3 astronauts and launch teams rehearsed countdown operations, concluding with the Go/No-Go poll for Falcon-9 fueling. The Crew-3 mission will carry NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn, and Kayla Barron, as well as ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Matthias Maurer to the space station for a six-month stay. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft are scheduled to lift off from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A no earlier than Nov. 6 at 11:36 p.m. EDT.
A memorial wreath placed in the Apollo-Saturn V Center of the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex on Wednesday, May 30, 2018, honors former NASA astronaut Alan Bean. He was the fourth person to walk on the Moon as lunar module pilot on Apollo 12 in November 1969. He went on to command the 59-day Skylab 3 mission in 1973. He died in Houston on May 26, 2018, at the age of 86.
Kennedy Space Center employees and guests cross the finish line during the Florida spaceport’s annual KSC Walk Run on March 26, 2019. Part of Kennedy’s Safety and Health Days, the event takes place at the Shuttle Landing Facility runway and offers participants the chance to partake in a two-mile walk or run, a 5K or a 10K.
During sunrise on Oct. 20, 2020, the mobile launcher for the Artemis I mission, atop crawler-transporter 2, arrives at the ramp leading up to Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The nearly 400-foot-tall mobile launcher will remain at the pad for two weeks, while engineers with Exploration Ground Systems and Jacobs will perform several tasks, including a timing test to validate the launch team’s countdown timeline, and a thorough, top-to-bottom wash down of the mobile launcher to remove any debris remaining from construction and installation of the umbilical arms. Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon in 2024.
Technicians ready two NASA Space Launch System (SLS) solid rocket boosters for mating to the rocket’s two aft skirts on June 19, 2020, inside Kennedy Space Center’s Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility. Together, the twin boosters provide more than 75 percent of the total SLS thrust at launch. Manufactured by Northrop Grumman in Promontory, Utah, the boosters arrived at Kennedy via train. The cross-country journey was an important milestone for the agency’s Artemis I launch. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system prior to crewed missions to the Moon. Once the boosters are mated with the aft skirts, they will be moved to the Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking on the mobile launcher.
The control panel that will direct and control the flow of liquid oxygen, referred to as a skid, is photographed at Launch Pad 39B on Nov. 8, 2019, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The agency’s Exploration Ground Systems oversaw testing of the pad’s cryogenic systems – the infrastructure that will support the flow of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen from the storage tanks, located near the pad, to the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket – in preparation for the launch of SLS with the Orion spacecraft atop for the uncrewed Artemis I mission. Each of the liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen tanks can hold more than 800,000 gallons of propellant. The liquid oxygen will require the use of pumps to push it from the tank to the rocket, while the lighter liquid hydrogen will make its way up to the pad using gaseous hydrogen to pressurize the sphere.
Inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Lockheed Martin technicians are preparing the Orion crew module adapter (CMA) for Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1) for the move into a clean room. The CMA will undergo propellant and environmental control and life support system tube installation and welding. The adapter will connect the Orion crew module to the European Space Agency-provided service module. The Orion spacecraft will launch atop NASA’s Space Launch System rocket on EM-1, its first deep space mission, in late 2018.
NASA's Parker Solar Probe, secured in its shipping container, arrives at the Astrotech processing facility near the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The spacecraft arrived aboard a U.S. Air Force C-5 transport aircraft at Space Coast Regional Airport in Titusville, Florida. The Parker Solar Probe will launch on a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida in July 2018. The mission will perform the closest-ever observations of a star when it travels through the Sun's atmosphere, called the corona. The probe will rely on measurements and imaging to revolutionize our understanding of the corona and the Sun-Earth connection.
Inside the Launch Abort System Facility (LASF) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Launch Abort System (LAS) for the Orion spacecraft that will launch on Artemis I, the first of the Artemis series, awaits final processing with the spacecraft. The LAS was processed and prepared inside the LASF. During crewed launches of the Orion spacecraft atop the Space Launch System rocket, the LAS will protect the crew module and astronauts aboard to safety if an emergency occurs during launch.
NASA’s PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) spacecraft encapsulated inside SpaceX’s Falcon 9 payload fairings is transported from the Astrotech Space Operations Facility near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024, to be mated with a SpaceX Falcon 9 in preparation for liftoff set for no earlier than 1:33 a.m. EST on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. PACE is NASA’s newest earth-observing satellite that will help increase our understanding of Earth’s oceans, atmosphere, and climate by delivering hyperspectral observations of microscopic marine organisms called phytoplankton as well new data on clouds and aerosols.
A bald eagle approaches the liquid hydrogen storage tank at Launch Pad 39B on Nov. 8, 2019, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Kennedy shares a border with the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, consisting of 144,000 acres of land, water and marshes. Many species of birds, reptiles, fish, amphibians and mammals can be found within the refuge.
A United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy second stage, packaged in its shipping container, arrives at the Horizontal Integration Facility at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station for preflight processing. The Delta IV Heavy will launch NASA's upcoming Parker Solar Probe mission. The mission will perform the closest-ever observations of a star when it travels through the Sun's atmosphere, called the corona. The probe will rely on measurements and imaging to revolutionize our understanding of the corona and the Sun-Earth connection. Liftoff atop the Delta IV Heavy rocket is scheduled to take place from Cape Canaveral's Space Launch Complex 37 in summer 2018.
The Orbital ATK OA-7 Cygnus spacecraft's pressurized cargo module (PCM) arrives at the Space Station Processing Facility of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The PCM is sealed in an environmentally controlled shipping container, pulled in by truck on a low-boy flatbed trailer. Scheduled to launch in March 2017, the Orbital ATK OA-7 mission will lift off atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station will deliver thousands of pounds of supplies, equipment and scientific research materials that improve life on Earth and drive progress toward future space exploration.
Crowds of spectators watch from Jetty Park in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on July 2, 2019, as a Northrop Grumman provided booster launches from Launch Pad 46 carrying, a fully functional Launch Abort System with a test version of Orion attached for NASA’s Ascent Abort-2 (AA-2). Launch time was 7 a.m. EDT. During AA-2, the booster will send the LAS and Orion to an altitude of 31,000 feet, traveling at Mach 1.15 (more than 1,000 mph). The LAS’ three motors will work together to pull the crew module away from the booster and prepare it for splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean. The flight test will prove that the abort system can pull crew to safety in the unlikely event of an emergency during ascent.
A close-up view of NASA’s C-130 aircraft that carries the Adaptive Caching Assembly (ACA) for NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover as it arrives at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch and Landing Facility in Florida on May 11, 2020. The ACA consists of seven motors and more than 3,000 parts, all working in unison to collect samples from the surface of Mars. A chief component of the assembly is the Sample Handling Arm, which will move sample tubes to the main robotic arm's coring drill and then transfer the filled sample tubes into a space to be sealed and stored. The Mars Perseverance rover is scheduled to launch in mid-July atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket from Pad 41 at nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The rover is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. The rover will search for habitable conditions in the ancient past and signs of past microbial life on Mars. The Launch Services Program at Kennedy is responsible for launch management.
NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory 3, or OCO-3, payload container is moved from the Space Station Processing Facility high bay at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to a truck that will transport it to the SpaceX facility on March 18, 2019. The OCO-3 payload will be stowed in the trunk of SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, where it will launch aboard a Falcon 9 rocket on the company’s 17th Commercial Resupply Services mission to the International Space Station. Launch is scheduled for April 25, 2019, from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Once the payload reaches the station, it will be removed from Dragon and robotically installed on the exterior of the orbiting laboratory’s Japanese Experiment Module Exposed Facility Unit, where it will measure and map carbon dioxide from space to provide further understanding of the relationship between carbon and climate.
NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) observatory spacecraft is uncrated for prelaunch processing at the Astrotech Space Operations Facility near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023. The PACE observatory will help us better understand how the ocean and atmosphere exchange carbon dioxide, measure key atmospheric variables associated with air quality and Earth's climate, and monitor ocean health, in part by studying phytoplankton, tiny plants and algae that sustain the marine food web. PACE will be encapsulated for launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket is moved from the Vertical Integration Facility to the launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 41. A Cygnus spacecraft is scheduled to deliver 7,700 pounds of supplies and research experiments on the Orbital ATK CRS-6 mission to the International Space Station.
NASA’s crawler-transporter 2 carrying the agency’s Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft, secured to the mobile launcher, begins the 4.2-mile journey toward Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. The Artemis II test flight will take Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialist Christina Koch from NASA, and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen from the CSA (Canadian Space Agency), around the Moon and back to Earth no later than April 2026.
At the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, solid rocket boosters (SRBs) have been mated to a United Launch Alliance Atlas V first stage. The SRBs will be help boost NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, or GOES-S, to orbit. GOES-S is the second in a series of four advanced geostationary weather satellites that will significantly improve the detection and observation of environmental phenomena that directly affect public safety, protection of property and the nation's economic health and prosperity. GOES-S is slated to launch March 1, 2018.
The United Launch Alliance Atlas V Centaur second stage is lifted up by crane for transfer into Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-R) will launch aboard the Atlas V rocket in November. GOES-R is the first satellite in a series of next-generation NOAA GOES Satellites.
NASA Kennedy Space Center’s unrivaled dedication to the environment is highlighted through a variety of environmental programs and projects. Through a partnership with Jacobs Technology, Inc., teams have constructed a bio-filter – made of layered rock, soil, and native plants – as an eco-friendly way to filter zinc out of rainwater runoff. Photographed on Sept. 29, 2020, at the Florida spaceport’s Launch Complex 39 observation tower, the bio-filter catches water that runs off of this location’s galvanized roof, which contains a coating of zinc to help protect the metal from rust or corrosion. The plants in the bio-filter bind to the zinc so that when the water comes out of the bottom, it’s clean and safe to go into the Indian River Lagoon – its waterline located about 20 to 30 feet away.
The engine service platform has been lowered and removed from the mobile launcher for Artemis I at Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 23, 2020. It is being moved from the pad. The nearly 400-foot-tall mobile launcher is at the pad while engineers with Exploration Ground Systems and Jacobs complete several tasks, including a timing test to validate the launch team’s countdown timeline, and a thorough, top-to-bottom wash down of the mobile launcher to remove any debris remaining from construction and installation of the umbilical arms. Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon in 2024.
The walkway portion of the Crew Access Arm is seen prior to a deluge systems test March 23 at a construction yard near NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The arm is being tested before being installed on Space Launch Complex 41 Crew Access Tower later this year. It will be used as a bridge by astronauts to board Boeing's CST-100 Starliner spacecraft as it stands on the launch pad atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.
Seen on Oct. 27, 2020, is the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) with a vibrant NASA logo, referred to as the meatball, and American Flag at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. HM2 and H.I.S. Painting of Titusville, Florida, began repainting the meatball and flag on the iconic facility in May and recently completed the project. The VAB was last painted in 2007, when repairs where completed after Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne tore 845 panels off the building in 2004. It took over 500 gallons of paint to repaint the 209’ X 110’ flag and the 110’ X 132’ meatball.
Artemis I Launch Director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson monitors operations from her position in Firing Room 1 as Artemis teams conduct a launch simulation for the Artemis I mission inside the Rocco A. Petrone Launch Control Center at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 27, 2022. Artemis I will be the first integrated test of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft. The primary goal of Artemis I is to thoroughly test the integrated systems before crewed missions by launching Orion atop the SLS rocket, operating the spacecraft in a deep space environment, testing Orion’s heat shield, and recovering the crew module after reentry, descent, and splashdown. During the flight, Orion will launch atop the most powerful rocket in the world and fly farther than any human-rated spacecraft has ever flown, paving the way for human deep space exploration and demonstrating our commitment and capability to extend human presence to the Moon and beyond.
An American bald eagle occupies a nest near Kennedy Parkway North at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Feb. 8, 2023. Each year, eagles take up winter residence at the Florida spaceport, breeding and raising a new generation. The center shares a boundary with the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, home to more than 1,500 species of plants and animals, and 15 federally listed species.
The Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM), used during the Space Shuttle Program to transfer cargo to and from the International Space Station, is moved by crane inside the Space Station Processing Facility high bay at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 20, 2023. The MPLM is being prepared for transport to Ellington Field in Houston, where it will then be transported by road to Axiom’s facility near Ellington to be utilized to further commercialization of space. Three MPLMs were built by Thales Alenia Space Italia (TASI) for the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and named after Italian masters (Leonardo, Raffaello, and Donatello). Only two ever flew to the space station, Leonardo and Raffaello, with Axiom intending to use Raffaello as a future element that will attach to a segment being built by the company for addition to the space station.
A United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy second stage, packaged in its shipping container, arrives at the Horizontal Integration Facility at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station for preflight processing. The Delta IV Heavy will launch NASA's upcoming Parker Solar Probe mission. The mission will perform the closest-ever observations of a star when it travels through the Sun's atmosphere, called the corona. The probe will rely on measurements and imaging to revolutionize our understanding of the corona and the Sun-Earth connection. Liftoff atop the Delta IV Heavy rocket is scheduled to take place from Cape Canaveral's Space Launch Complex 37 in summer 2018.
A view of the Artemis I Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion spacecraft on Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 21, 2022. Also in view are two of three lightning protection towers. The SLS and Orion atop the mobile launcher were transported to the pad on crawler-transporter 2 for a prelaunch test called a wet dress rehearsal. Artemis I will be the first integrated test of the SLS and Orion spacecraft. In future Artemis missions, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone on the way to Mars.
The engine service platform is moved into position beneath the mobile launcher for Artemis I at Launch Pad 39B on Oct. 23, 2020, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The service platform allows access to the RS-25 engines on the Space Launch System core stage for routine work or inspections. The nearly 400-foot-tall mobile launcher will remain at the pad while engineers with Exploration Ground Systems and Jacobs will complete several tasks, including a timing test to validate the launch team’s countdown timeline, and a thorough, top-to-bottom wash down of the mobile launcher to remove any debris remaining from construction and installation of the umbilical arms. Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon in 2024.
A Florida Scrub-Jay perches on the back of a white-tailed deer in the woods at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 15, 2021. The Florida Scrub-Jay is one of the species of scrub-jay native to North America. The center shares a border with the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. More than 330 native and migratory bird species, along with 25 mammal, 117 fish, and 65 amphibian and reptile species call Kennedy and the wildlife refuge home.
A baby American bald eagle is perched high in a tree above its nest at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 26, 2023. The nest is located off Kennedy Parkway, about two miles from the Vehicle Assembly Building. The eagle is from a mated pair that recently built a new home in this tree after storms badly damaged their original nest located about 50 yards away. That nest was built in 1973 and had been used by eagles almost every year since 1975. Kennedy currently is home to approximately 20 nesting pairs of bald eagles.
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket arrives at the launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 41. A Cygnus spacecraft is scheduled to deliver 7,700 pounds of supplies and research experiments on the Orbital ATK CRS-6 mission to the International Space Station.
Jacobs TOSC workers prepare for the lift of the engine service platform that will provide access to the core stage of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket on the mobile launcher (ML) in High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 18, 2019. The large work platform is designed to provide unrestricted access to the RS-25 engines on the SLS core stage from the ML. The service platform will be used for Artemis 1 and subsequent missions. For Artemis 1, the Orion spacecraft will launch atop the SLS rocket from Launch Pad 39B and begin an approximately three-week mission that will send Orion thousands of miles beyond the Moon. Exploration Ground Systems is overseeing work on the ML.
The first stage of a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket is prepared to be lifted vertical at the Vertical Integration Facility near Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The Delta IV Heavy will launch NASA's upcoming Parker Solar Probe mission in July 2018. The mission will perform the closest-ever observations of a star when it travels through the Sun's atmosphere, called the corona. The probe will rely on measurements and imaging to revolutionize our understanding of the corona and the Sun-Earth connection.
On Friday, Jan. 5, 2024, United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket carrying Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander is rolled out of the Vertical Integration Facility to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida in advance of a planned lift off at 2:18 a.m. EST Monday, Jan. 8, 2024. Astrobotic’s Peregrine Mission One will carry NASA and commercial payloads to the Moon to study the lunar exosphere, thermal properties, and hydrogen abundance of the lunar regolith, magnetic fields, and the radiation environment of the lunar surface.
An aerial view of nearby Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida on Jan. 13, 2021. In view is a full-scale mockup of the space shuttle’s external tank and twin solid rocket boosters serving as the entranceway to the Space Shuttle Atlantis attraction. Inside, visitor complex guests have the opportunity to come nose-to-nose with the orbiter in its permanent home while also discovering the legacy of NASA’s Space Shuttle Program.
Painting of the U.S. flag continues on the 525-foot-tall Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) in this close-up view at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sept. 17, 2020. HM2 and H.I.S. Painting of Titusville, Florida, are repainting the American Flag on the iconic building. The flag is 209 feet long by 110 feet wide. Each star is more than six feet in diameter, and each stripe is nine feet wide. Exploration Ground Systems is overseeing upgrades to the VAB to support the launch of the Space Launch System and Orion for Artemis missions. Under the Artemis program, NASA will send the first woman and next man to the Moon.
Inside the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, United Launch Alliance (ULA) workers watch as the second of four solid rocket boosters (SRB) for the ULA Atlas V 541 rocket is lowered by crane into position on June 3, 2020. The SRB will be mated to the Atlas V booster. NASA’s Mars 2020 mission with the Perseverance rover is scheduled to launch on July 20, 2020, atop the Atlas V rocket from Pad 41. The rover is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. The rover’s seven instruments will search for habitable conditions in the ancient past and signs of past microbial life on Mars. The Launch Services Program at Kennedy is responsible for launch management.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman (center) poses for a selfie with a NASA employee during his visit to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. Isaacman, NASA’s 15th administrator, began visiting the agency’s centers after his appointment on Dec. 17, 2025, to hear from employees, contractors, and partners.
After completing its journey from NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans aboard the Pegasus barge, teams with Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) transport the agency’s powerful SLS (Space Launch System) core stage to Kennedy Space Center’s Vehicle Assembly Building in Florida on Wednesday, July 24, 2024. Once inside, SLS will be prepared for integration atop the mobile launcher ahead of the Artemis II launch.
Mike Guzman, main propulsion systems engineer participates in an Artemis II launch countdown simulation inside Firing Room 1 in the Launch Control Center at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025. The simulations go through launch day scenarios to help launch team members test software and make adjustments if needed during countdown operations. For Artemis II, four astronauts will venture around the Moon, the first crewed mission on NASA’s path to establishing a long-term presence for science and exploration through Artemis.
Teams at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida practice the Artemis mission emergency escape or egress procedures during a series of integrated system verification and validation tests at Launch Complex 39B on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024. Members of the closeout crew, pad rescue team, and the Exploration Ground Systems Program practiced the process of getting in and out of the emergency egress baskets then down to the launch pad where they would be transported to emergency transport vehicles and driven to safety. Prior to this test and throughout the course of several months, teams conducted basket release demonstrations to validate the system.
A view of the entrance to SpaceX’s Roberts Road off of State Road 3 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 21, 2023. The company wishes to extend the road to allow for expansion of its current facilities. An environmental impact study is underway to investigate the feasibility of the campus expansion.
The last of three motors required to assemble the Launch Abort System for NASA’s Artemis II mission, the attitude control motor (ACM), arrives at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on August 28. The attitude control motor (ACM) was delivered by truck from Northrop Grumman’s manufacturing facility in Maryland, to the Launch Abort System Facility (LASF) at Kennedy. During launch of Orion atop the agency’s Space Launch System rocket, the LAS motors work together to separate the spacecraft from the rocket in the unlikely event of an emergency during launch. The LAS includes three motors – the launch abort motor, the jettison motor, and the attitude control motor—that once activated, will steer the spacecraft carrying the astronauts to safety. The ACM operates to keep Orion’s crew module on a controlled flight path in the event it needs to jettison and steer away from the rocket. Artemis II is the first crewed flight in a series of increasingly complex missions to the Moon that will lay the foundation for exploration of Mars and beyond. Artemis II will confirm all of the Orion spacecraft’s systems operate as designed in the actual environment of deep space with astronauts aboard. As part of the Artemis program, NASA will send the first woman and next man to the Moon in 2024.
The crew and service module for Artemis I continue preparations for mating inside the Operations and Checkout (O&C) Building High Bay at Kennedy Space Center on March 21, 2019. Alongside, the pressure vessel for Artemis II is undergoing install of its secondary structure.
Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus pressurized cargo module for the company’s 20th commercial resupply mission arrives in its environmentally controlled shipping container inside the high bay in the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Aug. 2, 2023. Cygnus will launch later this year atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 to the International Space Station. Cygnus will undergo prelaunch processing at Kennedy before it is transported to SpaceX’s integration facility.
The United Launch Alliance Atlas V booster that will launch the Solar Orbiter spacecraft is transported by truck from Port Canaveral to the Atlas Spaceflight Operations Center at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Nov. 21, 2019. The company’s Rocketship vessel carried the booster from its manufacturing facility in Decatur, Alabama, to the port. Solar Orbiter is a European Space Agency mission with strong NASA participation. The mission aims to study the Sun, its outer atmosphere and solar winds. The spacecraft will provide the first images of the Sun’s poles. NASA’s Launch Services Program based at Kennedy is managing the launch. Liftoff is scheduled for Feb. 5, 2020, from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station aboard the ULA Atlas V rocket.
Jakebia Keith, program and contract analyst for the IT Resources Management Office and secretary for the Black Employee Strategy Team (BEST), one of the center’s employee resource groups, stands during recognition at the Black History Month celebration on Feb. 18, 2020, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The program was organized by BEST. This year’s theme was “African Americans and the Vote.” James Jennings, former NASA associate administrator for Institutions and Management and former Kennedy Space Center deputy director, was keynote speaker at the event.
Crews transport NOAA’s (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-U) from the Astrotech Space Operations facility to the SpaceX hangar at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida beginning on Friday, June 14, 2024, with the operation finishing early Saturday, June 15, 2024. The fourth and final weather-observing and environmental monitoring satellite in NOAA’s GOES-R Series will assist meteorologists in providing advanced weather forecasting and warning capabilities. The two-hour window for liftoff opens 5:16 p.m. EDT Tuesday, June 25, aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman (right) and leadership from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida prepare to board NASA Airbus H135 (T3) helicopters for an aerial tour of the spaceport during the administrator’s visit on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. Participants on the helicopter tour include, from left, Kennedy Space Center Deputy Director Kelvin Manning; Kennedy Space Center Director Janet Petro; Todd Ericson, senior advisor to the NASA administrator; Kennedy Space Center Chief of Staff Trey Carlson; John Graves, NASA senior project manager, and Isaacman. Isaacman, NASA’s 15th administrator, began visiting the agency’s centers after his appointment on Dec. 17, 2025, to meet with employees, contractors, and partners.
From NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Press Site lawn near the iconic countdown clock, storm clouds can be seen rolling in over the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) on July 28, 2020. Standing at 525 feet tall, this facility is capable of hosting multiple varieties of rockets and spacecraft at the same time. Currently, the VAB is being utilized to process and assemble the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket for Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond to Mars. Artemis I – the first launch under the agency’s Artemis Program – will test SLS and Orion as an integrated system prior to crewed flights to the Moon.
Pelicans perch on the support beams of an embankment on a waterway at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Jan. 11, 2021. The center shares a border with the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. More than 330 native and migratory bird species, along with 25 mammal, 117 fish, and 65 amphibian and reptile species call Kennedy and the wildlife refuge home.
NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket that launched Artemis I on a mission around the Moon and back becomes a “rocket engine fireplace” back drop video on the historic countdown clock at the NASA News Center at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. The fireplace showcases the SLS rocket’s four RS-25 engines and a pair of solid rocket boosters.
Inside the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, peppers are harvested on Jan. 15, 2020, for a growth assessment in preparation for sending them to space. As NASA prepares to send humans beyond low-Earth orbit, the ability for astronauts to grow a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables in space will be critical. Fresh produce will be an essential supplement to the crew’s pre-packaged diet during long-duration space exploration when they are away from Earth for extended periods of time.
In preparation for the Artemis I flight test, teams at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida prepare the Matroshka AstroRad Radiation Experiment (MARE) investigation on Aug. 5, 2022. MARE will fly on Artemis I and features two manikins, called phantoms – Helga and Zohar – equipped with radiation detectors to determine the radiation risk on its way to the Moon. The phantoms will be seated as passengers in the Orion crew module, with Zohar also wearing the experimental AstroRad radiation protection vest. The MARE experiment is part of an agreement between NASA, the Israel Space Agency, and the German Aerospace Center. Artemis I will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration and demonstrate NASA’s capability to extend human presence to the Moon and beyond. The primary goal of Artemis I is to thoroughly test the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft’s integrated systems before crewed missions. Under Artemis, NASA aims to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon and establish sustainable lunar exploration.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman (center left) and Kennedy Space Center Director Janet Petro (center right) prepare to board NASA Airbus H135 (T3) helicopters during the administrator’s visit to the agency’s Florida spaceport on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. Isaacman, NASA’s 15th administrator, began visiting the agency’s centers after his appointment on Dec. 17, 2025, to meet with employees, contractors, and partners.
Christina Khodada, a research scientist working with the Exploration Research and Technology Programs, prepares containers Feb. 11, 2021, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE). The containers, carrying sets of seeds, will fly aboard Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft as part of NG-15, a NASA commercial resupply mission to the orbiting laboratory targeted for Feb. 20, 2021. They will be placed in the MISSE testing facility, located near the space station’s solar arrays, where they will be exposed to the extreme environment of space for six months before returning to Earth for further study.
The Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM), used during the Space Shuttle Program to transfer cargo to and from the International Space Station, is loaded into NASA's Super Guppy aircraft at the Launch and Landing Facility runway at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 25, 2023. The MPLM will be transported to Ellington Field in Houston, where it will then be transported by road to Axiom’s facility near Ellington to be utilized to further commercialization of space. Three MPLMs were built by Thales Alenia Space Italia (TASI) for the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and named after Italian masters (Leonardo, Raffaello, and Donatello). Only two ever flew to the space station, Leonardo and Raffaello, with Axiom intending to use the Raffaello module as a future element that will attach to a segment being built by the company for addition to the station.
The engine service platform that will provide access to the core stage of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket is moved beneath the mobile launcher (ML) in High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 14, 2019. The large work platform is designed to provide unrestricted access to the RS-25 engines on the SLS core stage from the ML. The service platform will be used for Artemis 1 and subsequent missions. For Artemis 1, the Orion spacecraft will launch atop the SLS rocket from Launch Pad 39B and begin an approximately three-week mission that will send Orion thousands of miles beyond the Moon. Exploration Ground Systems is overseeing work on the ML.
A lifting device raises the third of four solid rocket boosters (SRB) for the United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket into the vertical position at the Vertical Integration Facility (VIF) at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) in Florida on June 8, 2020. The SRB will be lifted up and mated to the Atlas V booster in the VIF. NASA’s Mars 2020 mission with the Perseverance rover is scheduled to launch on July 20, 2020, atop the Atlas V rocket from Pad 41. The rover is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. The rover’s seven instruments will search for habitable conditions in the ancient past and signs of past microbial life on Mars. The Launch Services Program at Kennedy is responsible for launch management.
An aerial view of the iconic Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Jan. 13, 2021. The High Bay 3 in the VAB is where NASA’s Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft will be stacked on top of the mobile launcher before it is rolled out atop crawler-transporter 2 to Launch Pad 39B for launch on the agency’s Artemis I mission.
The Moon rises behind NASA’s Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft atop a mobile launcher at Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sunday, Feb. 1,. 2026. The Artemis II test flight will take Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialist Christina Koch from NASA, and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen from the CSA (Canadian Space Agency), around the Moon and back to Earth.
A view of Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 23, 2020. The mobile launcher for Artemis I is at the pad. The nearly 400-foot-tall mobile launcher is at the pad while engineers with Exploration Ground Systems and Jacobs complete several tasks, including a timing test to validate the launch team’s countdown timeline, and a thorough, top-to-bottom wash down of the mobile launcher to remove any debris remaining from construction and installation of the umbilical arms. Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon in 2024.
In this view from above inside the Launch Abort System Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Launch Abort System (LAS) for the Orion spacecraft that will launch on Artemis I, the first uncrewed mission of the Artemis series, awaits final processing with the spacecraft. The LAS was processed and prepared inside the LASF. During crewed launches of the Orion spacecraft atop the Space Launch System rocket, the LAS will protect the crew module and astronauts aboard to safety if an emergency occurs during launch.
After completing its journey from NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans aboard the Pegasus barge, teams with Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) transport the agency’s powerful SLS (Space Launch System) core stage into the transfer aisle inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, July 24, 2024. In the coming months, SLS will be prepared for integration atop the mobile launcher ahead of the Artemis II launch.
Technicians monitor movement and guide NOAA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-U (GOES-U) as a crane hoists it on to a spacecraft dolly in a high bay at the Astrotech Space Operations Facility near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Part of a collaborative NOAA and NASA program, GOES-U is the fourth in a series of four advanced geostationary weather satellites. Data from the GOES satellite constellation – consisting of the GOES-R, GOES-S, GOES-T and GOES-U spacecraft – enables forecasters to predict, observe, and track local weather events that affect public safety like thunderstorms, hurricanes, and wildfires.
James Jennings, former NASA associate administrator for Institutions and Management and former Kennedy Space Center deputy director, was the keynote speaker at the center’s Black History Month celebration on Feb. 18, 2020. The program was organized by the Black Employee Strategy Team (BEST), one of the center’s employee resource groups. This year’s theme was “African Americans and the Vote.” Jennings shared advice with workers and managers.
The Orion crew module for Artemis 1 is lifted by crane on July 16, 2019, in the high bay inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew module is being moved to the final assembly and test cell and work will begin to secure it atop the service module. The Orion spacecraft is being prepared for its uncrewed test flight atop NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. Artemis 1 is the first test flight of the SLS and Orion spacecraft as an integrated system. Orion will travel thousands of miles beyond the Moon during a mission that will test its systems in space. The spacecraft will return to Earth and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean where it will be retrieved and transported back to Kennedy.
Participants riding a tandem bicycle take part in Kennedy Space Center’s annual Tour de KSC. The bicycle tour took place March 30, giving Kennedy employees and guests the opportunity to choose from three different routes that ranged from seven to 33 miles along some of the Florida spaceport’s most notable facilities such as the Vehicle Assembly Building, the Shuttle Landing Facility and historic Launch Pad 39A, among others.
The mobile launcher for NASA’s Artemis missions rolls out of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sept. 10, 2019, after spending a week and a half inside due to the approach of Hurricane Dorian. The nearly 400-foot-tall structure was moved from Launch Pad 39B to the VAB for safekeeping on Aug. 30. The storm passed about 70 miles east of the spaceport during the overnight hours Tuesday, Sept. 3, and Wednesday, Sept. 4. NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems is moving the mobile launcher back to the launch pad, where teams will complete testing and checkout on the launcher in the coming weeks for the Artemis I mission.
NASA’s Pegasus barge, carrying the agency’s massive SLS (Space Launch System) core stage, arrives at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Complex 39 turn basin wharf in Florida on Tuesday, July 23, 2024, after journeying from the agency’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The core stage is the next piece of Artemis hardware to arrive at the spaceport and will be offloaded and moved to NASA Kennedy’s Vehicle Assembly Building, where it will be prepared for integration ahead of the Artemis II launch.
A sunrise view from the observation deck of the Operations and Support Building II at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, as a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket awaits launch from Launch Complex 39A. It is the company's 10th commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station. The Dragon spacecraft will deliver about 5,500 pounds of supplies to the space station.
Inside the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Engineers and technicians use a crane to lift the Orbital ATK OA-7 Cygnus spacecraft's service module from its shipping container. Scheduled to launch on March 19, 2017, the Orbital ATK OA-7 mission will lift off atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station will deliver thousands of pounds of supplies, equipment and scientific research materials that improve life on Earth and drive progress toward future space exploration.
The booster of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket that will launch the Solar Orbiter spacecraft is lifted into the vertical position at the Vertical Integration Facility near Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Jan. 6, 2020. Solar Orbiter is an international cooperative mission between ESA (European Space Agency) and NASA. The mission aims to study the Sun, its outer atmosphere and solar wind. The spacecraft will provide the first images of the Sun’s poles. NASA’s Launch Services Program based at Kennedy Space Center in Florida is managing the launch.
A baby alligator is in view in a waterway at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 9, 2023. The center shares a boundary with the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is home to more than 65 amphibian and reptile species, along with 330 native and migratory bird species, 25 mammal and 117 fish species.
Teams from Johnson Space Center, Exploration Ground Systems, and Jacobs TOSC conduct final inspections of Moonikin “Campos” on Nov. 9, 2021, inside the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Moonikin “Campos” will be installed into the Orion crew module. Technicians checked connectivity and performed fit checks on his flight suit to ensure he is ready for flight aboard the Artemis flight test. Artemis I will be an uncrewed test flight of the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System rocket as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon. Under Artemis, NASA aims to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon and establish sustainable lunar exploration.
A closeup view of NASA’s Orion spacecraft with the launch abort system atop secured to NASA’s crawler-transporter 2 and the agency’s Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket begins the 4.2-mile journey toward Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. The Artemis II test flight will take Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialist Christina Koch from NASA, and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen from the CSA (Canadian Space Agency), around the Moon and back to Earth no later than April 2026.
A section of the second half of the C-level platforms, C North, for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, arrives at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The platform was offloaded from a heavy lift transport truck and secured in a staging area in the west parking lot of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to VAB High Bay 3 to support processing of the SLS and Orion spacecraft. A total of 10 levels of new platforms, 20 platform halves altogether, will surround the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft and provide access for testing and processing.
High up in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane lowers the second half of the B-level work platforms, B north, for NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, for installation in High Bay 3. The B platform will be installed on the north side of high bay. In view below are eight levels of previously installed platforms. The B platforms are the ninth of 10 levels of work platforms that will surround and provide access to the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft for Exploration Mission 1. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to VAB High Bay 3, including installation of the new work platforms, to prepare for NASA’s Journey to Mars.
Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane is used to lift the Space Launch System (SLS) Core Stage pathfinder into the vertical position in the transfer aisle on Oct. 15, 2019. The 212-foot-long core stage pathfinder arrived on NASA's Pegasus Barge at Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39 turn basin wharf on Sept. 27, 2019. The Pegasus Barge made its first delivery to Kennedy in support of the agency's Artemis missions. The pathfinder is being used by Exploration Ground Systems and its contractor, Jacobs, to practice offloading, moving and stacking maneuvers, using important ground support equipment to train employees and certify all the equipment works properly. The pathfinder will stay at Kennedy through at least the month of October before trekking back to NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana.
A sunrise view of Launch Complex 46 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on July 1, 2019. A fully functional Launch Abort System (LAS) mated to a test version of the Orion spacecraft are on a Northrop Grumman provided booster on the pad for launch on NASA’s Ascent Abort-2 (AA-2) flight test on July 2, 2019. The vertical integration facility surrounding the test vehicle begins to roll back from the pad. During AA-2, the booster will send the LAS and Orion to an altitude of 31,000 feet, traveling at more than 1,000 mph. The LAS’ three motors will work together to pull the crew module away from the booster and prepare it for splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean. The flight test will prove that the abort system can pull crew to safety in the unlikely event of an emergency during ascent.
An American bald eagle is perched atop a pole on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, near Kennedy Parkway North, about two miles from the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. As of 2023, NASA’s Kennedy is home to 39 eagle territories with 33 of them active or potentially active between the months of September to March. NASA shares a boundary with the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, home to more than 1,500 species of plants and animals, and 15 federally listed species.
Sandhill cranes pose in front of the Central Campus Headquarters (CCHQ) Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Jan. 11, 2022. The CCHQ is a modernized, energy efficient facility representative of Kennedy’s transformation to America’s premier multi-user spaceport. It opened in May 2019. Built in 1965, the former headquarters building was recently demolished. The area previously occupied by the 439,000 square-foot-facility will be utilized as greenspace.
The Moon rises behind NASA’s Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft atop a mobile launcher at Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sunday, Feb. 1,. 2026. The Artemis II test flight will take Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialist Christina Koch from NASA, and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen from the CSA (Canadian Space Agency), around the Moon and back to Earth.
Inside the Booster Fabrication Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Artemis I aft skirts for the agency's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket’s twin solid rocket boosters are moved out of their test cells and are being readied for their move to the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility (RPSF) on June 9, 2020. The aft skirts were refurbished by Northrop Grumman. They house the thrust vector control system, which controls 70 percent of the steering during initial ascent of the SLS rocket. The segments will remain in the RPSF until ready for stacking with the forward and aft parts of the boosters on the mobile launcher in High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building. Through the Artemis Program, NASA is working to land the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024.
The Space Test Program-Houston 6 (STP-H6) payload is inside the Space Station Processing Facility high bay at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 19, 2019. It is being prepared for its move to the SpaceX facility where it will be will be stowed in the trunk of the Dragon spacecraft for delivery to the International Space Station on SpaceX’s 17th Commercial Resupply Services mission (CRS-17) for NASA. STP-H6 is an x-ray communication investigation that will be used to perform a space-based demonstration of a new technology for generating beams of modulated x-rays. This technology may be useful for providing efficient communication to deep space probes, or communicating with hypersonic vehicles where plasma sheaths prevent traditional radio communications. CRS-17 is scheduled to launch from Space Launch Complex 40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in late April.
Inside the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Engineers and technicians use a crane to lift the Orbital ATK OA-7 Cygnus spacecraft's service module from its shipping container. Scheduled to launch on March 19, 2017, the Orbital ATK OA-7 mission will lift off atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station will deliver thousands of pounds of supplies, equipment and scientific research materials that improve life on Earth and drive progress toward future space exploration.