CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA Associate Administrator Robert Lightfoot, center, tours the Thermal Protection System Facility, or TPSF, during a visit to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. From left are Kennedy Director Bob Cabana, Lightfoot, and Martin Boyd, TPSF manager with Jacobs Technologies, briefing his guests on the production of TPS tile for NASA's new Orion spacecraft. NASA's FY2014 budget proposal includes a plan to robotically capture a small near-Earth asteroid and redirect it safely to a stable orbit in the Earth-moon system where astronauts can visit and explore it. Performing these elements for the proposed asteroid initiative integrates the best of NASA's science, technology and human exploration capabilities and draws on the innovation of America's brightest scientists and engineers. It uses current and developing capabilities to find both large asteroids that pose a hazard to Earth and small asteroids that could be candidates for the initiative, accelerates our technology development activities in high-powered solar electric propulsion and takes advantage of our hard work on the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft, helping to keep NASA on target to reach the President's goal of sending humans to Mars in the 2030s. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, center director Bob Cabana congratulates Leandro James of Systems Hardware Engineering after the successful launch of a small rocket at Launch Pad 39A as part of Rocket University. The goal was to test its systems and to verify that it performed as designed. As part of Rocket University, the engineers are given an opportunity to work a fast-track project to develop skills in developing spacecraft systems of the future. As NASA plans for future spaceflight programs to low-Earth orbit and beyond, teams of engineers at Kennedy are gaining experience in designing and flying launch vehicle systems on a small scale. Four teams of five to eight members from Kennedy are designing rockets complete with avionics and recovery systems. Launch operations require coordination with federal agencies, just as they would with rockets launched in support of a NASA mission. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The NASA Railroad draw bridge over the Indian River begins to close for the train carrying the last space shuttle solid rocket booster segments to NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Six cars transported the segments along the Florida East Coast Railway, which began at the ATK solid rocket booster plant in Promontory, Utah. The booster segments will be used for shuttle Atlantis on what currently is planned as the 'launch on need,' or potential rescue mission for the final shuttle flight, Endeavour's STS-134 mission. For information, visit www.nasa.gov_shuttle. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside Orbiter Processing Facility-2 at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane is used to lift the Orbiter Boom Sensor System, or OBSS, from the payload bay of space shuttle Endeavour. The OBSS will be transported to the Vehicle Assembly Building for refurbishment. After refurbishment, the boom will be reinstalled in Endeavour for use during the STS-134 mission, currently targeted for launch in July. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex has added the name 'Atlantis' and American flag to the exterior of the 'Space Shuttle Atlantis' exhibit scheduled to open June 29, 2013. Last November, the space shuttle Atlantis made its historic final journey to its new home, traveling 10 miles from the Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building to the spaceport's visitor complex. The new $100 million Atlantis facility will be a 90,000-square-foot, interactive exhibit that tells the story of the 30-year Space Shuttle Program and highlights the future of space exploration. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In Launch Complex 39 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a worker installs the metal framing that will support the roof beams for the shop building of the Propellants North Administrative and Maintenance Facility. The facility will have a two-story administrative building to house managers, mechanics and technicians who fuel spacecraft at Kennedy adjacent to an 1,800-square-foot single-story shop to store cryogenic fuel transfer equipment. The new facility will feature high-efficiency roofs and walls, “Cool Dry Quiet” air conditioning with energy recovery technology, efficient lighting, and other sustainable features. The facility is striving to qualify for the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, Platinum certification. If successful, Propellants North will be the first Kennedy facility to achieve this highest of LEED ratings after it is completed in December 2010. The facility was designed for NASA by Jones Edmunds and Associates. H. W. Davis Construction is the construction contractor. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The Florida Cabinet reviews a resolution recognizing NASA Kennedy Space Center for its contributions to spaceflight and technological innovation during its meeting at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Fla., on Oct. 18. The Cabinet, seated, is made up of Adam Putnam, left, Agriculture commissioner, Jeff Atwater, chief financial officer, Florida Governor Rick Scott and Pam Bondi, attorney general. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Operations and Checkout Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, President Barack Obama addresses the participants of the Conference on the American Space Program for the 21st Century. In his remarks, he outlined the new course his administration is charting for NASA and the future of U.S. leadership in human spaceflight. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Inside Orbiter Processing Facility-2 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians position support equipment around space shuttle Atlantis in preparation for removal of the left orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pod. The work is part of the Space Shuttle Program’s transition and retirement processing of shuttle Atlantis. The OMS pods will be sent to White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico where they will undergo a complete deservicing and cleaning and then be returned to Kennedy for reinstallation on Atlantis. Atlantis is being prepared for display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - On Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the members of space shuttle Atlantis' STS-132 crew receive instruction on the operation of the pad's slidewire basket system during emergency exit training. In the blue flight suits, from left, are Pilot Tony Antonelli, Mission Specialists Steve Bowen and Michael Good, and Commander Ken Ham. The pad's escape system includes seven baskets suspended from seven slidewires that extend from the fixed service structure to a landing zone 1,200 feet west of the pad. The crew is participating in training in preparation for their Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test, or TCDT, a dress rehearsal for launch. TCDT provides each shuttle crew and launch team the opportunity to participate in various simulated countdown activities, including equipment familiarization and emergency procedures. On the STS-132 mission, the six-member crew will deliver an Integrated Cargo Carrier, or ICC, and the Russian-built Mini-Research Module-1, or MRM-1, to the International Space Station aboard space shuttle Atlantis. The ICC is an unpressurized flat bed pallet and keel yoke assembly used to support the transfer of exterior cargo from the shuttle to the space station. The MRM-1, known as Rassvet, is the second in a series of new pressurized components for Russia and will be permanently attached to the Earth-facing port of the Zarya control module. Rassvet, which translates to 'dawn,' will be used for cargo storage and will provide an additional docking port to the station. STS-132 is the 34th mission to the station and the 132nd shuttle mission overall. Atlantis is targeted to launch on May 14 at 2:19 p.m. For information on the STS-132 mission, visit http:__www.nasa.gov_mission_pages_shuttle_shuttlemissions_sts132_index.html. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At the Canister Rotation Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, preparations are under way to move payload canister #2 to the Reutilization, Recycling and Marketing Facility on Ransom Road. The two payload canisters used to transport space shuttle payloads to the launch pad for installation in the shuttles' cargo bays are being decommissioned following the end of the Space Shuttle Program. Each canister weighs 110,000 pounds and is 65 feet long, 22 feet wide, and 18 feet, 7 inches high. The canisters were prescreened through NASA Headquarters as possible artifacts, but their size makes them difficult to transport to locations off the center. Federal and state agencies now will be given the opportunity to screen the canisters for potential use before a final decision is made on their disposition. For more information, visit http:__www.nasa.gov_centers_kennedy_pdf_167403main_CRF-06.pdf. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In the Operations and Checkout Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, United Space Alliance EV_IV Integrated Operations work control specialist Jennifer Peterson, dressed in a flight-and-entry suit, stands in for an astronaut for a demonstration inside a mock-up of an Orion crew exploration vehicle. The mock-up details the interior components of the vehicle including seat layout and the subsystem components on the outside of the pressure vessel. Orion mock-ups also have been used to verify accessibility of the servicing locations at the launch pad and in the Vehicle Assembly Building. For information on the development of the Orion capsule, visit www.nasa.gov_orion. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Operations and Checkout Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, President Barack Obama addresses the participants of the Conference on the American Space Program for the 21st Century. Behind him, at left, is a mock-up of an Orion capsule. In his remarks, President Obama outlined the new course his administration is charting for NASA and the future of U.S. leadership in human spaceflight. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside a laboratory in the Space Station Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency scientist prepares samples for the Molecular Mechanism of Microgravity-Induced Skeletal Muscle Atrophy – Physiological Relevance of Cbl-b Ubiquitin Ligase, or MyoLab, experiment. MyoLab will be delivered to the International Space Station aboard Discovery on the STS-131 mission. MyoLab will study a rat muscle gene modified cell line to determine the effects of microgravity. The MyoLab experiment is one of several biology and biotechnology, human research, physical, materials science and technology experiments that will be delivered to the space station aboard Discovery. The STS-131 mission also will deliver the multi-purpose logistics module Leonardo, filled with resupply stowage platforms and science racks. STS-131, scheduled to launch at 6:21 a.m. on April 5, will be the 33rd shuttle mission to the station and the 131st shuttle mission overall. For more information on the mission and crew, visit http:__www.nasa.gov_mission_pages_shuttle_shuttlemissions_sts131_index.htm. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – During a visit to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA Associate Administrator Robert Lightfoot tours the Operations and Checkout Building high bay where the first Orion capsule, NASA's multi-purpose crew vehicle, is being prepared for flight on Exploration Flight Test 1, or EFT-1, in 2014. From left are Lightfoot, Kennedy's manager of Orion Production Operations Scott Wilson, and Kennedy Director Bob Cabana. Orion is NASA's next-generation transport for astronauts to destinations beyond Earth orbit. NASA's FY2014 budget proposal includes a plan to robotically capture a small near-Earth asteroid and redirect it safely to a stable orbit in the Earth-moon system where astronauts can visit and explore it. Performing these elements for the proposed asteroid initiative integrates the best of NASA's science, technology and human exploration capabilities and draws on the innovation of America's brightest scientists and engineers. It uses current and developing capabilities to find both large asteroids that pose a hazard to Earth and small asteroids that could be candidates for the initiative, accelerates our technology development activities in high-powered solar electric propulsion and takes advantage of our hard work on the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft, helping to keep NASA on target to reach the President's goal of sending humans to Mars in the 2030s. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians begin applying the NASA logo above the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission logo to the exterior of an Atlas V rocket's payload fairing. Tucked inside the fairing is the MSL spacecraft, including a compact car-sized rover, Curiosity, which has 10 science instruments designed to search for evidence on whether Mars has had environments favorable to microbial life, including the chemical ingredients for life. The unique rover will use a laser to look inside rocks and release its gasses so that the rover’s spectrometer can analyze and send the data back to Earth. Launch of MSL aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket is planned for Nov. 25 from Space Launch Complex-41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. For more information, visit http:__www.nasa.gov_msl. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the three Ka-Band Objects Observation and Monitoring, or Ka-BOOM, testbed antennas are used to track the pattern of the sun during initial testing of the new system. The goal of Ka-BOOM is to prove technologies that will allow future systems to characterize near-Earth objects in terms of size, shape, rotation_tumble rate and to determine the trajectory of those objects. Radar studies can determine the trajectory 100,000 times more precisely than can optical methods. While also capable of space communication and radio science experiments, developing radar applications is the primary focus of the arrays. The 40-foot-diameter dish antenna arrays are at the site of the former Vertical Processing Facility, which has been demolished. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida, center director Bob Cabana speaks after being presented the prestigious Dr. Kurt H. Debus Award. A former U.S. Marine Corps aviator and NASA astronaut, Cabana was honored at the gala Debus Award Dinner. Named for the spaceport’s first director, the Debus Award was created to recognize significant achievements and contributions made in Florida to American aerospace efforts. The Debus Award was created by the space club's Florida committee to recognize significant achievements and contributions made in Florida to American aerospace efforts. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Operations and Checkout Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, President Barack Obama addresses the participants of the Conference on the American Space Program for the 21st Century. In his remarks, he outlined the new course his administration is charting for NASA and the future of U.S. leadership in human spaceflight. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Plumes of exhaust and smoke build around the lightning masts on Space Launch Complex 40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida as a Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, Falcon 9 rocket lifts off at 10:10 a.m. EST, carrying a Dragon capsule filled with cargo to orbit. The SpaceX Dragon capsule is making its third trip to the International Space Station, following a demonstration flight in May 2012 and the first resupply mission in October 2012. The mission is the second of 12 SpaceX flights contracted by NASA to resupply the orbiting laboratory. For more information, visit http:__www.nasa.gov_mission_pages_station_structure_launch_spacex2-feature.html. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Inside Orbiter Processing Facility-1 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane is used to lift a sling holding one of two orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pods that will be re-installed on space shuttle Discovery. The OMS pods were returned from White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico where they underwent a complete deservicing and cleaning. The work is part of the Space Shuttle Program’s transition and retirement processing of shuttle Discovery. Discovery is being prepared for display at Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va. For more information, visit http:__www.nasa.gov_shuttle. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Workers from Canaveral Construction in Mims, Fla., have removed the Alabama river rock from one side of the crawlerway near Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crawlerway is being upgraded to improve the foundation and prepare it to support the weight of NASA’s Space Launch System, or SLS, and mobile launcher on the crawler-transporter during rollout. Workers are removing the original Alabama river rock and restoring the layer of lime rock below to its original depth of three feet. Then new river rock will be added on top. The Ground Systems Development and Operations, or GSDO, Program office at Kennedy is leading the center’s transformation to safely handle a variety of rockets and spacecraft. For more information about GSDO, visit: http:__go.nasa.gov_groundsystems. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In Orbiter Processing Facility-1 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers dressed in clean room attire, known as bunny suits, guide the tool stowage assembly into position in space shuttle Atlantis' payload bay where it will be installed. The assembly contains tools and hardware that will be needed on the extravehicular activities, or spacewalks, conducted during the STS-132 mission. On STS-132, the six-member crew will deliver an Integrated Cargo Carrier and a Russian-built Mini-Research Module to the International Space Station. STS-132 is the 34th mission to the station and the 132nd space shuttle mission. Launch is targeted for May 14. For information on the STS-132 mission, visit http:__www.nasa.gov_mission_pages_shuttle_shuttlemissions_sts132_index.html. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Training Auditorium at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, STS-130 Commander George Zamka presents a plaque commemorating the STS-130 mission to Kennedy Center Director Bob Cabana. From left are Cabana; Zamka; Mission Specialists Stephen Robinson (holding plaque), Robert Behnken, Nicholas Patrick, and Kathryn Hire; and Pilot Terry Virts. The presentation followed a program for Kennedy employees in which the crew talked about their experiences on the mission. Endeavour launched Feb. 8, 2010, and landed Feb. 21. During Endeavour's STS-130 mission, the crew installed the Tranquility node, a module that provides additional room for crew members and many of the station's life support and environmental control systems. Attached to Tranquility is a cupola with seven windows that provide a panoramic view of Earth, celestial objects and visiting spacecraft. STS-130 was the 24th flight for Endeavour, the 32nd shuttle mission devoted to ISS assembly and maintenance, and the 130th shuttle mission. For information on the STS-130 mission and crew, visit http:__www.nasa.gov_mission_pages_shuttle_shuttlemissions_sts130_index.html. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Inside Orbiter Processing Facility-2 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians assist as a large crane lowers space shuttle Atlantis’ left orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pod onto a carrier. The work is part of the Space Shuttle Program’s transition and retirement processing of shuttle Atlantis. The OMS pods will be sent to White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico where they will undergo a complete deservicing and cleaning and then be returned to Kennedy for reinstallation on Atlantis. Atlantis is being prepared for display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Members of the news media gather at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex for the announcement of the opening date that the facility will officially open and for the unveiling of the exhibit's newly designed logo. The 'Space Shuttle Atlantis' exhibit will open June 29, 2013. Last November, the space shuttle Atlantis made its historic final journey to its new home, traveling 10 miles from the Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building to the spaceport's visitor complex. The new $100 million Atlantis facility will be a 90,000-square-foot, interactive exhibit that tells the story of the 30-year Space Shuttle Program and highlights the future of space exploration. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Operations and Checkout Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Gen. C. Robert 'Bob' Kehler, Commander of the Air Force Space Command at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado, speaks with other members of the Conference on the American Space Program for the 21st Century following President Barack Obama's remarks describing the new course his administration is charting for NASA and the future of U.S. leadership in human spaceflight. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Operations and Checkout Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Norman R. Augustine, chair of the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee, co-hosts the official opening of the Conference on the American Space Program for the 21st Century following President Barack Obama's remarks describing the new course his administration is charting for NASA and the future of U.S. leadership in human spaceflight. The four break-out conference sessions that will take place in the Operations and Checkout Building and in the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex will include these topics: Increasing Access to and Utilization of the International Space Station; Jumpstarting the New Technologies to Take Us Beyond; Expanding our Reach into the Solar System and Harnessing Space to Expand Economic Opportunity. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Framed by Florida's lush vegetation, a Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, Falcon 9 rocket is poised for liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, carrying a Dragon capsule filled with cargo to orbit. Launch is set for 10:10 a.m. EST. The SpaceX Dragon capsule is making its third trip to the International Space Station, following a demonstration flight in May 2012 and the first resupply mission in October 2012. The mission is the second of 12 SpaceX flights contracted by NASA to resupply the orbiting laboratory. For more information, visit http:__www.nasa.gov_mission_pages_station_structure_launch_spacex2-feature.html. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Payload shipping containers that hold the unpressurized Orbital Replacement Units ORU for the International Space Station's Main Bus Switching Unit MBSU and Utility Transfer Assembly UTA, as well as the Space Test Program-Houston 4 STP H-4 experiments, are loaded on a transport. The payloads were processed at Kennedy and will be trucked to Chicago. From Chicago, they will be moved by air freight to Narita, Japan, where a complicated combination of ground and ocean ferry transfers will be used to deliver them to the Tanegashima Space Center. At Tanegashima the payloads will be turned over to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency JAXA in preparation for launch on the H-II Transfer Vehicle 4 HTV-4 mission this summer. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Operations and Checkout Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, at the podium, introduces President Barack Obama to the participants of the Conference on the American Space Program for the 21st Century. Behind him is U. S. Sen. Bill Nelson. President Obama opened the conference with remarks on the new course his administration is charting for NASA and the future of U.S. leadership in human spaceflight. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, engineers display a small rocket following its launch as part of Rocket University. From the left are Myphi Tran of Flight Instrumentation, Susan Danley of Flight Structures, Morgan Simpson of Flight Hardware Processing, Kim Simpson of Fluids, Mechanical and Structural Systems, Leandro James of Systems Hardware Engineering and Julio Najarro of Mechanical Assembly, Lifting and Handling. The goal was to test its systems and to verify that it performed as designed. As part of Rocket University, the engineers are given an opportunity to work a fast-track project to develop skills in developing spacecraft systems of the future. As NASA plans for future spaceflight programs to low-Earth orbit and beyond, teams of engineers at Kennedy are gaining experience in designing and flying launch vehicle systems on a small scale. Four teams of five to eight members from Kennedy are designing rockets complete with avionics and recovery systems. Launch operations require coordination with federal agencies, just as they would with rockets launched in support of a NASA mission. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – A worker from Canaveral Construction in Mims, Fla., re-grades a section of the crawlerway near Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crawlerway is being upgraded to improve the foundation and prepare it to support the weight of NASA’s Space Launch System, or SLS, and mobile launcher on the crawler-transporter during rollout. Workers are removing the original Alabama river rock and restoring the layer of lime rock below to its original depth of three feet. Then new river rock will be added on top. The Ground Systems Development and Operations, or GSDO, Program office at Kennedy is leading the center’s transformation to safely handle a variety of rockets and spacecraft. For more information about GSDO, visit: http:__go.nasa.gov_groundsystems. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Operations and Checkout Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, President Barack Obama completes his address to the participants of the Conference on the American Space Program for the 21st Century. In his remarks, he outlined the new course his administration is charting for NASA and the future of U.S. leadership in human spaceflight. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, members the STS-131 crew, each holding a flag from his or her country of origin, pose for a group portrait in front of space shuttle Discovery. From left are Mission Specialists Clayton Anderson, Naoko Yamazaki of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Stephanie Wilson, Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger and Rick Mastracchio; Pilot James P. Dutton Jr.; and Commander Alan Poindexter. Discovery landed on Runway 33 after 15 days in space, completing the more than 6.2-million-mile STS-131 mission on orbit 238. Main gear touchdown was at 9:08:35 a.m. EDT followed by nose gear touchdown at 9:08:47 a.m. and wheelstop at 9:09:33 a.m. The seven-member STS-131 crew carried the multi-purpose logistics module Leonardo, filled with supplies, a new crew sleeping quarters and science racks that were transferred to the International Space Station's laboratories. The crew also switched out a gyroscope on the station’s truss, installed a spare ammonia storage tank and retrieved a Japanese experiment from the station’s exterior. STS-131 is the 33rd shuttle mission to the station and the 131st shuttle mission overall. For information on the STS-131 mission and crew, visit http:__www.nasa.gov_mission_pages_shuttle_shuttlemissions_sts131_index.html. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Inside Orbiter Processing Facility-2 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a large crane and support equipment are lifted high and moved toward space shuttle Atlantis in preparation for removal of the left orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pod. The work is part of the Space Shuttle Program’s transition and retirement processing of shuttle Atlantis. The OMS pods will be sent to White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico where they will undergo a complete deservicing and cleaning and then be returned to Kennedy for reinstallation on Atlantis. Atlantis is being prepared for display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Viewed from inside the Pegasus barge docked in the turn basin at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers accompany the newly offloaded External Tank-138. The external fuel tank arrived in Florida on July 13, from NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility near New Orleans. ET-138, the last newly manufactured tank, was originally designated to fly on Endeavour's STS-134 mission to the International Space Station, but later reassigned to fly on space shuttle Atlantis' final mission, STS-135. For information, visit www.nasa.gov_shuttle. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Payload canister #2 passes by the Operations and Checkout Building, in the background, on its way from the Canister Rotation Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to the Reutilization, Recycling and Marketing Facility on Ransom Road. The canister will stop in front of the Space Station Processing Facility for a group employee photo opportunity before continuing to Ransom Road. The two payload canisters used to transport space shuttle payloads to the launch pad for installation in the shuttles' cargo bays are being decommissioned following the end of the Space Shuttle Program. Each canister weighs 110,000 pounds and is 65 feet long, 22 feet wide, and 18 feet, 7 inches high. The canisters were prescreened through NASA Headquarters as possible artifacts, but their size makes them difficult to transport to locations off the center. Federal and state agencies now will be given the opportunity to screen the canisters for potential use before a final decision is made on their disposition. For more information, visit http:__www.nasa.gov_centers_kennedy_pdf_167403main_CRF-06.pdf. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Operations and Checkout Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Florida Sen. Thad Altman participates in the Conference on the American Space Program for the 21st Century. President Barack Obama opened the Conference on the American Space Program for the 21st Century with remarks on the new course his administration is charting for NASA and the future of U.S. leadership in human spaceflight. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Atlas_Redstone Room of the Debus Center at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida, Dr. Edward F. Crawley, Ford professor of engineering at MIT gives his presentation at the 'Expanding our Reach into the Solar System' break-out session, part of the Conference on the American Space Program for the 21st Century. The panel, moderated by John Holdren, assistant to the President for science and technology and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (center), included Crawley, Scott Hubbard, former director of NASA's Ames Research Center (right) and NASA Astronaut John Grunsfeld. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In Launch Complex 39 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, preparations are under way to install the roofs on the Propellants North Administrative and Maintenance Facility buildings. The facility will have a two-story administrative building to house managers, mechanics and technicians who fuel spacecraft at Kennedy adjacent to an 1,800-square-foot single-story shop to store cryogenic fuel transfer equipment. The new facility will feature high-efficiency roofs and walls, “Cool Dry Quiet” air conditioning with energy recovery technology, efficient lighting, and other sustainable features. The facility is striving to qualify for the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, Platinum certification. If successful, Propellants North will be the first Kennedy facility to achieve this highest of LEED ratings after it is completed in December 2010. The facility was designed for NASA by Jones Edmunds and Associates. H. W. Davis Construction is the construction contractor. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Robert Lightfoot, NASA associate director, talks to members of the media at the Ka Band Objects Observation and Monitoring, or KaBOOM, testbed antenna array site during a tour of Kennedy facilities. At right, in the foreground is Kennedy Director Bob Cabana. The goal of KaBOOM is to prove technologies that will allow future systems to characterize near-Earth objects in terms of size, shape, rotation_tumble rate and to determine the trajectory of those objects. Radar studies can determine the trajectory 100,000 times more precisely than can optical methods. While also capable of space communication and radio science experiments, developing radar applications is the primary focus of the arrays. The 40-foot-diameter dish antenna arrays are at the site of the former Vertical Processing Facility, which has been demolished. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Marc Seibert, the manager for Tracking and Timing Integration in the Research and Technology Management Office, stands near one of the three antennas that comprise the KA-Band Objects Observation and Monitoring, or Ka-BOOM, System. The Ka-BOOM project is one of the final steps in developing the techniques to build a high power, high resolution radar system capable of becoming a Near Earth Object Early Warning System. While also capable of space communication and radio science experiments, developing radar applications is the primary focus of the arrays. The 40-foot-diameter dish antenna arrays are near the former Vertical Processing Facility, which has been demolished. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Kennedy Director Bob Cabana congratulates STS-131 Mission Specialist Naoko Yamazaki of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, at left, on a successful mission following the landing of space shuttle Discovery on Runway 33. At right is her crewmate, Mission Specialist Stephanie Wilson. Discovery landed at Kennedy after 15 days in space, completing the more than 6.2-million-mile STS-131 mission on orbit 238. Main gear touchdown was at 9:08:35 a.m. EDT followed by nose gear touchdown at 9:08:47 a.m. and wheelstop at 9:09:33 a.m. The seven-member STS-131 crew carried the multi-purpose logistics module Leonardo, filled with supplies, a new crew sleeping quarters and science racks that were transferred to the International Space Station's laboratories. The crew also switched out a gyroscope on the station’s truss, installed a spare ammonia storage tank and retrieved a Japanese experiment from the station’s exterior. STS-131 is the 33rd shuttle mission to the station and the 131st shuttle mission overall. For information on the STS-131 mission and crew, visit http:__www.nasa.gov_mission_pages_shuttle_shuttlemissions_sts131_index.html. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In Orbiter Processing Facility-1 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers dressed in clean room attire, known as bunny suits, are on hand in space shuttle Atlantis' payload bay to receive the tool stowage assembly being lowered into the bay for installation. The assembly contains tools and hardware that will be needed on the extravehicular activities, or spacewalks, conducted during the STS-132 mission. On STS-132, the six-member crew will deliver an Integrated Cargo Carrier and a Russian-built Mini-Research Module to the International Space Station. STS-132 is the 34th mission to the station and the 132nd space shuttle mission. Launch is targeted for May 14. For information on the STS-132 mission, visit http:__www.nasa.gov_mission_pages_shuttle_shuttlemissions_sts132_index.html. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Mechanical engineering students from Louisiana State University Christine Woodfield, right, in white shirt, Kevin Schenker, in light blue shirt, and Jacob Koch, in black shirt, joined engineers and scientists at Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida as the students toured the facility to have a look at the flame trench. They went inside the pad structure as part of their insight. The students signed up to help designers looking for new, flame and vibration-resistant materials to line the trench. The students are to build a scaled-down version of the flame trench that Kennedy's scientists can use to try out sample materials for the trench. If the samples work in the lab, they can be tried out in the real flame trenches at Launch Pad 39A and 39B. The launch pad has been refurbished extensively and work is continuing to modify the pad to support a variety of launch vehicles in the future. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Smoke billows from the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket's nine first-stage Merlin engines during a test firing at Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The test is part of SpaceX 2 prelaunch preparations. Liftoff of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft is planned for March 1, 2013, at 10:10 a.m. EST, from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. Dragon will be making its third trip to the space station. It will carry supplies and experiments to the orbiting laboratory. The mission is the second of 12 SpaceX flights contracted by NASA to resupply the space station. For more information, visit http:__www.nasa.gov_mission_pages_station_structure_launch_spacex2-feature.html Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Workers prepare to load the payload shipping container that holds the Space Test Program-Houston 4 STP H-4 experiments on a transport that will also carry containers with the unpressurized Orbital Replacement Units ORU for the International Space Station's Main Bus Switching Unit MBSU and Utility Transfer Assembly UTA. The payloads were processed at Kennedy and will be trucked to Chicago. From Chicago, they will be moved by air freight to Narita, Japan, where a complicated combination of ground and ocean ferry transfers will be used to deliver them to the Tanegashima Space Center. At Tanegashima the payloads will be turned over to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency JAXA in preparation for launch on the H-II Transfer Vehicle 4 HTV-4 mission this summer. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At the Courtyard by Marriott hotel in Cocoa Beach, Fla., Pat Simpkins, director of Engineering and Technology at Kennedy Space Center talks to participants in the room and those participating online during the Third International Workshop on Lunar Superconductor Applications. The workshop included presentations from several engineers and researchers at Kennedy Space Center. The three-day workshop included presentations from speakers throughout the country and focused on Lunar in-situ resource utilization, NASA’s Lunar Ice Prospector called RESOLVE, CubeSats, cryogenic storage and many other topics related to lunar exploration. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Workers prepare to lift a segment for a set of twin, full-size replica Solid Rocket Boosters SRBs in front of the Space Shuttle Atlantis exhibit under construction at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. Atlantis is housed in the building behind the SRB stack. An external tank replica will be added later to the middle of the SRBs to complete the display. The SRBs stand 150 feet tall, while the external tank will reach 184 feet when it is finished. The shuttle was mounted to the stack and depended on the power of the SRBs to lift it off the launch pad and start it on its way to space. The external tank was loaded with liquid propellants for the shuttle's three main engines. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Atlas_Redstone Room of the Debus Center at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida, Dr. Edward F. Crawley, Ford professor of engineering at MIT, speaks to the attendees at the 'Expanding our Reach into the Solar System' break-out session, part of the Conference on the American Space Program for the 21st Century. The panel included Scott Hubbard, former director of NASA's Ames Research Center, John Holdren, assistant to the President for science and technology and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and NASA, panel moderator; NASA Astronaut John Grunsfeld and Scott Hubbard, former director of NASA's Ames Research Center. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Florida Gov. Rick Scott (left) tours the Operations and Checkout Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. He is being briefed on the processing of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle. With his back to the camera is Robert Cabana, Kennedy Space Center director. To Cabana’s right is Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll, chairwoman of Space Florida. To the governor’s left is Jeff Atwater, Florida chief financial officer. The governor and other state officials were at Kennedy for a Florida cabinet meeting and a space industry roundtable at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex’s Debus Conference Center. They also toured selected facilities around the center. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Workers prepare to lift a segment for a set of twin, full-size replica Solid Rocket Boosters SRBs in front of the Space Shuttle Atlantis exhibit under construction at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. Atlantis is housed in the building behind the SRB stack. An external tank replica will be added later to the middle of the SRBs to complete the display. The SRBs stand 150 feet tall, while the external tank will reach 184 feet when it is finished. The shuttle was mounted to the stack and depended on the power of the SRBs to lift it off the launch pad and start it on its way to space. The external tank was loaded with liquid propellants for the shuttle's three main engines. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In the high bay at the Operations and Checkout Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA’s Orion Production Manager Scott Wilson, (center), Adam Putnam, Florida agriculture commissioner, Florida Gov. Rick Scott, (right), and Jeff Atwater, Florida chief financial officer, (left), look at an Orion capsule used in launch abort testing. The governor and other state officials were at Kennedy for a Florida cabinet meeting and a space industry roundtable at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex’s Debus Conference Center. They also toured selected facilities around the center. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers lower the cage containing an Approach and Landing Test Assembly (ALTA) pod over the rear of space shuttle Endeavour. The ALTA pod is being attached to the site once housing the orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pod. The demonstration test is being conducted to ensure the center’s equipment will fit into the hangar at the National Air and Space Museum when installing an ALTA pod on shuttle Enterprise. The pod must be reinstalled on a shuttle for transport on a 747 carrier aircraft. The simulation also tests procedures and timelines necessary to carry out the process. The work is part of the Space Shuttle Program’s transition and retirement processing. Enterprise, which was not equipped for space flight, was built as a test vehicle to demonstrate that the orbiter could fly in the atmosphere and land like an airplane. In 1985, Enterprise was ferried from the Kennedy Space Center to Dulles Airport, Washington, D.C., and became the property of the Smithsonian Institute. Enterprise will be moved from the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va. to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York. For more information, visit http:__www.nasa.gov_shuttle. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Employees monitor payload canister #2 as it rolls out of the high bay of the Canister Rotation Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for its trip to the Reutilization, Recycling and Marketing Facility on Ransom Road. The two payload canisters used to transport space shuttle payloads to the launch pad for installation in the shuttles' cargo bays are being decommissioned following the end of the Space Shuttle Program. Each canister weighs 110,000 pounds and is 65 feet long, 22 feet wide, and 18 feet, 7 inches high. The canisters were prescreened through NASA Headquarters as possible artifacts, but their size makes them difficult to transport to locations off the center. Federal and state agencies now will be given the opportunity to screen the canisters for potential use before a final decision is made on their disposition. For more information, visit http:__www.nasa.gov_centers_kennedy_pdf_167403main_CRF-06.pdf. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA’s mobile launcher (ML) support structure at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, was the site for a media event held to detail ML’s use with NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) heavy-lift rocket, which will take astronauts into deep space on missions to asteroids, the moon or Mars. NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden and Center Director Bob Cabana also were in attendance for the event. It took about two years to construct the 355-foot-tall ML structure, which will support NASA's future human spaceflight program. The ML can be outfitted with ground support equipment, such as umbilicals and access arms, for future rocket launches. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Ed Hoffman and Annie Caraccio discuss the 'Young Professional's Perspective at NASA' during the final day of a weeklong series called 'Masters with Masters.' Hoffman is NASA's chief Knowledge officer and Caraccio is a chemical engineer in the agency's Engineering and Technology Directorate at Kennedy. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the agency hosts a media briefing highlighting the four companies selected for the second round of the Commercial Crew Development (CCDev2) efforts. From left, are Michael Braukus, NASA Public Affairs specialist; Phil McAlister, acting director of Commercial Spaceflight Development at NASA Headquarters; Ed Mango, program manager for NASA's Commercial Crew Program at Kennedy; Rob Meyerson, program manager of Blue Origin; Mark Sirangelo, program manager of Sierra Nevada; Garrett Reisman, program manager of SpaceX; and John Elbon, program manager of The Boeing Company. NASA awarded $269.3 million to these companies to accelerate the availability of U.S. commercial crew transportation capabilities and reduce the gap in American human spaceflight capability. Through this activity, NASA also may be able to spur economic growth as potential new space markets are created. Once developed, crew transportation capabilities could become available to commercial and government customers. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, External Tank-138 is being towed through the massive doors into the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building. The external fuel tank arrived in Florida on July 13, from NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility near New Orleans. ET-138, the last newly manufactured tank, was originally designated to fly on Endeavour's STS-134 mission to the International Space Station, but later reassigned to fly on space shuttle Atlantis' final mission, STS-135. For information, visit www.nasa.gov_shuttle. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The NASA Railroad draw bridge over the Indian River begins to close for the train carrying the last space shuttle solid rocket booster segments to NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Six cars transported the segments along the Florida East Coast Railway, which began at the ATK solid rocket booster plant in Promontory, Utah. The booster segments will be used for shuttle Atlantis on what currently is planned as the 'launch on need,' or potential rescue mission for the final shuttle flight, Endeavour's STS-134 mission. For information, visit www.nasa.gov_shuttle. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, screening equipment is operating to separate pulverized Alabama river rock from stones still usable in the crawlerway leading from the Vehicle Assembly Building VAB to the launch pads. The rock no longer suitable for the crawlerway will be reused in other areas of the spaceport. After years of wear from the weight of space shuttles being transported to the launch pads, the crawlerway was in need of resurfacing in preparation for future programs. The Ground Systems Development and Operations GSDO Program office at Kennedy is working to upgrade the two 40-foot-wide pathways the crawler-transporter will travel as it transports vehicles such as NASA's Space Launch System SLS rocket from the VAB to the launch pad. For more: http:__www.nasa.gov_exploration_systems_ground_crawlerway_upgrades.html Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, as Susan Danley of Flight Structures and Kim Simpson of Fluids, Mechanical and Structural Systems look on, Gary Dahlke of Engineering and Technology, left, and Leandro James of Systems Hardware Engineering attach a small rocket prior to its launch stand as part of Rocket University. The goal was to test its systems and to verify that it performed as designed. As part of Rocket University, the engineers are given an opportunity to work a fast-track project to develop skills in developing spacecraft systems of the future. As NASA plans for future spaceflight programs to low-Earth orbit and beyond, teams of engineers at Kennedy are gaining experience in designing and flying launch vehicle systems on a small scale. Four teams of five to eight members from Kennedy are designing rockets complete with avionics and recovery systems. Launch operations require coordination with federal agencies, just as they would with rockets launched in support of a NASA mission. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the second of space shuttle Discovery's payload bay doors close around the orbiter docking system and the multi-purpose logistics module Leonardo and other cargo that will fly on the STS-131 mission. Payload bay door closure for launch is a significant milestone in processing activities. The countdown for Discovery's launch on April 5 is set to begin at 3 a.m. EDT on April 2. The seven-member STS-131 crew will deliver Leonardo to the International Space Station. The module is filled with supplies, a new crew sleeping quarters and science racks that will be transferred to the station's laboratories. The crew also will switch out a gyroscope on the station’s truss, install a spare ammonia storage tank and retrieve a Japanese experiment from the station’s exterior. STS-131 is the 33rd shuttle mission to the station and the 131st shuttle mission overall. For information on the STS-131 mission and crew, visit http:__www.nasa.gov_mission_pages_shuttle_shuttlemissions_sts131_index.html. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission logo begins to take shape as technicians install it on the exterior of an Atlas V rocket's payload fairing inside the Payload Hazardous Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Tucked inside the fairing is the MSL spacecraft, including a compact car-sized rover, Curiosity, which has 10 science instruments designed to search for evidence on whether Mars has had environments favorable to microbial life, including the chemical ingredients for life. The unique rover will use a laser to look inside rocks and release its gasses so that the rover’s spectrometer can analyze and send the data back to Earth. Launch of MSL aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket is planned for Nov. 25 from Space Launch Complex-41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. For more information, visit http:__www.nasa.gov_msl. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the three Ka-Band Objects Observation and Monitoring, or Ka-BOOM, testbed antennas are used to track the pattern of the sun during initial testing of the new system. The goal of Ka-BOOM is to prove technologies that will allow future systems to characterize near-Earth objects in terms of size, shape, rotation_tumble rate and to determine the trajectory of those objects. Radar studies can determine the trajectory 100,000 times more precisely than can optical methods. While also capable of space communication and radio science experiments, developing radar applications is the primary focus of the arrays. The 40-foot-diameter dish antenna arrays are at the site of the former Vertical Processing Facility, which has been demolished. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Gary Dahlke of Engineering and Technology, left, and Leandro James of Systems Hardware Engineering attach a small rocket prior to its launch stand as part of Rocket University. The goal was to test its systems and to verify that it performed as designed. As part of Rocket University, the engineers are given an opportunity to work a fast-track project to develop skills in developing spacecraft systems of the future. As NASA plans for future spaceflight programs to low-Earth orbit and beyond, teams of engineers at Kennedy are gaining experience in designing and flying launch vehicle systems on a small scale. Four teams of five to eight members from Kennedy are designing rockets complete with avionics and recovery systems. Launch operations require coordination with federal agencies, just as they would with rockets launched in support of a NASA mission. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Operations and Checkout Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, some of the participants and invited guests of the Conference on the American Space Program for the 21st Century pose for a group portrait. From left are Neil deGrasse Tyson, director, Hayden Planetarium, American Museum of Natural History; Bill Nye The Science Guy, engineer and television personality; Jim Bell, professor, Department of Astronomy, Cornell University; Scott Hubbard, former director, NASA's Ames Research Center; and Louis Friedman, founder and executive director, The Planetary Society. President Barack Obama opened the Conference on the American Space Program for the 21st Century with remarks on the new course his administration is charting for NASA and the future of U.S. leadership in human spaceflight. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Kennedy Director Bob Cabana, right, and NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver welcome the STS-131 crew back from space following the landing of space shuttle Discovery on Runway 33. From front are Commander Alan Poindexter, Pilot James P. Dutton Jr., and Mission Specialists Rick Mastracchio and Stephanie Wilson. Exiting the crew transport vehicle are, from bottom to top, Mission Specialists Naoko Yamazaki of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and Clayton Anderson. The crew received a brief preliminary medical examination before joining NASA managers and invited guests on the runway. Discovery landed at Kennedy after 15 days in space, completing the more than 6.2-million-mile STS-131 mission on orbit 238. Main gear touchdown was at 9:08:35 a.m. EDT followed by nose gear touchdown at 9:08:47 a.m. and wheelstop at 9:09:33 a.m. The seven-member STS-131 crew carried the multi-purpose logistics module Leonardo, filled with supplies, a new crew sleeping quarters and science racks that were transferred to the International Space Station's laboratories. The crew also switched out a gyroscope on the station’s truss, installed a spare ammonia storage tank and retrieved a Japanese experiment from the station’s exterior. STS-131 is the 33rd shuttle mission to the station and the 131st shuttle mission overall. For information on the STS-131 mission and crew, visit http:__www.nasa.gov_mission_pages_shuttle_shuttlemissions_sts131_index.html. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Gears close the NASA Railroad draw bridge over the Indian River for the train carrying the last space shuttle solid rocket booster segments to NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Six cars transported the segments along the Florida East Coast Railway, which began at the ATK solid rocket booster plant in Promontory, Utah. The booster segments will be used for shuttle Atlantis on what currently is planned as the 'launch on need,' or potential rescue mission for the final shuttle flight, Endeavour's STS-134 mission. For information, visit www.nasa.gov_shuttle. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Workers use a crane to install a new parabolic telemetry antenna and tracker camera to the roof of the Launch Control Center, or LCC, in Launch Complex 39 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This antenna and camera system is the first of three that will be installed on the LCC roof for the Radio Frequency and Telemetry Station RFTS, which will be used to monitor radio frequency communications from a launch vehicle at Launch Pad 39A or B as well as provide radio frequency relay for a launch vehicle in the Vehicle Assembly Building. The RFTS replaces the shuttle-era communications and tracking labs at Kennedy. The modern RFTS checkout station is designed to primarily support NASA's Space Launch System, or SLS, and Orion spacecraft, but can support multi-user radio frequency tests as the space center transitions to support a variety of rockets and spacecraft. For more information on the modernization efforts at Kennedy, visit the Ground Systems Development and Operations, or GSDO, website at http:__go.nasa.gov_groundsystems. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Technicians in the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida begin to hoist and temporarily install the Common Berthing Mechanism, or CBM, to the Permanent Multipurpose Module, or PMM. The CBM is a test fixture that simulates the joining of the International Space Station with a pressurized element. The Leonardo multi-purpose logistics module, or MPLM, is being modified to become the PMM that will carry supplies and critical spare parts to the station aboard space shuttle Discovery’s STS-133 mission. Discovery will leave the module behind so it can be used for microgravity experiments in fluid physics, materials science, biology and biotechnology. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Jeff Gramling, project manager for NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-K, takes a question from an agency social media follower participating in the first day of activities of a NASA Social revolving around the satellite's mission. NASA Socials are in-person meetings for people who engage with the agency through Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and other social networks. The satellite, known as TDRS-K, is set to launch at 8:48 p.m. EST on Jan. 30 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 on nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. About 50 followers were selected to participate in the TDRS-K prelaunch and launch activities and share them with their own fan base. The TDRS-K spacecraft is part of the next-generation series in the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System, a constellation of space-based communication satellites providing tracking, telemetry, command and high-bandwidth data return services. For more information, visit http:__www.nasa.gov_mission_pages_tdrs_index.html. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a convoy of support vehicles travels with payload canister #2 on its move from the Canister Rotation Facility (CFR) to the Reutilization, Recycling and Marketing Facility on Ransom Road. In the background is the 525-foot-tall Vehicle Assembly Building where the canister was rotated into a vertical position before the CRF took over the task in 1993. The two payload canisters used to transport space shuttle payloads to the launch pad for installation in the shuttles' cargo bays are being decommissioned following the end of the Space Shuttle Program. Each canister weighs 110,000 pounds and is 65 feet long, 22 feet wide, and 18 feet, 7 inches high. The canisters were prescreened through NASA Headquarters as possible artifacts, but their size makes them difficult to transport to locations off the center. Federal and state agencies now will be given the opportunity to screen the canisters for potential use before a final decision is made on their disposition. For more information, visit http:__www.nasa.gov_centers_kennedy_pdf_167403main_CRF-06.pdf. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket remains standing on Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida following a test firing of the vehicle's nine Merlin first-stage engines. The test is part of SpaceX 2 prelaunch preparations. Liftoff of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft is planned for March 1, 2013, at 10:10 a.m. EST, from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. Dragon will be making its third trip to the space station. It will carry supplies and experiments to the orbiting laboratory. The mission is the second of 12 SpaceX flights contracted by NASA to resupply the space station. For more information, visit http:__www.nasa.gov_mission_pages_station_structure_launch_spacex2-feature.html Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, STS-131 Pilot James P. Dutton Jr. is congratulated on a successful mission by NASA Flight Director Richard Jones from the Johnson Space Center, at right, as space shuttle Discovery's flow director, Stephanie Stilson, welcomes Mission Specialist Rick Mastracchio back from space. Mission Specialist Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, at left, awaits her turn to talk to Stilson. Discovery landed at Kennedy after 15 days in space, completing the more than 6.2-million-mile STS-131 mission on orbit 238. Main gear touchdown was at 9:08:35 a.m. EDT followed by nose gear touchdown at 9:08:47 a.m. and wheelstop at 9:09:33 a.m. The seven-member STS-131 crew carried the multi-purpose logistics module Leonardo, filled with supplies, a new crew sleeping quarters and science racks that were transferred to the International Space Station's laboratories. The crew also switched out a gyroscope on the station’s truss, installed a spare ammonia storage tank and retrieved a Japanese experiment from the station’s exterior. STS-131 is the 33rd shuttle mission to the station and the 131st shuttle mission overall. For information on the STS-131 mission and crew, visit http:__www.nasa.gov_mission_pages_shuttle_shuttlemissions_sts131_index.html. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In Orbiter Processing Facility-1 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers prepare the tool stowage assembly for installation into space shuttle Atlantis' payload bay. The assembly contains tools and hardware that will be needed on the extravehicular activities, or spacewalks, conducted during the STS-132 mission. On STS-132, the six-member crew will deliver an Integrated Cargo Carrier and a Russian-built Mini-Research Module to the International Space Station. STS-132 is the 34th mission to the station and the 132nd space shuttle mission. Launch is targeted for May 14. For information on the STS-132 mission, visit http:__www.nasa.gov_mission_pages_shuttle_shuttlemissions_sts132_index.html. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, engineers recover a small rocket following its launch as part of Rocket University. The goal was to test its systems and to verify that it performed as designed. As part of Rocket University, the engineers are given an opportunity to work a fast-track project to develop skills in developing spacecraft systems of the future. As NASA plans for future spaceflight programs to low-Earth orbit and beyond, teams of engineers at Kennedy are gaining experience in designing and flying launch vehicle systems on a small scale. Four teams of five to eight members from Kennedy are designing rockets complete with avionics and recovery systems. Launch operations require coordination with federal agencies, just as they would with rockets launched in support of a NASA mission. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Payload canister #2 approaches the Space Station Processing Facility for a group employee photo opportunity. The canister is on its way from the Canister Rotation Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to the Reutilization, Recycling and Marketing Facility on Ransom Road. The two payload canisters used to transport space shuttle payloads to the launch pad for installation in the shuttles' cargo bays are being decommissioned following the end of the Space Shuttle Program. Each canister weighs 110,000 pounds and is 65 feet long, 22 feet wide, and 18 feet, 7 inches high. The canisters were prescreened through NASA Headquarters as possible artifacts, but their size makes them difficult to transport to locations off the center. Federal and state agencies now will be given the opportunity to screen the canisters for potential use before a final decision is made on their disposition. For more information, visit http:__www.nasa.gov_centers_kennedy_pdf_167403main_CRF-06.pdf. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Inside the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians begin to lower the cover of a shipping container that will enclose the orbital replacement unit for the space station's utility transfer assembly. The unit is one of the payloads processed at Kennedy that will be flown to Japan for the HTV-4 launch to the station, which is currently scheduled for this summer. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the members of space shuttle Atlantis' STS-132 crew receive instruction on the use of an M-113 armored personnel carrier during emergency exit training. The M-113 is stationed at the base of the pad. In the blue flight suits, seated from left, are Mission Specialist Garrett Reisman, Commander Ken Ham, Pilot Tony Antonelli and Mission Specialist Piers Sellers. The crew is participating in training in preparation for their Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test, or TCDT, a dress rehearsal for launch. TCDT provides each shuttle crew and launch team the opportunity to participate in various simulated countdown activities, including equipment familiarization and emergency procedures. On the STS-132 mission, the six-member crew will deliver an Integrated Cargo Carrier, or ICC, and the Russian-built Mini-Research Module-1, or MRM-1, to the International Space Station aboard space shuttle Atlantis. The ICC is an unpressurized flat bed pallet and keel yoke assembly used to support the transfer of exterior cargo from the shuttle to the space station. The MRM-1, known as Rassvet, is the second in a series of new pressurized components for Russia and will be permanently attached to the Earth-facing port of the Zarya control module. Rassvet, which translates to 'dawn,' will be used for cargo storage and will provide an additional docking port to the station. STS-132 is the 34th mission to the station and the 132nd shuttle mission overall. Atlantis is targeted to launch on May 14 at 2:19 p.m. For information on the STS-132 mission, visit http:__www.nasa.gov_mission_pages_shuttle_shuttlemissions_sts132_index.html. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Payload canister #2 rolls out of the high bay of the Canister Rotation Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on its way to the Reutilization, Recycling and Marketing Facility on Ransom Road. The two payload canisters used to transport space shuttle payloads to the launch pad for installation in the shuttles' cargo bays are being decommissioned following the end of the Space Shuttle Program. Each canister weighs 110,000 pounds and is 65 feet long, 22 feet wide, and 18 feet, 7 inches high. The canisters were prescreened through NASA Headquarters as possible artifacts, but their size makes them difficult to transport to locations off the center. Federal and state agencies now will be given the opportunity to screen the canisters for potential use before a final decision is made on their disposition. For more information, visit http:__www.nasa.gov_centers_kennedy_pdf_167403main_CRF-06.pdf. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In the Operations and Checkout Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Robert Cabana, Kennedy Space Center director, (second from left), presents Florida Gov. Rick Scott, (center), a plaque following a tour of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle processing facility. To the right of the governor is Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll, chairwoman of Space Florida and Jeff Atwater, Florida chief financial officer. At the far left is Adam Putnam, Florida agriculture commissioner. The governor and other state officials were at Kennedy for a Florida cabinet meeting and a space industry roundtable at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex’s Debus Conference Center. They also toured selected facilities around the center. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, STS-131 Pilot James P. Dutton Jr., left, and Kennedy Director Bob Cabana talk following space shuttle Discovery's landing. Discovery landed on Runway 33 after 15 days in space, completing the more than 6.2-million-mile STS-131 mission on orbit 238. Main gear touchdown was at 9:08:35 a.m. EDT followed by nose gear touchdown at 9:08:47 a.m. and wheelstop at 9:09:33 a.m. The seven-member STS-131 crew carried the multi-purpose logistics module Leonardo, filled with supplies, a new crew sleeping quarters and science racks that were transferred to the International Space Station's laboratories. The crew also switched out a gyroscope on the station’s truss, installed a spare ammonia storage tank and retrieved a Japanese experiment from the station’s exterior. STS-131 is the 33rd shuttle mission to the station and the 131st shuttle mission overall. For information on the STS-131 mission and crew, visit http:__www.nasa.gov_mission_pages_shuttle_shuttlemissions_sts131_index.html. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Ed Hoffman and Annie Caraccio discuss the 'Young Professional's Perspective at NASA' during the final day of a weeklong series called 'Masters with Masters.' Hoffman, NASA's chief Knowledge officer, and Caraccio, a chemical engineer in the Engineering and Technology Directorate at Kennedy, were joined by Philip Harris, an International Operations engineer from the Johnson Space Center via a television link with NASA's office in Moscow. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Robert Cabana, left, NASA Kennedy Space Center director, greets Florida Governor Rick Scott at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Fla., on Oct. 18, before a meeting of the Florida Cabinet. The Cabinet recognized the center's accomplishments in spaceflight and technological innovation during its meeting. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, STS-131 Mission Specialist Rick Mastracchio receives a hug from space shuttle Discovery Flow Director Stephanie Stilson, congratulating him on a successful mission as Mission Specialist Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger looks on. Pilot James P. Dutton Jr. is at right. Discovery landed at Kennedy after 15 days in space, completing the more than 6.2-million-mile STS-131 mission on orbit 238. Main gear touchdown was at 9:08:35 a.m. EDT followed by nose gear touchdown at 9:08:47 a.m. and wheelstop at 9:09:33 a.m. The seven-member STS-131 crew carried the multi-purpose logistics module Leonardo, filled with supplies, a new crew sleeping quarters and science racks that were transferred to the International Space Station's laboratories. The crew also switched out a gyroscope on the station’s truss, installed a spare ammonia storage tank and retrieved a Japanese experiment from the station’s exterior. STS-131 is the 33rd shuttle mission to the station and the 131st shuttle mission overall. For information on the STS-131 mission and crew, visit http:__www.nasa.gov_mission_pages_shuttle_shuttlemissions_sts131_index.html. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – A crane lifts a segment for a set of twin, full-size replica Solid Rocket Boosters SRBs in front of the Space Shuttle Atlantis exhibit under construction at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. Atlantis is housed in the building behind the SRB stack. An external tank replica will be added later to the middle of the SRBs to complete the display. The SRBs stand 150 feet tall, while the external tank will reach 184 feet when it is finished. The shuttle was mounted to the stack and depended on the power of the SRBs to lift it off the launch pad and start it on its way to space. The external tank was loaded with liquid propellants for the shuttle's three main engines. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, 40-foot-diameter dish antenna arrays are being constructed as part of the Antenna Test Bed Array for the Ka-Band Objects Observation and Monitoring, or Ka-BOOM system. The antennas will be part of the operations command center facility. The construction site is near the former Vertical Processing Facility, which has been demolished. The Ka-BOOM project is one of the final steps in developing the techniques to build a high power, high resolution radar system capable of becoming a Near Earth Object Early Warning System. While also capable of space communication and radio science experiments, developing radar applications is the primary focus of the arrays. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the members of space shuttle Atlantis' STS-132 crew continue their emergency exit training by the catch nets for the slidewire baskets at the base of the pad. The pad's escape system includes seven baskets suspended from seven slidewires that extend from the fixed service structure to a landing zone 1,200 feet west of the pad. From left, in the blue flight suits, are Commander Ken Ham; Mission Specialist Piers Sellers; Pilot Tony Antonelli; and Mission Specialists Steve Bowen, Garrett Reisman and Michael Good. The crew is participating in training in preparation for their Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test, or TCDT, a dress rehearsal for launch. TCDT provides each shuttle crew and launch team the opportunity to participate in various simulated countdown activities, including equipment familiarization and emergency procedures. On the STS-132 mission, the six-member crew will deliver an Integrated Cargo Carrier, or ICC, and the Russian-built Mini-Research Module-1, or MRM-1, to the International Space Station aboard space shuttle Atlantis. The ICC is an unpressurized flat bed pallet and keel yoke assembly used to support the transfer of exterior cargo from the shuttle to the space station. The MRM-1, known as Rassvet, is the second in a series of new pressurized components for Russia and will be permanently attached to the Earth-facing port of the Zarya control module. Rassvet, which translates to 'dawn,' will be used for cargo storage and will provide an additional docking port to the station. STS-132 is the 34th mission to the station and the 132nd shuttle mission overall. Atlantis is targeted to launch on May 14 at 2:19 p.m. For information on the STS-132 mission, visit http:__www.nasa.gov_mission_pages_shuttle_shuttlemissions_sts132_index.html. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Inside Orbiter Processing Facility-1 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the right orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pod is installed on space shuttle Discovery. The OMS pods were returned from White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico where they underwent a complete deservicing and cleaning. The work is part of the Space Shuttle Program’s transition and retirement processing of shuttle Discovery. Discovery is being prepared for display at Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va. For more information, visit http:__www.nasa.gov_shuttle. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, payload canister #1 winds its way along the roads from the Canister Rotation Facility to the Reutilization, Recycling and Marketing Facility on Ransom Road. The two payload canisters used to transport space shuttle payloads to the launch pad for installation in the shuttles' cargo bays are being decommissioned following the end of the Space Shuttle Program. Each canister weighs 110,000 pounds and is 65 feet long, 22 feet wide, and 18 feet, 7 inches high. The canisters were prescreened through NASA Headquarters as possible artifacts, but their size makes them difficult to transport to locations off the center. Federal and state agencies now will be given the opportunity to screen the canisters for potential use before a final decision is made on their disposition. For more information, visit http:__www.nasa.gov_centers_kennedy_pdf_167403main_CRF-06.pdf. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At the Courtyard by Marriott hotel in Cocoa Beach, Fla., William Larson, retired NASA ISRU project manager, talks to participants in the room and those participating online during the Third International Workshop on Lunar Superconductor Applications. The workshop included presentations from several engineers and researchers at Kennedy Space Center. The three-day workshop included presentations from speakers throughout the country and focused on Lunar in-situ resource utilization, NASA’s Lunar Ice Prospector called RESOLVE, CubeSats, cryogenic storage and many other topics related to lunar exploration. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Jeff Gramling, project manager for NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-K, addresses agency social media followers on the first day of activities of a NASA Social revolving around the satellite's mission. NASA Socials are in-person meetings for people who engage with the agency through Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and other social networks. The satellite, known as TDRS-K, is set to launch at 8:48 p.m. EST on Jan. 30 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 on nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. About 50 followers were selected to participate in the TDRS-K prelaunch and launch activities and share them with their own fan base. The TDRS-K spacecraft is part of the next-generation series in the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System, a constellation of space-based communication satellites providing tracking, telemetry, command and high-bandwidth data return services. For more information, visit http:__www.nasa.gov_mission_pages_tdrs_index.html. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Payload canister #1 awaits decommissioning outside the Reutilization, Recycling and Marketing Facility on Ransom Road at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The two payload canisters used to transport space shuttle payloads to the launch pad for installation in the shuttles' cargo bays are being decommissioned following the end of the Space Shuttle Program. Each canister weighs 110,000 pounds and is 65 feet long, 22 feet wide, and 18 feet, 7 inches high. The canisters were prescreened through NASA Headquarters as possible artifacts, but their size makes them difficult to transport to locations off the center. Federal and state agencies now will be given the opportunity to screen the canisters for potential use before a final decision is made on their disposition. For more information, visit http:__www.nasa.gov_centers_kennedy_pdf_167403main_CRF-06.pdf. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Florida Today reporter Todd Halvorson, shares his expertise and experiences with nine Florida Institute of Technology aspiring journalists visiting Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 22 at the Press Site. The group of students, in collaboration with Florida Today, is working on a multimedia project that examines health in zero gravity and how life in space can help people live better on Earth. These multimedia stories will be published for the print and online versions of Florida Today. During their visit, the students interviewed astronaut and Expedition 35 flight engineer Chris Cassidy during an International Space Station downlink in the Press Site auditorium. The journalists also worked on multimedia deadline news assignments at the Press Site. They also met with Kennedy Director Bob Cabana who talked about NASA's goals for the future and his own experience in space, answering questions about health effects of spaceflight. The journalists toured the Vehicle Assembly Building and the Apollo Saturn V Center. Learn about the Florida Institute of Technology journalists' findings on their Facebook page at http:__www.facebook.com_FT3atFIT or Twitter at #SpaceHealth. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Inside Orbiter Processing Facility-2 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians monitor the progress as a large crane lowers space shuttle Atlantis’ left orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pod onto a carrier. The work is part of the Space Shuttle Program’s transition and retirement processing of shuttle Atlantis. The OMS pods will be sent to White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico where they will undergo a complete deservicing and cleaning and then be returned to Kennedy for reinstallation on Atlantis. Atlantis is being prepared for display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, topped by the Dragon spacecraft, awaits a test firing of the vehicle's nine Merlin first-stage engines at Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The test is part of SpaceX 2 prelaunch preparations. Liftoff of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft is planned for March 1, 2013, at 10:10 a.m. EST, from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. Dragon will be making its third trip to the space station. It will carry supplies and experiments to the orbiting laboratory. The mission is the second of 12 SpaceX flights contracted by NASA to resupply the space station. For more information, visit http:__www.nasa.gov_mission_pages_station_structure_launch_spacex2-feature.html Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In the Operations and Checkout Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA’s Orion Production Manager Scott Wilson, (center), briefs Florida Gov. Rick Scott, (left), and Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll, chairwoman of Space Florida, (right), on the processing of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle which will be processed in the facility. Also listening are Jeff Atwater, Florida chief financial officer and Adam Putnam, Florida agriculture commissioner. The governor and other state officials were at Kennedy for a Florida cabinet meeting and a space industry roundtable at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex’s Debus Conference Center. They also toured selected facilities around the center. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside Orbiter Processing Facility-2 at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians detach the Orbiter Boom Sensor System, or OBSS, from the payload bay of space shuttle Endeavour. The OBSS will be transported to the Vehicle Assembly Building for refurbishment. After refurbishment, the boom will be reinstalled in Endeavour for use during the STS-134 mission, currently targeted for launch in July. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann