Visit to Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field by Mercury 13 Astronaut Trainee, Wally Funk

Visit to Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field by Mercury 13 Astronaut Trainee, Wally Funk

Visit to Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field by Mercury 13 Astronaut Trainee, Wally Funk

Visit to Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field by Mercury 13 Astronaut Trainee, Wally Funk

Visit to Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field by Mercury 13 Astronaut Trainee, Wally Funk

Visit to Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field by Mercury 13 Astronaut Trainee, Wally Funk

STS028-S-001 (8 Aug 1989) --- The five astronaut crewmembers for STS-28 leave the operations and checkout building to board a transfer van en route to Launch Complex 39 for a date with Columbia. Front to back are Brewster H. Shaw Jr., Richard N. Richards, David C. Leestma, James C. Adamson and Mark N. Brown. At the rear of the line are Astronaut Michael L. Coats, acting chief of the astronaut office; and Donald R. Puddy, director of flight crew operations at JSC. Coats later flew a NASA Shuttle training aircraft for pre-launch and launch monitoring activities.

STS135-S-216 (21 July 2011) --- Deputy Chief of the Astronaut Office Rick Sturckow flies weather reconnaissance in a Shuttle Training Aircraft over NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to assess the weather before space shuttle Atlantis returns to Earth for the last time. Weather was observed "go" and Atlantis touched down on Runway 15 at 5:57 a.m. on July 21, 2011, bringing an end to the STS-135 mission and NASA's Space Shuttle Program. On the 37th shuttle mission to the International Space Station, STS-135 delivered more than 9,400 pounds of spare parts, equipment and supplies in the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module that will sustain station operations for the next year. STS-135 was the 33rd and final flight for Atlantis, which has spent 307 days in space, orbited Earth 4,848 times and traveled 125,935,769 miles. Photo credit: NASA

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Deputy Chief of the Astronaut Office Rick Sturckow flies weather reconnaissance in a Shuttle Training Aircraft over NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to assess the weather before space shuttle Atlantis returns to Earth for the last time. Weather was observed "go" and Atlantis touched down on Runway 15 at 5:57 a.m., bringing an end to the STS-135 mission and NASA's Space Shuttle Program. On the 37th shuttle mission to the International Space Station, STS-135 delivered more than 9,400 pounds of spare parts, equipment and supplies in the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module that will sustain station operations for the next year. STS-135 was the 33rd and final flight for Atlantis, which has spent 307 days in space, orbited Earth 4,848 times and traveled 125,935,769 miles. For more information visit, www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts135/index.html. Photo credit: NASA/Tony Gray

S26-S-026 (29 Sept. 1988) --- The STS-26 launch was captured on film from the NASA Shuttle Training Aircraft, piloted by astronaut Daniel C. Brandenstein, chief of JSC's Astronaut Office. Discovery?s mission was the first flight to be flown after the Challenger accident. The flight crew included astronauts Rick Hauck, commander; Dick Covey, pilot; and three mission specialists, Dave Hilmers, Mike Lounge, and George (Pinky) Nelson. During the four-day mission, the crew deployed the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS-C) and operated eleven mid-deck experiments. Discovery completed 64 orbits of the earth before landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on October 3, 1988. Photo credit: NASA or National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Kelly Latimer is a research pilot in the Flight Crew Branch of NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif. Latimer joined NASA in March 2007 and will fly the T38, T-34, G-III, C-17 and the "Ikhana" Predator B. Latimer is Dryden's first female research test pilot. Prior to joining NASA, Latimer was on active duty with the U.S. Air Force. She has accumulated more than 5,000 hours of military and civilian flight experience in 30 aircraft. Latimer's first association with NASA was while attending graduate school at George Washington University, Washington, D.C. Her studies included work with the Joint Institute for the Advancement of Flight Sciences at NASA's Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va. She flew an Air Force C-17 during a 2005 NASA study to reduce aircraft noise. A team of California Polytechnic State University students and Northrop Grumman personnel were stationed on Rogers Dry Lake located at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., to record the noise footprint of the aircraft as it made various landing approaches to Edwards' runway. Latimer completed undergraduate pilot training at Reese Air Force Base, Texas, in 1990. She remained at Reese as a T-38 instructor pilot until 1993. She was assigned as a C-141 aircraft commander at McCord Air Force Base, Tacoma, Wash., until 1996. Latimer graduated from the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards in Class 96B. She served as a C-17 and C-141 experimental test pilot at Edwards until 2000. She then became the chief of the Performance Branch and a T-38 instructor pilot at The Air Force Test Pilot School. She returned to McCord in 2002, where she was a C-17 aircraft commander and the operations officer for the 62nd Operations Support Squadron. In 2004, Latimer became the commander of Edwards' 418th Flight Test Squadron and director of the Global Reach Combined Test Force. Following that assignment, she deployed to Iraq as an advisor to the Iraqi Air Force. Her last active duty tour was as an instructor a

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Kennedy Space Center Director Robert Cabana, at the podium, addresses the media assembled for a news conference on a new agency partnership at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. Also participating in the news conference are, seated from left, Kennedy's Director of Public Affairs Lisa Malone, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, not in view, and Space Florida Chief Operating Officer Jim Kuzma. NASA has selected Space Florida, the aerospace economic development agency for the state of Florida, for negotiations toward a partnership agreement to maintain and operate the historic Shuttle Landing Facility, or SLF. NASA issued a request for information to industry in 2012 to identify new and innovative ways to use the facility for current and future commercial and government mission activities. Space Florida's proposal is aligned closely with Kennedy's vision for creating a multiuser spaceport. The SLF, specially designed for space shuttles returning to Kennedy, opened for flights in 1976. The concrete runway is 15,000 feet long and 300 feet wide. The SLF is capable of handling all types and sizes of aircraft and horizontal launch and landing vehicles. For more information on Space Florida, visit http://www.spaceflorida.gov. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space Florida Chief Operating Officer Jim Kuzma comments on the prospect of a new agency partnership during a news conference at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. NASA has selected Space Florida, the aerospace economic development agency for the state of Florida, for negotiations toward a partnership agreement to maintain and operate the historic Shuttle Landing Facility, or SLF. NASA issued a request for information to industry in 2012 to identify new and innovative ways to use the facility for current and future commercial and government mission activities. Space Florida's proposal is aligned closely with Kennedy's vision for creating a multiuser spaceport. The SLF, specially designed for space shuttles returning to Kennedy, opened for flights in 1976. The concrete runway is 15,000 feet long and 300 feet wide. The SLF is capable of handling all types and sizes of aircraft and horizontal launch and landing vehicles. For more information on Space Florida, visit http://www.spaceflorida.gov. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, at the podium, addresses the media assembled for a news conference on a new agency partnership at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. Also participating in the news conference are, from left, Kennedy Space Center Director Robert Cabana, Kennedy's Director of Public Affairs Lisa Malone, and Space Florida Chief Operating Officer Jim Kuzma. NASA has selected Space Florida, the aerospace economic development agency for the state of Florida, for negotiations toward a partnership agreement to maintain and operate the historic Shuttle Landing Facility, or SLF. NASA issued a request for information to industry in 2012 to identify new and innovative ways to use the facility for current and future commercial and government mission activities. Space Florida's proposal is aligned closely with Kennedy's vision for creating a multiuser spaceport. The SLF, specially designed for space shuttles returning to Kennedy, opened for flights in 1976. The concrete runway is 15,000 feet long and 300 feet wide. The SLF is capable of handling all types and sizes of aircraft and horizontal launch and landing vehicles. For more information on Space Florida, visit http://www.spaceflorida.gov. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, at the podium, addresses the media assembled for a news conference on a new agency partnership at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. Also participating in the news conference are, from left, Kennedy Space Center Director Robert Cabana, standing, Kennedy's Director of Public Affairs Lisa Malone, and Space Florida Chief Operating Officer Jim Kuzma, both seated. NASA has selected Space Florida, the aerospace economic development agency for the state of Florida, for negotiations toward a partnership agreement to maintain and operate the historic Shuttle Landing Facility, or SLF. NASA issued a request for information to industry in 2012 to identify new and innovative ways to use the facility for current and future commercial and government mission activities. Space Florida's proposal is aligned closely with Kennedy's vision for creating a multiuser spaceport. The SLF, specially designed for space shuttles returning to Kennedy, opened for flights in 1976. The concrete runway is 15,000 feet long and 300 feet wide. The SLF is capable of handling all types and sizes of aircraft and horizontal launch and landing vehicles. For more information on Space Florida, visit http://www.spaceflorida.gov. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Kennedy Space Center Director Robert Cabana, at the podium, addresses the media assembled for a news conference on a new agency partnership at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. Also participating in the news conference are, seated from left, Space Florida Chief Operating Officer Jim Kuzma, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, and Kennedy's Director of Public Affairs Lisa Malone. NASA has selected Space Florida, the aerospace economic development agency for the state of Florida, for negotiations toward a partnership agreement to maintain and operate the historic Shuttle Landing Facility, or SLF. NASA issued a request for information to industry in 2012 to identify new and innovative ways to use the facility for current and future commercial and government mission activities. Space Florida's proposal is aligned closely with Kennedy's vision for creating a multiuser spaceport. The SLF, specially designed for space shuttles returning to Kennedy, opened for flights in 1976. The concrete runway is 15,000 feet long and 300 feet wide. The SLF is capable of handling all types and sizes of aircraft and horizontal launch and landing vehicles. For more information on Space Florida, visit http://www.spaceflorida.gov. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann