DATA OPERATIONS CONTROL ROOM TEAM MEMBERS TAKE ALL SCIENCE DATA FROM THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION, AND DISTRIBUTE IT TO THE PAYLOAD OPERATIONS INTEGRATION CENTER AND SCIENTISTS ALL OVER THE WORLD WHO HAVE EXPERIMENTS ON THE ORBITING LABORATORY.
jsc2025e067512 --- Artemis II science officers Kelsey Young, left, and Angela Garcia sit at the Science console in the White Flight Control Room of the Mission Control Center at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. Artemis II will test mission science operations and integration into flight control. Lessons learned during Artemis II science operations will pave the way for lunar science operations for future Artemis missions. A team of experts will staff the Science Evaluation Room (SER) at Johnson, providing lunar scientific expertise, data analysis, and strategic guidance in real-time to the science officer and the rest of Mission Control.
At the dedication of the upgraded Launch Vehicle Data Center in Hangar AE, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., attendees got a close look at the new consoles. Seated on the right is Steve Francois, program manager, Expendable Vehicles and Payload Carriers. The new facility’s three individual control rooms replace a single LVDC control room in use since the mid-1970s. Developed by NASA-KSC to support multiple test operations in parallel or a single large launch operation, the new LVDC allows up to 100 launch vehicle engineers to monitor the voice, data and video systems that support the checkout and launch of an expendable vehicle
State-of-the-art displays shown here provide enhanced capability to engineers in the upgraded Launch Vehicle Data Center in Hangar AE, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The new facility’s three individual control rooms replace a single LVDC control room in use since the mid-1970s. Developed by NASA-KSC to support multiple test operations in parallel or a single large launch operation, the new LVDC allows up to 100 launch vehicle engineers to monitor the voice, data and video systems that support the checkout and launch of an expendable vehicle
Center Director Roy Bridges addresses attendees at the dedication of the upgraded Launch Vehicle Data Center in Hangar AE, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The new facility’s three individual control rooms replace a single LVDC control room in use since the mid-1970s. Developed by NASA-KSC to support multiple test operations in parallel or a single large launch operation, the new LVDC allows up to 100 launch vehicle engineers to monitor the voice, data and video systems that support the checkout and launch of an expendable vehicle
NASA mission controllers, engineers, pilots and communications specialists in the mission control room monitor the supersonic research flight off the coast of Galveston, as part of the QSF18 flight series. The flight operations crew tracks the status of the flights, maintains communications with the aircraft, communicates with U.S. Coast Guard, and coordinates community feedback data.
NASA mission controllers, engineers, pilots and communications specialists in the mission control room monitor the supersonic research flight off the coast of Galveston, as part of the QSF18 flight series. The flight operations crew tracks the status of the flights, maintains communications with the aircraft, communicates with U.S. Coast Guard, and coordinates community feedback data.
NASA mission controllers, engineers, pilots and communications specialists in the mission control room monitor the supersonic research flight off the coast of Galveston, as part of the QSF18 flight series. The flight operations crew tracks the status of the flights, maintains communications with the aircraft, communicates with U.S. Coast Guard, and coordinates community feedback data.
NASA mission controllers, engineers, pilots and communications specialists in the mission control room monitor the supersonic research flight off the coast of Galveston, as part of the QSF18 flight series. The flight operations crew tracks the status of the flights, maintains communications with the aircraft, communicates with U.S. Coast Guard, and coordinates community feedback data.
NASA mission controllers, engineers, pilots and communications specialists in the mission control room monitor the supersonic research flight off the coast of Galveston, as part of the QSF18 flight series. The flight operations crew tracks the status of the flights, maintains communications with the aircraft, communicates with U.S. Coast Guard, and coordinates community feedback data.
NASA mission controllers, engineers, pilots and communications specialists in the mission control room monitor the supersonic research flight off the coast of Galveston, as part of the QSF18 flight series. The flight operations crew tracks the status of the flights, maintains communications with the aircraft, communicates with U.S. Coast Guard, and coordinates community feedback data.
NASA mission controllers, engineers, pilots and communications specialists in the mission control room monitor the supersonic research flight off the coast of Galveston, as part of the QSF18 flight series. The flight operations crew tracks the status of the flights, maintains communications with the aircraft, communicates with U.S. Coast Guard, and coordinates community feedback data.
NASA mission controllers, engineers, pilots and communications specialists in the mission control room monitor the supersonic research flight off the coast of Galveston, as part of the QSF18 flight series. The flight operations crew tracks the status of the flights, maintains communications with the aircraft, communicates with U.S. Coast Guard, and coordinates community feedback data.
NASA mission controllers, engineers, pilots and communications specialists in the mission control room monitor the supersonic research flight off the coast of Galveston, as part of the QSF18 flight series. The flight operations crew tracks the status of the flights, maintains communications with the aircraft, communicates with U.S. Coast Guard, and coordinates community feedback data.
NASA mission controllers, engineers, pilots and communications specialists in the mission control room monitor the supersonic research flight off the coast of Galveston, as part of the QSF18 flight series. The flight operations crew tracks the status of the flights, maintains communications with the aircraft, communicates with U.S. Coast Guard, and coordinates community feedback data.
NASA mission controllers, engineers, pilots and communications specialists in the mission control room monitor the supersonic research flight off the coast of Galveston, as part of the QSF18 flight series. The flight operations crew tracks the status of the flights, maintains communications with the aircraft, communicates with U.S. Coast Guard, and coordinates community feedback data.
NASA mission controllers, engineers, pilots and communications specialists in the mission control room monitor the supersonic research flight off the coast of Galveston, as part of the QSF18 flight series. The flight operations crew tracks the status of the flights, maintains communications with the aircraft, communicates with U.S. Coast Guard, and coordinates community feedback data.
NASA mission controllers, engineers, pilots and communications specialists in the mission control room monitor the supersonic research flight off the coast of Galveston, as part of the QSF18 flight series. The flight operations crew tracks the status of the flights, maintains communications with the aircraft, communicates with U.S. Coast Guard, and coordinates community feedback data.
NASA mission controllers, engineers, pilots and communications specialists in the mission control room monitor the supersonic research flight off the coast of Galveston, as part of the QSF18 flight series. The flight operations crew tracks the status of the flights, maintains communications with the aircraft, communicates with U.S. Coast Guard, and coordinates community feedback data.
NASA mission controllers, engineers, pilots and communications specialists in the mission control room monitor the supersonic research flight off the coast of Galveston, as part of the QSF18 flight series. The flight operations crew tracks the status of the flights, maintains communications with the aircraft, communicates with U.S. Coast Guard, and coordinates community feedback data.
NASA mission controllers, engineers, pilots and communications specialists in the mission control room monitor the supersonic research flight off the coast of Galveston, as part of the QSF18 flight series. The flight operations crew tracks the status of the flights, maintains communications with the aircraft, communicates with U.S. Coast Guard, and coordinates community feedback data.
NASA mission controllers, engineers, pilots and communications specialists in the mission control room monitor the supersonic research flight off the coast of Galveston, as part of the QSF18 flight series. The flight operations crew tracks the status of the flights, maintains communications with the aircraft, communicates with U.S. Coast Guard, and coordinates community feedback data.
NASA mission controllers, engineers, pilots and communications specialists in the mission control room monitor the supersonic research flight off the coast of Galveston, as part of the QSF18 flight series. The flight operations crew tracks the status of the flights, maintains communications with the aircraft, communicates with U.S. Coast Guard, and coordinates community feedback data.
NASA mission controllers, engineers, pilots and communications specialists in the mission control room monitor the supersonic research flight off the coast of Galveston, as part of the QSF18 flight series. The flight operations crew tracks the status of the flights, maintains communications with the aircraft, communicates with U.S. Coast Guard, and coordinates community feedback data.
NASA mission controllers, engineers, pilots and communications specialists in the mission control room monitor the supersonic research flight off the coast of Galveston, as part of the QSF18 flight series. The flight operations crew tracks the status of the flights, maintains communications with the aircraft, communicates with U.S. Coast Guard, and coordinates community feedback data.
NASA mission controllers, engineers, pilots and communications specialists in the mission control room monitor the supersonic research flight off the coast of Galveston, as part of the QSF18 flight series. The flight operations crew tracks the status of the flights, maintains communications with the aircraft, communicates with U.S. Coast Guard, and coordinates community feedback data.
NASA mission controllers, engineers, pilots and communications specialists in the mission control room monitor the supersonic research flight off the coast of Galveston, as part of the QSF18 flight series. The flight operations crew tracks the status of the flights, maintains communications with the aircraft, communicates with U.S. Coast Guard, and coordinates community feedback data.
NASA mission controllers, engineers, pilots and communications specialists in the mission control room monitor the supersonic research flight off the coast of Galveston, as part of the QSF18 flight series. The flight operations crew tracks the status of the flights, maintains communications with the aircraft, communicates with U.S. Coast Guard, and coordinates community feedback data.
NASA mission controllers, engineers, pilots and communications specialists in the mission control room monitor the supersonic research flight off the coast of Galveston, as part of the QSF18 flight series. The flight operations crew tracks the status of the flights, maintains communications with the aircraft, communicates with U.S. Coast Guard, and coordinates community feedback data.
NASA mission controllers, engineers, pilots and communications specialists in the mission control room monitor the supersonic research flight off the coast of Galveston, as part of the QSF18 flight series. The flight operations crew tracks the status of the flights, maintains communications with the aircraft, communicates with U.S. Coast Guard, and coordinates community feedback data.
NASA mission controllers, engineers, pilots and communications specialists in the mission control room monitor the supersonic research flight off the coast of Galveston, as part of the QSF18 flight series. The flight operations crew tracks the status of the flights, maintains communications with the aircraft, communicates with U.S. Coast Guard, and coordinates community feedback data.
NASA mission controllers, engineers, pilots and communications specialists in the mission control room monitor the supersonic research flight off the coast of Galveston, as part of the QSF18 flight series. The flight operations crew tracks the status of the flights, maintains communications with the aircraft, communicates with U.S. Coast Guard, and coordinates community feedback data.
NASA mission controllers, engineers, pilots and communications specialists in the mission control room monitor the supersonic research flight off the coast of Galveston, as part of the QSF18 flight series. The flight operations crew tracks the status of the flights, maintains communications with the aircraft, communicates with U.S. Coast Guard, and coordinates community feedback data.
NASA mission controllers, engineers, pilots and communications specialists in the mission control room monitor the supersonic research flight off the coast of Galveston, as part of the QSF18 flight series. The flight operations crew tracks the status of the flights, maintains communications with the aircraft, communicates with U.S. Coast Guard, and coordinates community feedback data.
JSC2001-E-25434 (21 August 2001) --- STS-105 flight directors John Shannon (left) and Steve Stich, monitor data at their consoles in the shuttle flight control room (WFCR) in Houston’s Mission Control Center (MCC). Wayne Hale of the Mission Operations Directorate (MOD) is photographed standing in the foreground.
NASA mission controllers, engineers, pilots and communications specialists in the mission control room monitor the supersonic research flight off the coast of Galveston, as part of the QSF18 flight series. The flight operations crew tracks the status of the flights, maintains communications with the aircraft, communicates with U.S. Coast Guard, and coordinates community feedback data.
NASA mission controllers, engineers, pilots and communications specialists in the mission control room monitor the supersonic research flight off the coast of Galveston, as part of the QSF18 flight series. The flight operations crew tracks the status of the flights, maintains communications with the aircraft, communicates with U.S. Coast Guard, and coordinates community feedback data.
NASA mission controllers, engineers, pilots and communications specialists in the mission control room monitor the supersonic research flight off the coast of Galveston, as part of the QSF18 flight series. The flight operations crew tracks the status of the flights, maintains communications with the aircraft, communicates with U.S. Coast Guard, and coordinates community feedback data.
NASA mission controllers, engineers, pilots and communications specialists in the mission control room monitor the supersonic research flight off the coast of Galveston, as part of the QSF18 flight series. The flight operations crew tracks the status of the flights, maintains communications with the aircraft, communicates with U.S. Coast Guard, and coordinates community feedback data.
NASA mission controllers, engineers, pilots and communications specialists in the mission control room monitor the supersonic research flight off the coast of Galveston, as part of the QSF18 flight series. The flight operations crew tracks the status of the flights, maintains communications with the aircraft, communicates with U.S. Coast Guard, and coordinates community feedback data.
NASA mission controllers, engineers, pilots and communications specialists in the mission control room monitor the supersonic research flight off the coast of Galveston, as part of the QSF18 flight series. The flight operations crew tracks the status of the flights, maintains communications with the aircraft, communicates with U.S. Coast Guard, and coordinates community feedback data.
jsc2025e057255 --- NASA’s Artemis III lunar science team is pictured in the Science Evaluation Room (SER) at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Located in the Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center, the SER supports the mission’s main flight control room for lunar science and planetary observations. Built specifically for Artemis missions with these science priorities in mind, the SER is equipped to support rapid data interpretation, collaborative analysis, real-time decision making, and seamless coordination between the science and operations teams.
jsc2025e057254 --- NASA’s Artemis II lunar science team is pictured in the Science Evaluation Room (SER) at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Located in the Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center, the SER supports the mission’s main flight control room for lunar science and planetary observations. Built specifically for Artemis missions with these science priorities in mind, the SER is equipped to support rapid data interpretation, collaborative analysis, real-time decision making, and seamless coordination between the science and operations teams.
jsc2026e000849 --- The Artemis II Lunar Science Team works in the Science Evaluation Room (SER) at the NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Located in the Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center, the SER supports the mission’s main flight control room for lunar science and planetary observations. Built specifically for Artemis missions with these science priorities in mind, the SER is equipped to support rapid data interpretation, collaborative analysis, real-time decision making, and seamless coordination between the science and operations teams. Credit: James Blair
jsc2026e000861 --- The Artemis II Lunar Science Team works in the Science Evaluation Room (SER) in the Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. The SER supports the mission’s main flight control room for lunar science and planetary observations. Built specifically for Artemis missions with these science priorities in mind, the SER is equipped to support rapid data interpretation, collaborative analysis, real-time decision making, and seamless coordination between the science and operations teams. Credit: James Blair
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In the Mission Director Center in Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Hangar AE, mission engineers take part in a countdown simulation for the upcoming Ares I-X flight test. Ares I-X is targeted for the test on Oct. 31. The Hangar AE control rooms provide real-time voice, data and video information for ex¬pendable vehicle checkout and launch operations, similar to that provided by the space shuttle control rooms. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
S72-35460 (18 April 1972) --- Dr. J.F. Zieglschmid, M.D., Missions Operations Control Room (MOCR) White Team Surgeon, is seated in the Medical Support Room (MSR) in the Mission Control Center (MCC). He monitors crew biomedical data being received from the Apollo 16 spacecraft on the third day of the lunar landing mission.
Amelia Kinsella, left, meets NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Victor J. Glover in the Ames Arc Jet control room for the Interaction Heating Facility (IHF), N238, where operators run the Arc Jet and review test data in real time.
Researchers at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Aircraft Engine Research Laboratory monitor a ramjet's performance in the Altitude Wind Tunnel from the control room. The soundproof control room was just a few feet from the tunnel’s 20-foot-diameter test section. In the control room, the operators could control all aspects of the tunnel’s operation, including the air density, temperature, and speed. They also operated the engine or test article in the test section by controlling the angle-of-attack, speed, power, and other parameters. The men in this photograph are monitoring the engine’s thrust and lift. A NACA-designed 20-inch-diameter ramjet was installed in the tunnel in May 1945. Thrust figures from these runs were compared with drag data from tests of scale models in small supersonic tunnels to verify the ramjet’s feasibility. The tunnel was used to analyze the ramjet’s overall performance up to altitudes of 47,000 feet and speeds to Mach 1.84. The researchers found that an increase in altitude caused a reduction in the engine’s horsepower and identified optimal flameholder configurations.
jsc2026e000848 --- Artemis lunar science team members, from left, Jacob Richardson, Marie Henderson, and Kiarre Dumes, monitor a lunar flyby simulation from the Science Evaluation Room (SER) at the NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Located in the Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center, the SER supports the mission’s main flight control room for lunar science and planetary observations. Built specifically for Artemis missions with these science priorities in mind, the SER is equipped to support rapid data interpretation, collaborative analysis, real-time decision making, and seamless coordination between the science and operations teams. Credit: James Blair
JSC Mission Control Center (MCC) Bldg 30 flight control room (FCR) personnel monitor STS-26 post landing activities and ceremonies at Edwards Air Force Base (EAFB) via their monitors. Displayed on front screens are approach and landing diagrams, data, the space shuttle program insignia, the STS-26 mission insignia, the Mission Operations Directorate insignia, and the STS-26 crew standing in front of Discovery, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 103.
Panorama of the IRT engineering and ice cloud calibration team in the control room. Shown on the left are the data and system engineers. In the center with their backs to the camera are the wind tunnel operators who control the wind speed and super cooled water flow. In the center right of the photo is the video recording system and the test engineers. On the right side the test section can be see though the wind and the TV screen shows the pray bars that create the icing cloud.
JSC2001-E-21331 (12 July 2001) --- Alan L. (Lee) Briscoe, chief engineer for the Mission Operations Directorate, looks over pre-flight data at the MOD console in the shuttle flight control room (WFCR) in Houston's Mission Control Center (MCC) during the countdown leading up to the launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis and the beginning of the STS-104 mission.
Instrumentation and Communications Officer (INCO) John F. Muratore monitors conventional workstation displays during an STS-26 simulation in JSC Mission Control Center (MCC) Bldg 30 Flight Control Room (FCR). Next to Muratore an operator views the real time data system (RTDS), an expert system. During the STS-29 mission two conventional monochrome console display units will be removed and replaced with RTDS displays. View is for the STS-29 press kit from Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology (OAST) RTDS.
S81-39433 (12 Nov. 1981) --- Flight director Neil B. Hutchinson monitors data displayed on a cathode ray tube (CRT) at his console in the mission operations control room (MOCR) in the Johnson Space Center?s Mission Control Center (MCC) during the launch phase of STS-2. Launch of the Columbia occurred at 9:10 a.m. CST today with astronauts Joe H. Engle and Richard H. Truly aboard the Columbia. Photo credit: NASA
JSC2002-E-41150 (7 October 2002) --- Flight directors John Shannon (left) and Steve Stich monitor data at their consoles in the shuttle flight control room (WFCR) in Houston’s Mission Control Center (MCC). Wayne Hale (standing) of the Mission Operations Directorate (MOD) looks on. At the time this photo was taken the Space Shuttle Atlantis was about to launch from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Atlantis lifted off at 2:46 p.m. (CDT) on October 7, 2002. Once the vehicle cleared the tower in Florida, the Houston-based team of flight controllers took over the ground control of the flight.
Test engineers monitor an engine firing from the control room of the Rocket Engine Test Facility at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory. The Rocket Engine Test Facility, built in the early 1950s, had a rocket stand designed to evaluate high-energy propellants and rocket engine designs. The facility was used to study numerous different types of rocket engines including the Pratt and Whitney RL-10 engine for the Centaur rocket and Rocketdyne’s F-1 and J-2 engines for the Saturn rockets. The Rocket Engine Test Facility was built in a ravine at the far end of the laboratory because of its use of the dangerous propellants such as liquid hydrogen and liquid fluorine. The control room was located in a building 1,600 feet north of the test stand to protect the engineers running the tests. The main control and instrument consoles were centrally located in the control room and surrounded by boards controlling and monitoring the major valves, pumps, motors, and actuators. A camera system at the test stand allowed the operators to view the tests, but the researchers were reliant on data recording equipment, sensors, and other devices to provide test data. The facility’s control room was upgraded several times over the years. Programmable logic controllers replaced the electro-mechanical control devices. The new controllers were programed to operate the valves and actuators controlling the fuel, oxidant, and ignition sequence according to a predetermined time schedule.
S81-39431 (12 Nov. 1981) --- Eugene F. Kranz, left, and Dr. Christopher C. Kraft Jr. monitor data displayed on the FOD console in the mission operations control room (MOCR) in the Johnson Space Center?s mission control center following the successful launch of the Columbia, and the beginning of NASA?s second space shuttle mission. Dr. Kraft is director of the Johnson Space Center and Kranz is deputy director of the flight operations directorate (FOD) at JSC. Houston time for the launch was approximately 9:10 a.m., Nov 12, 1981. Photo credit: NASA
The primary objective of the STS-35 mission was round the clock observation of the celestial sphere in ultraviolet and X-Ray astronomy with the Astro-1 observatory which consisted of four telescopes: the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT); the Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment (WUPPE); the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT); and the Broad Band X-Ray Telescope (BBXRT). The Huntsville Operations Support Center (HOSC) Spacelab Payload Operations Control Center (SL POCC) at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) was the air/ground communication channel used between the astronauts and ground control teams during the Spacelab missions. Teams of controllers and researchers directed on-orbit science operations, sent commands to the spacecraft, received data from experiments aboard the Space Shuttle, adjusted mission schedules to take advantage of unexpected science opportunities or unexpected results, and worked with crew members to resolve problems with their experiments. Due to loss of data used for pointing and operating the ultraviolet telescopes, MSFC ground teams were forced to aim the telescopes with fine tuning by the flight crew. This photo captures the activity of viewing HUT data in the Mission Manager Actions Room during the mission.
The primary objective of the STS-35 mission was round the clock observation of the celestial sphere in ultraviolet and X-Ray astronomy with the Astro-1 observatory which consisted of four telescopes: the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT); the Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment (WUPPE); the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT); and the Broad Band X-Ray Telescope (BBXRT). The Huntsville Operations Support Center (HOSC) Spacelab Payload Operations Control Center (SL POCC) at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) was the air/ground communication channel used between the astronauts and ground control teams during the Spacelab missions. Teams of controllers and researchers directed on-orbit science operations, sent commands to the spacecraft, received data from experiments aboard the Space Shuttle, adjusted mission schedules to take advantage of unexpected science opportunities or unexpected results, and worked with crew members to resolve problems with their experiments. Due to loss of data used for pointing and operating the ultraviolet telescopes, MSFC ground teams were forced to aim the telescopes with fine tuning by the flight crew. This photo is an overview of the MSFC Payload Control Room (PCR).
This archival image was released as part of a gallery comparing JPL's past and present, commemorating the 80th anniversary of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory on Oct. 31, 2016. When spacecraft in deep space "phone home," they do it through NASA's Deep Space Network. Engineers in this room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory -- known as Mission Control -- monitor the flow of data. This image was taken in May 1964, when the building this nerve center is in, the Space Flight Operations Facility (Building 230), was dedicated at JPL. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21120
The primary objective of the STS-35 mission was round the clock observation of the celestial sphere in ultraviolet and X-Ray astronomy with the Astro-1 observatory which consisted of four telescopes: the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT); the Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment (WUPPE); the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT); and the Broad Band X-Ray Telescope (BBXRT). The Huntsville Operations Support Center (HOSC) Spacelab Payload Operations Control Center (SL POCC) at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) was the air/ground communication channel used between the astronauts and ground control teams during the Spacelab missions. Teams of controllers and researchers directed on-orbit science operations, sent commands to the spacecraft, received data from experiments aboard the Space Shuttle, adjusted mission schedules to take advantage of unexpected science opportunities or unexpected results, and worked with crew members to resolve problems with their experiments. Due to loss of data used for pointing and operating the ultraviolet telescopes, MSFC ground teams were forced to aim the telescopes with fine tuning by the flight crew. This photo captures the activities at the Mission Manager Actions Room during the mission.
STS030-S-004 (8 May 1989) --- JSC Officials monitor early moments of NASA's STS-30 Atlantis, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 104, flight in the Flight Control Room (FCR) of JSC's Mission Control Center (MCC) Bldg 30. At the Mission Operations Directorate (MOD) console, MOD Director Eugene F. Kranz (foreground), studiously reviews data on a nearby monitor. Others in the photo are (left to right) Flight Directors Office Deputy Chief Lawrence S. Bourgeois, JSC Director Aaron Cohen, and Flight Crew Operations Deputy Director Henry W. Hartsfield, Jr. Kranz'z replete loose-leaf notebook, bearing the insignia of the flight control team members (MOD insignia), is in the foreground.
Mission managers, from left, NASA Constellation Program manager Jeff Hanley, Ares I-X Launch Director Ed Mango, Ares I-X mission manager Bob Ess, Ground Operations Manager Philip "Pepper" Phillips, review the latest data in Firing Room One of the Launch Control Center (LCC) at the Kennedy Space Center during the launch countdown of the Ares I-X rocket in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009. The flight test of Ares I-X will provide NASA with an early opportunity to test and prove flight characteristics, hardware, facilities and ground operations associated with the Ares I. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In the Launch Vehicle Data Center- 1 in Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Hangar AE, (from right) JJ Joyner, Jonathan Cruz and Stuart Cooke take part in a countdown simulation for the upcoming Ares I-X flight test. The LVDC was developed by NASA's Kennedy Space Center to support multiple test operations in parallel or a single large launch operation. The LVDC works in tandem with the adjacent Mission Director Center, the control room where NASA launch managers monitor expendable vehicle launches, and where the final decision to launch is made. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
JSC2002-E-08147 (1 March 2002) --- Astronaut Kent V. Rominger (left), Wayne Hale, and Lawrence Bourgeois (background), monitor pre-flight data at the Mission Operation Directorate (MOD) console in the shuttle flight control room (WFCR) in Houston's Mission Control Center (MCC). Several hundred miles away in Florida, the STS-109 crewmembers were awaiting countdown in the crew cabin of the Space Shuttle Columbia on the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). As soon as the vehicle cleared the tower in Florida, the Houston-based team of flight controllers took over the ground control of the mission. Rominger is the Deputy Director of the Flight Crew Operations Directorate (FCOD) and was the FCOD management representative in the MCC. Hale, the Deputy Chief for Space Shuttle of the Flight Director’s Office, served as the MOD management representative. Bourgeois is the Mission Operations Director in the Flight Operations Department at United Space Alliance (USA), and was the USA management representative for STS-109.
Members of the Artemis I launch team monitor data at their consoles inside Firing Room 1 of the Rocco A. Petrone Launch Control Center at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida during a cryogenic propellant tanking demonstration on Sept. 21, 2022. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration and demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human presence to the Moon and beyond. The primary goal of Artemis I is to thoroughly test the integrated systems before crewed missions by operating the spacecraft in a deep space environment, testing Orion’s heat shield, and recovering the crew module after reentry, descent, and splashdown.
Members of the Artemis I launch team monitor data at their consoles inside Firing Room 1 of the Rocco A. Petrone Launch Control Center at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida during a cryogenic propellant tanking demonstration on Sept. 21, 2022. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration and demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human presence to the Moon and beyond. The primary goal of Artemis I is to thoroughly test the integrated systems before crewed missions by operating the spacecraft in a deep space environment, testing Orion’s heat shield, and recovering the crew module after reentry, descent, and splashdown.
Test conductor, Lucas Tucker, monitors thermal vacuum testing operations in the Ocean Color Instrument (OCI) control room during the environmental test campaign. OCI is a highly advanced optical spectrometer that will be used to measure properties of light over portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. It will enable continuous measurement of light at finer wavelength resolution than previous NASA satellite sensors, extending key system ocean color data records for climate studies. OCI is PACE's (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) primary sensor built at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD.
Members of the Artemis I launch team monitor data at their consoles inside Firing Room 1 of the Rocco A. Petrone Launch Control Center at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida during a cryogenic propellant tanking demonstration on Sept. 21, 2022. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration and demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human presence to the Moon and beyond. The primary goal of Artemis I is to thoroughly test the integrated systems before crewed missions by operating the spacecraft in a deep space environment, testing Orion’s heat shield, and recovering the crew module after reentry, descent, and splashdown.
The test data recording equipment located in the office building of the 10-by 10-Foot Supersonic Wind Tunnel at the NASA Lewis Research Center. The data system was the state of the art when the facility began operating in 1955 and was upgraded over time. NASA engineers used solenoid valves to measure pressures from different locations within the test section. Up 48 measurements could be fed into a single transducer. The 10-by 10 data recorders could handle up to 200 data channels at once. The Central Automatic Digital Data Encoder (CADDE) converted this direct current raw data from the test section into digital format on magnetic tape. The digital information was sent to the Lewis Central Computer Facility for additional processing. It could also be displayed in the control room via strip charts or oscillographs. The 16-by 56-foot long ERA 1103 UNIVAC mainframe computer processed most of the digital data. The paper tape with the raw data was fed into the ERA 1103 which performed the needed calculations. The information was then sent back to the control room. There was a lag of several minutes before the computed information was available, but it was exponentially faster than the hand calculations performed by the female computers. The 10- by 10-foot tunnel, which had its official opening in May 1956, was built under the Congressional Unitary Plan Act which coordinated wind tunnel construction at the NACA, Air Force, industry, and universities. The 10- by 10 was the largest of the three NACA tunnels built under the act.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The launch authority team for the Ares I-X flight test monitors the countdown from consoles in the Operations Management Room of the Young-Crippen Firing Room, a glass partitioned area overlooking the main floor, in the Launch Control Center at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This will be the first launch from Kennedy's pads of a vehicle other than the space shuttle since the Apollo Program's Saturn rockets were retired. The parts used to make the Ares I-X booster flew on 30 different shuttle missions ranging from STS-29 in 1989 to STS-106 in 2000. The data returned from more than 700 sensors throughout the rocket will be used to refine the design of future launch vehicles and bring NASA one step closer to reaching its exploration goals. For information on the Ares I-X vehicle and flight test, visit http://www.nasa.gov/aresIX. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The launch authority team for the Ares I-X flight test monitors the countdown from consoles in the Operations Management Room of the Young-Crippen Firing Room, a glass partitioned area overlooking the main floor, in the Launch Control Center at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This will be the first launch from Kennedy's pads of a vehicle other than the space shuttle since the Apollo Program's Saturn rockets were retired. The parts used to make the Ares I-X booster flew on 30 different shuttle missions ranging from STS-29 in 1989 to STS-106 in 2000. The data returned from more than 700 sensors throughout the rocket will be used to refine the design of future launch vehicles and bring NASA one step closer to reaching its exploration goals. For information on the Ares I-X vehicle and flight test, visit http://www.nasa.gov/aresIX. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
JSC2004-E-19651 (20 April 2004) --- Astronauts Edward T. Lu (left) and Gregory E. Chamitoff, discuss data at the spacecraft communicator (CAPCOM) console in the shuttle flight control room (WFCR) in Houston?s Mission Control Center (MCC) during rendezvous and docking operations between the Soyuz TMA-4 spacecraft and the International Space Station (ISS). The Soyuz, which carried cosmonaut Gennady I. Padalka, Russia?s Federal Space Agency Expedition 9 commander; astronaut Edward M. (Mike) Fincke, NASA ISS science officer and flight engineer; and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Andre Kuipers of the Netherlands, docked with the Station at 12:01 a.m. (CDT) on April 21, 2004.
Engineers working on NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter gathered together in a control room for one last time to monitor a transmission from the history-making helicopter at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory on April 16, 2024. The transmission confirmed the operation of a software patch that will allow Ingenuity to act as a stationary testbed and collect data that could benefit future explorers of the Red Planet. Originally designed as short-lived technology demonstration mission that would perform up to five experimental test flights over 30 days, the first aircraft on another world operated from the Martian surface for almost three years, flew more than 14 times farther than planned, and logged more than two hours of total flight time. Its 72nd and final flight was Jan. 18, 2024. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA26318
Artemis I Launch Director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, at left, monitors data inside Firing Room 1 of the Rocco A. Petrone Launch Control Center at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida during a cryogenic propellant tanking demonstration on Sept. 21, 2022. At right is Wes Mosedale, technical assistant to the launch director. Behind them is Jeremy Graeber, Artemis I assistant launch director. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration and demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human presence to the Moon and beyond. The primary goal of Artemis I is to thoroughly test the integrated systems before crewed missions by operating the spacecraft in a deep space environment, testing Orion’s heat shield, and recovering the crew module after reentry, descent, and splashdown.
Associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate Thomas Zurbuchen is seen in the mission control room, Friday, Sept. 15, 2017 at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Since its arrival in 2004, the Cassini-Huygens mission has been a discovery machine, revolutionizing our knowledge of the Saturn system and captivating us with data and images never before obtained with such detail and clarity. On Sept. 15, 2017, operators deliberately plunged the spacecraft into Saturn, as Cassini gathered science until the end. Loss of contact with the Cassini spacecraft occurred at 7:55 a.m. EDT (4:55 a.m. PDT). The “plunge” ensures Saturn’s moons will remain pristine for future exploration. During Cassini’s final days, mission team members from all around the world gathered at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, to celebrate the achievements of this historic mission. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At the Astrotech Space Operations facility in Titusville, Fla., workers in the control room monitor the data on computer screens from the movement of the high-gain antenna on the Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO. The SDO is undergoing performance testing. All of the spacecraft science instruments are being tested in their last major evaluation before launch. SDO is the first space weather research network mission in NASA's Living With a Star Program. The spacecraft's long-term measurements will give solar scientists in-depth information about changes in the sun's magnetic field and insight into how they affect Earth. In preparation for launch, engineers will perform a battery of comprehensive tests to ensure SDO can withstand the stresses and vibrations of the launch itself, as well as what it will encounter in the space environment after launch. Liftoff on an Atlas V rocket is scheduled for Dec. 4. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller
Cassini program manager at JPL, Earl Maize, standing, watches telemetry come in from Cassini with Julie Bellerose, left, Duane Roth, second from left, and Mar Vaquero of the Cassini navigation team in the mission control room, Friday, Sept. 15, 2017 at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Since its arrival in 2004, the Cassini-Huygens mission has been a discovery machine, revolutionizing our knowledge of the Saturn system and captivating us with data and images never before obtained with such detail and clarity. On Sept. 15, 2017, operators deliberately plunged the spacecraft into Saturn, as Cassini gathered science until the end. The “plunge” ensures Saturn’s moons will remain pristine for future exploration. During Cassini’s final days, mission team members from all around the world gathered at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, to celebrate the achievements of this historic mission. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Artemis I Launch Director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, at right, monitors data inside Firing Room 1 of the Rocco A. Petrone Launch Control Center at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida during a cryogenic propellant tanking demonstration on Sept. 21, 2022. Seated at his console is Wes Mosedale, technical assistant to the launch director. At left is Jeremy Graeber, Artemis I assistant launch director. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration and demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human presence to the Moon and beyond. The primary goal of Artemis I is to thoroughly test the integrated systems before crewed missions by operating the spacecraft in a deep space environment, testing Orion’s heat shield, and recovering the crew module after reentry, descent, and splashdown.
A monitor in the mission control room shows a visualization of Cassini as it makes its final plunge into Saturn, Friday, Sept. 15, 2017 at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Since its arrival in 2004, the Cassini-Huygens mission has been a discovery machine, revolutionizing our knowledge of the Saturn system and captivating us with data and images never before obtained with such detail and clarity. On Sept. 15, 2017, operators deliberately plunged the spacecraft into Saturn, as Cassini gathered science until the end. Loss of contact with the Cassini spacecraft occurred at 7:55 a.m. EDT (4:55 a.m. PDT). The “plunge” ensures Saturn’s moons will remain pristine for future exploration. During Cassini’s final days, mission team members from all around the world gathered at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, to celebrate the achievements of this historic mission. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
A truck arrives at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California on June 3, 2024, to deliver the Medium Articulating Transportation System (MATS), which will be used during the construction and transportation of components for NASA's Near-Earth Object Surveyor mission. Originating at the aerospace company Beyond Gravity in Vienna, Austria, the MATS traveled via ship through the Panama Canal to Port Hueneme, California, before arriving by road at JPL. Construction has begun on NEO Surveyor's instrument enclosure in the High Bay 1 clean room at JPL's Spacecraft Assembly Facility. When the enclosure is complete later this year, it will be moved inside the MATS to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston for environmental testing. The MATS is a transportable clean room with its own filtration and climate control systems that keep the spacecraft and components clean, stable, and safe while being moved between facilities. NEO Surveyor's instrument enclosure contains the spacecraft's telescope, mirrors, and infrared sensors that will be used to detect, track, and characterize the most hazardous near-Earth objects. BAE Systems, Space Dynamics Laboratory, and Teledyne are among the aerospace and engineering companies contracted to build the spacecraft and its instrumentation. The Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado, Boulder will support operations, and IPAC at Caltech in Pasadena, California, is responsible for processing survey data and producing the mission's data products. JPL manages the project; Caltech manages JPL for NASA. Launching no earlier than 2027, NEO Surveyor supports the objectives of NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO) at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The NASA Authorization Act of 2005 directed NASA to discover and characterize at least 90% of the near-Earth objects more than 140 meters (460 feet) across that come within 30 million miles (48 million kilometers) of our planet's orbit. Objects of this size can cause significant regional damage, or worse, should they impact the Earth. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA26381
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- At Launch Pad 39B, the payload canister for Space Shuttle Discovery, for mission STS-103, is lifted up the Rotating Service Structure. The hoses attached to the canister provide airconditioning until the canister is mated to the environmentally controlled Payload Changeout Room and the payload bay doors are open. Installation of the payload into Discovery is slated for Friday, Nov. 12. The mission is a "call-up" due to the need to replace portions of the pointing system, the gyros, which have begun to fail on the Hubble Space Telescope. Although Hubble is operating normally and conducting its scientific observations, only three of its six gyroscopes are working properly. The gyroscopes allow the telescope to point at stars, galaxies and planets. The STS-103 crew will also be replacing a Fine Guidance Sensor and an older computer with a new enhanced model, an older data tape recorder with a solid-state digital recorder, a failed spare transmitter with a new one, and degraded insulation on the telescope with new thermal insulation. The crew will also install a Battery Voltage/Temperature Improvement Kit to protect the spacecraft batteries from overcharging and overheating when the telescope goes into a safe mode
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- At Launch Pad 39B, the open doors of the payload canister, inside the environmentally controlled Payload Changeout Room, reveal the Hubble Servicing Mission cargo. At the top is the Orbital Replacement Unit Carrier and at the bottom is the Flight Support System. Installation of the payload into Discovery is slated for Friday, Nov. 12. The mission is a "call-up" due to the need to replace portions of the pointing system, the gyros, which have begun to fail on the Hubble Space Telescope. Although Hubble is operating normally and conducting its scientific observations, only three of its six gyroscopes are working properly. The gyroscopes allow the telescope to point at stars, galaxies and planets. The STS-103 crew will also be replacing a Fine Guidance Sensor and an older computer with a new enhanced model, an older data tape recorder with a solid-state digital recorder, a failed spare transmitter with a new one, and degraded insulation on the telescope with new thermal insulation. The crew will also install a Battery Voltage/Temperature Improvement Kit to protect the spacecraft batteries from overcharging and overheating when the telescope goes into a safe mode
A 20-inch diameter ramjet installed in the Altitude Wind Tunnel at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory. The Altitude Wind Tunnel was used in the 1940s to study early ramjet configurations. Ramjets provide a very simple source of propulsion. They are basically a tube which takes in high-velocity air, ignites it, and then expels the expanded airflow at a significantly higher velocity for thrust. Ramjets are extremely efficient and powerful but can only operate at high speeds. Therefore a turbojet or rocket was needed to launch the vehicle. This NACA-designed 20-inch diameter ramjet was installed in the Altitude Wind Tunnel in May 1945. The ramjet was mounted under a section of wing in the 20-foot diameter test section with conditioned airflow ducted directly to the engine. The mechanic in this photograph was installing instrumentation devices that led to the control room. NACA researchers investigated the ramjet’s overall performance at simulated altitudes up to 47,000 feet. Thrust measurements from these runs were studied in conjunction with drag data obtained during small-scale studies in the laboratory’s small supersonic tunnels. An afterburner was attached to the ramjet during the portions of the test program. The researchers found that an increase in altitude caused a reduction in the engine’s horsepower. They also determined the optimal configurations for the flameholders, which provided the engine’s ignition source.
Engineers and technicians in a clean room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California stand between the thick-walled aluminum vault and its duplicate (at rear) that they helped build for the agency's Europa Clipper spacecraft. As Europa Clipper orbits Jupiter, conducting flybys of its moon Europa to gather science data, the vault will protect the spacecraft's electronics from Jupiter's intense radiation. In 2022, the vault will be bolted to the top of Europa Clipper's propulsion module and affixed with cabling, to provide communications and control across the entire spacecraft. The duplicate test model of the vault gives engineers a way to test procedures before assembly of flight hardware. The test model also will be subjected to stress testing to confirm that the design will work when Europa Clipper operates in deep space. With an internal global ocean under a thick layer of ice, Europa may have the potential to harbor existing life. Europa Clipper will swoop around Jupiter on an elliptical path, dipping close to the moon on each flyby. Understanding Europa's habitability will help scientists better understand how life developed on Earth and the potential for finding life beyond our planet. Europa Clipper is set to launch in 2024. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24479
Members of the international Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission test one of the antennas for the Ka-band Radar Interferometer (KaRIn) instrument in a clean room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. The mission is a collaborative effort between NASA and the French space agency Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES) – with contributions from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the UK Space Agency. KaRIn is the scientific heart of the SWOT satellite, which will survey the water on more than 90% of Earth's surface, measuring the height of water in lakes, rivers, reservoirs, and the ocean. To do that, KaRIn will transmit radar pulses to Earth's surface and use its two antennas to triangulate the return signals that bounce back. Mounted at the ends of a boom 33 feet (10 meters) long, the antennas will collect data along a swath 30 miles (50 kilometers) wide on either side of the satellite. KaRIn will operate in two modes: A lower-resolution mode over the ocean will involve significant onboard processing of the data to reduce the volume of information sent during downlinks to Earth; a higher-resolution mode will be used mainly over land. Scheduled to launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in Central California on Dec. 15, 2022, SWOT is being jointly developed by NASA and CNES, with contributions from the CSA and the UK Space Agency. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, leads the U.S. component of the project. For the flight system payload, NASA is providing the Ka-band Radar Interferometer (KaRIn) instrument, a GPS science receiver, a laser retroreflector, a two-beam microwave radiometer, and NASA instrument operations. CNES is providing the Doppler Orbitography and Radioposition Integrated by Satellite (DORIS) system, the dual frequency Poseidon altimeter (developed by Thales Alenia Space), the KaRIn radio-frequency subsystem (together with Thales Alenia Space and with support from the UK Space Agency), the satellite platform, and ground control segment. CSA is providing the KaRIn high-power transmitter assembly. NASA is providing the launch vehicle and associated launch services. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25594
The NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellite sits in a clean room facility at U R Rao Satellite Centre (URSC) in Bengaluru, India, in mid-June 2023, shortly after engineers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California and the Indian Space Research Organisation joined its two main components, the radar instrument payload and the spacecraft bus. Set to launch in early 2024 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India, NISAR is being jointly developed by NASA and ISRO to observe movements of Earth's land and ice surfaces in extremely fine detail. As NISAR observes nearly every part of Earth at least once every 12 days, the satellite will help scientists understand, among other observables, the dynamics of forests, wetlands, and agricultural lands. The radar instrument payload, partially wrapped in gold-colored thermal blanketing, arrived from JPL in March and consists of L- and S-band radar systems, so named to indicate the wavelengths of their signals. Both sensors can see through clouds and collect data day and night. The bus, which is shown in blue blanketing and includes components and systems developed by both ISRO and JPL, was built at URSC and will provide power, navigation, pointing control, and communications for the mission. NISAR is an equal collaboration between NASA and ISRO and marks the first time the two agencies have cooperated on hardware development for an Earth-observing mission. JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, leads the U.S. component of the project and is providing the mission's L-band SAR. NASA is also providing the radar reflector antenna, the deployable boom, a high-rate communication subsystem for science data, GPS receivers, a solid-state recorder, and payload data subsystem. URSC, which is leading the ISRO component of the mission, is providing the spacecraft bus, the S-band SAR electronics, the launch vehicle, and associated launch services and satellite mission operations. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25865
Engineers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), working in a clean room facility at ISRO's U R Rao Satellite Centre (URSC) in Bengaluru, India, in mid-June 2023, use a crane to align the radar instrument payload for the NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) mission above the satellite's spacecraft bus so that the two components can be combined. Set to launch in early 2024 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India, NISAR is being jointly developed by NASA and ISRO to observe movements of Earth's land and ice surfaces in extremely fine detail. As NISAR observes nearly every part of Earth at least once every 12 days, the satellite will help scientists understand, among other observables, the dynamics of forests, wetlands, and agricultural lands. The radar instrument payload, partially wrapped in gold-colored thermal blanketing, arrived from JPL in March and consists of L- and S-band radar systems, so named to indicate the wavelengths of their signals. Both sensors can see through clouds and collect data day and night. The bus, which is shown in blue blanketing and includes components and systems developed by both ISRO and JPL, was built at URSC and will provide power, navigation, pointing control, and communications for the mission. NISAR is an equal collaboration between NASA and ISRO and marks the first time the two agencies have cooperated on hardware development for an Earth-observing mission. JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, leads the U.S. component of the project and is providing the mission's L-band SAR. NASA is also providing the radar reflector antenna, the deployable boom, a high-rate communication subsystem for science data, GPS receivers, a solid-state recorder, and payload data subsystem. URSC, which is leading the ISRO component of the mission, is providing the spacecraft bus, the S-band SAR electronics, the launch vehicle, and associated launch services and satellite mission operations. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25866
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In the control room at the Astrotech Space Operations facility in Titusville, Fla., test conductors from ASTROTECH and Kennedy Space Center monitor data received from the clean room as technicians sample the monomethylhydrazine propellant that will be loaded aboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO. The hydrazine fuel is being sampled for purity before it is loaded aboard the spacecraft. The technicians are dressed in self-contained atmospheric protective ensemble suits, or SCAPE suits, as a safety precaution in the unlikely event that any of the highly toxic chemical should escape from the storage tank. The nitrogen tetroxide oxidizer was loaded earlier in the week which is customarily followed by loading of the fuel. Propellant loading is one of the final processing milestones before the spacecraft is encapsulated in its fairing for launch. SDO is the first mission in NASA's Living With a Star Program and is designed to study the causes of solar variability and its impacts on Earth. The spacecraft's long-term measurements will give solar scientists in-depth information to help characterize the interior of the Sun, the Sun's magnetic field, the hot plasma of the solar corona, and the density of radiation that creates the ionosphere of the planets. The information will be used to create better forecasts of space weather needed to protect the aircraft, satellites and astronauts living and working in space. Liftoff aboard an Atlas V rocket is targeted for Feb. 9 from Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. For information on SDO, visit http://www.nasa.gov/sdo. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In the control room at the Astrotech Space Operations facility in Titusville, Fla., a team of Kennedy Space Center spacecraft fueling specialists and engineers monitors data received from the clean room as technicians sample the monomethylhydrazine propellant that will be loaded aboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO. The hydrazine fuel is being sampled for purity before it is loaded aboard the spacecraft. The technicians are dressed in self-contained atmospheric protective ensemble suits, or SCAPE suits, as a safety precaution in the unlikely event that any of the highly toxic chemical should escape from the storage tank. The nitrogen tetroxide oxidizer was loaded earlier in the week which is customarily followed by loading of the fuel. Propellant loading is one of the final processing milestones before the spacecraft is encapsulated in its fairing for launch. SDO is the first mission in NASA's Living With a Star Program and is designed to study the causes of solar variability and its impacts on Earth. The spacecraft's long-term measurements will give solar scientists in-depth information to help characterize the interior of the Sun, the Sun's magnetic field, the hot plasma of the solar corona, and the density of radiation that creates the ionosphere of the planets. The information will be used to create better forecasts of space weather needed to protect the aircraft, satellites and astronauts living and working in space. Liftoff aboard an Atlas V rocket is targeted for Feb. 9 from Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. For information on SDO, visit http://www.nasa.gov/sdo. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller
In a clean room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory on Feb. 23, 2023, engineers and technicians use a crane to prepare to seal a specially designed, climate-controlled shipping container holding the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) science instrument payload. The payload was then shipped to Bengaluru, India, on March 3, arriving on March 6. There it will be integrated with the satellite body, or bus, and undergo further testing leading up to launch in 2024. The NISAR mission – a joint effort between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation – will observe nearly all the planet's land and ice surfaces twice every 12 days, measuring movements in extremely fine detail. It will also survey forests and agricultural regions to understand carbon exchange between plants and the atmosphere. NISAR's science payload will be the most advanced radar system ever launched as part of a NASA mission, and it will feature the largest-ever radar antenna of its kind: a drum-shaped, wire mesh reflector nearly 40 feet (12 meters) in diameter that will extend from a 30-foot (9-meter) boom. The mission's science instruments consist of L- and S-band radar, so named to indicate the wavelengths of their signals. ISRO built the S-band radar, which it shipped to JPL in March 2021. Engineers spent much of the last two years integrating the instrument with the JPL-built L-band system, then conducting tests to verify they work well together. JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, leads the U.S. component of NISAR. In addition to the L-band radar, NASA is also providing the radar reflector antenna, the deployable boom, a high-rate communication subsystem for science data, GPS receivers, a solid-state recorder, and payload data subsystem. In addition to the S-band radar, ISRO is providing the spacecraft bus, the launch vehicle, and associated launch services and satellite mission operations. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25567
The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) science instrument payload sits in its specially designed, climate-controlled shipping container in a clean room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory on Feb. 23, 2023. Engineers and technicians used a crane to lift the payload and mount it vertically onto a stage at the far end of the container before tilting it horizontally. The payload was then shipped to Bengaluru, India, on March 3, arriving on March 6. There it will be integrated with the satellite body, or bus, and undergo further testing leading up to launch in 2024. The NISAR mission – a joint effort between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation – will observe nearly all the planet's land and ice surfaces twice every 12 days, measuring movements in extremely fine detail. It will also survey forests and agricultural regions to understand carbon exchange between plants and the atmosphere. NISAR's science payload will be the most advanced radar system ever launched as part of a NASA mission, and it will feature the largest-ever radar antenna of its kind: a drum-shaped, wire mesh reflector nearly 40 feet (12 meters) in diameter that will extend from a 30-foot (9-meter) boom. The mission's science instruments consist of L- and S-band radar, so named to indicate the wavelengths of their signals. ISRO built the S-band radar, which it shipped to JPL in March 2021. Engineers spent much of the last two years integrating the instrument with the JPL-built L-band system, then conducting tests to verify they work well together. JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, leads the U.S. component of NISAR. In addition to the L-band radar, NASA is also providing the radar reflector antenna, the deployable boom, a high-rate communication subsystem for science data, GPS receivers, a solid-state recorder, and payload data subsystem. In addition to the S-band radar, ISRO is providing the spacecraft bus, the launch vehicle, and associated launch services and satellite mission operations. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25566
Members of the assembly, test, launch, and operations team for NASA's CADRE (Cooperative Autonomous Distributed Robotic Exploration) project pose in a clean room at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California on Jan. 26, 2024, with three lunar rovers after their completion. Bound for the Moon, CADRE is a technology demonstration designed to show that a group of robotic spacecraft can work together as a team to accomplish tasks and record data autonomously – without explicit commands from mission controllers on Earth. Seen behind the rovers are hardware elements that will be mounted on the lunar lander aboard which CADRE will arrive at the Moon: the situational awareness camera assembly (SACA), one of the deployers that will lower the rovers onto the lunar surface, and the base station with which the rovers will communicate via mesh network radios. Back row, from left: Wei Chen Wilson Yeh, Mark White, Nathan Cheek, Baylor de los Reyes, Jacqueline Sly, Blair Emanuel, Josh Miller, Jonathan Tan, Sawyer Brooks, Libby Boroson, Leroy Montalvo, Tonya Beatty, Bert Turney, George Dupas, Leo Ortiz, and Nelson Serrano. Front row, from left: Kristopher Sherril, Coleman Richdale, Russell Smith, Daniel Esguerra, Will Raff, Justin Schachter, and Clara Nguyen. Shown on the cellphone held by Smith are absent ATLO team members Ara Kourchians, Molly Shelton, and Randy Ballat. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA26165
One of three small lunar rovers that are part of a NASA technology demonstration called CADRE (Cooperative Autonomous Distributed Robotic Exploration) is prepared for shipping in a clean room at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California on Jan. 29, 2025. CADRE aims to prove that a group of robots can collaborate to gather data without receiving direct commands from mission controllers on Earth. Its trio of rovers will use their cameras and ground-penetrating radars to send back imagery of the lunar surface and subsurface while testing out the novel software systems that enable them to work together as a team autonomously. Before embarking on the first leg of a multistage journey to the Moon, each rover was mated to its deployer system, which will lower it via tether from an Intuitive Machines lander onto the dusty lunar surface. Engineers flipped each rover-deployer pair over and attached it to an aluminum plate for safe transit. The rovers were then sealed into protective metal-frame enclosures that were fitted snuggly into metal shipping containers and loaded onto a truck for the drive to Intuitive Machines' Houston facility. Here, members of the project's assembly, test, and launch operations team hold the upside-down rover by temporary red handles in order to move it to a table where they'll attach it to the aluminum plate. A division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, JPL manages CADRE for the Game Changing Development program within NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate in Washington. The technology demonstration was selected under the agency's Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative, which was established to expedite the development of technologies for sustained presence on the lunar surface. CADRE will launch as a payload on the third lunar lander mission by Intuitive Machines, called IM-3, under NASA's CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative, which is managed by the agency's Science Mission Directorate, also in Washington. The agency's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland and its Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, California, both supported the project. Motiv Space Systems designed and built key hardware elements at the company's Pasadena facility. Clemson University in South Carolina contributed research in support of the project. For more about CADRE, go to: https://go.nasa.gov/cadre https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA26427