Acting NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk, left, and Jody Singer, director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, right, high five following a second hot fire test of the core stage for the first flight of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket in the B-2 Test Stand, Thursday, March 18, 2021, at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. The four RS-25 engines fired for the full-duration of 8 minutes during the test and generated 1.6 million pounds of thrust. The hot fire test is the final stage of the Green Run test series, a comprehensive assessment of the Space Launch System’s core stage prior to launching the Artemis I mission to the Moon. Photo Credit: (NASA/Robert Markowitz)
Second Hot Fire Test of SLS Rocket Core Stage
Air Force Two lands with Vice President Mike Pence along with Congressman Robert Aderholt at the Redstone Army Airfield in Huntsville, Alabama, on Monday, Sept. 25. They were greeted by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center Director Todd May and Redstone Arsenal’s Lt. Gen. Edward Daly. The Vice President is visiting NASA’s Marshall Center to meet with employees, view test hardware for NASA’s Space Launch System — America’s new deep-space rocket, and tour the Payload Operations Integration Center, “science central” for the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Emmett Given)
Vice President Pence Visits Marshall Space Flight Center
Douglas R. Cooke, Associate Administrator for Exploration Systems Mission Directorate, at podium, addresses the Human Space Flight Review Committee, Wednesday, June 17, 2009, at the Carnegie Institution in Washington. The panel will examine ongoing and planned NASA development activities and potential alternatives in order to present options for advancing a safe, innovative, affordable and sustainable human space flight program following the space shuttle's retirement. The committee wil present its results by August 2009. Seated from left on the panel is Jeffrey Greason, Bohdan Bejmuk, Dr. Leroy Chiao, Norman Augustine (chair), Dr. Wanda Austin, Dr. Edward Crawley, Dr. Christopher Chyba and Philip McAlister. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)
Human Space Flight Plans Committee
Mr. David A. King has been named the tenth Director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). Appointed to take Director's office June 15, 2003, King has been serving as Deputy Director of MSFC since November 2002. With 20 years experience in spacecraft and high-technology systems, Mr. King began his NASA career at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Florida in 1983 as a main propulsion system engineer. He later served as flow director for the Space Shuttle Discovery and then as the acting deputy director of the installation Operations Directorate. He was appointed deputy director of Shuttle Processing in 1996, Launch Director in 1997, and director of Shuttle Processing in 1999.
Around Marshall
Pictured in front of the Saturn 1 launch vehicle are (L to R): Dr. Rocco Petrone, Director of Launch Operations at Kennedy Space Center; Dr. Werher von Braun, Director of Marshall Space Flight Center; Dr. Oswald Lange, Director of the Saturn Systems Office; Mr. Hans. H. Maus, Director of Fabrication and Assembly Engineering Division; and Dr. Hans Gruene, Deputy Director of Launch Operations Directorate. Maus and Gruene were original members of von Braun's rocket team.
Saturn Apollo Program
Clayton Turner, director of NASA’s Langley Research Center, third from right, speaks before a panel discussion with agency center directors during the 2024 Artemis Suppliers Conference, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington. Participating in the discussion was, from left; Kelvin Manning, acting deputy associate administrator for the Explorations Systems Development Mission Directorate at NASA; Dr. James Kenyon, director of NASA’s Glenn Research Center; Dr. Makenzie Lystrup, director of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center; Stephen Koerner, deputy director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center; Janet Petro, director of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center; Joseph Pelfrey, director of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center; and Joe Schuyler, director of the Engineering and Test Directorate at NASA’s Stennis Space Center. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
NASA Leadership at 2024 Artemis Suppliers Conference
Kelvin Manning, acting deputy associate administrator for the Explorations Systems Development Mission Directorate at NASA, left, speaks before a panel discussion with agency center directors during the 2024 Artemis Suppliers Conference, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington. Participating in the discussion was, from left; Dr. James Kenyon, director of NASA’s Glenn Research Center; Dr. Makenzie Lystrup, director of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center; Stephen Koerner, deputy director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center; Janet Petro, director of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center; Clayton Turner, director of NASA’s Langley Research Center; Joseph Pelfrey, director of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center; and Joe Schuyler, director of the Engineering and Test Directorate at NASA’s Stennis Space Center. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
NASA Leadership at 2024 Artemis Suppliers Conference
Dr. Makenzie Lystrup, director of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, third from left, speaks before a panel discussion with agency center directors during the 2024 Artemis Suppliers Conference, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington. Participating in the discussion was, from left; Kelvin Manning, acting deputy associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate at NASA; Dr. James Kenyon, director of NASA’s Glenn Research Center; Stephen Koerner, deputy director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center; Janet Petro, director of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center; Clayton Turner, director of NASA’s Langley Research Center; Joseph Pelfrey, director of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center; and Joe Schuyler, director of the Engineering and Test Directorate at NASA’s Stennis Space Center. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
NASA Leadership at 2024 Artemis Suppliers Conference
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -  At the airport in San Jose, Costa Rica, the NASA hangar is dedicated. The speaker is Hermann Faith, executive director, Costa Rica-USA (CRUSA) Foundation. At the table are (from left) Dr. Jorge Andres Diaz, head scientiest CARTA mission; Gary Shelton, NASA deployment manager; Dr. Pedro Leon, general director, National Center for Advanced Technology (CENAT); Dr. Rogelio Pardo, minister of science and tchnology; John Danilovioch, U.S. ambassador to Costa Rica; and Lic. Vilma Lopez, subdirector, Civil Aviation (DGAC).  NASA KSC has been testing its Aircraft-based Volcanic Emission Mass Spectrometer (AVEMS) in flights over the Turrialba volcano and in the crater, sampling and analyzing fresh volcanic gases in their natural chemical state.  The AVEMS system has been developed for use in the Space Shuttle program, to detect toxic gas leaks and emissions in the Shuttle’s aft compartment and the crew compartment.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - At the airport in San Jose, Costa Rica, the NASA hangar is dedicated. The speaker is Hermann Faith, executive director, Costa Rica-USA (CRUSA) Foundation. At the table are (from left) Dr. Jorge Andres Diaz, head scientiest CARTA mission; Gary Shelton, NASA deployment manager; Dr. Pedro Leon, general director, National Center for Advanced Technology (CENAT); Dr. Rogelio Pardo, minister of science and tchnology; John Danilovioch, U.S. ambassador to Costa Rica; and Lic. Vilma Lopez, subdirector, Civil Aviation (DGAC). NASA KSC has been testing its Aircraft-based Volcanic Emission Mass Spectrometer (AVEMS) in flights over the Turrialba volcano and in the crater, sampling and analyzing fresh volcanic gases in their natural chemical state. The AVEMS system has been developed for use in the Space Shuttle program, to detect toxic gas leaks and emissions in the Shuttle’s aft compartment and the crew compartment.
The ribbon is cut and the new Checkout and Launch Control System (CLCS) declared operational. Those taking part in the ceremony are (from left) Joseph Rothenberg, NASA Associate Administrator for Space Flight; Pam Gillespie, from Rep. Dave Weldon's office; Roy Bridges, Kennedy Space Center director; Dave King, director of Shuttle Processing; Retha Hart, deputy associate director, Spaceport Technology Management Office; and Ron Dittemore, manager, Space Shuttle Program. The new control room will be used to process the Orbital Maneuvering System pods and Forward Reaction Control System modules at the HMF. This hardware is removed from Space Shuttle orbiters and routinely taken to the HMF for checkout and servicing
KSC-00pp1244
The ribbon is cut and the new Checkout and Launch Control System (CLCS) declared operational. Those taking part in the ceremony are (from left) Joseph Rothenberg, NASA Associate Administrator for Space Flight; Pam Gillespie, from Rep. Dave Weldon's office; Roy Bridges, Kennedy Space Center director; Dave King, director of Shuttle Processing; Retha Hart, deputy associate director, Spaceport Technology Management Office; and Ron Dittemore, manager, Space Shuttle Program. The new control room will be used to process the Orbital Maneuvering System pods and Forward Reaction Control System modules at the HMF. This hardware is removed from Space Shuttle orbiters and routinely taken to the HMF for checkout and servicing
KSC00pp1244
During the meeting, Dr. Calvin and center leaders will explore how technologies being developed at NASA Glenn could help reduce the effects of climate change. The panelists who will be leading the discussion include: Dr. Calvin; Larry Sivic, Associate Director; Dr. Rickey Shyne, Director of Research and Engineering; Bryan Smith, Director of Facilities, Test, & Manufacturing; and W. Allen Kilgore, Acting Director of Aeronautics. Director of Space Flight Systems Dr. Mike Barrett will serve as the moderator.
Climate Town Hall with Chief Scientist and Senior Climate Advisor Dr. Kate Calvin
During the meeting, Dr. Calvin and center leaders will explore how technologies being developed at NASA Glenn could help reduce the effects of climate change. The panelists who will be leading the discussion include: Dr. Calvin; Larry Sivic, Associate Director; Dr. Rickey Shyne, Director of Research and Engineering; Bryan Smith, Director of Facilities, Test, & Manufacturing; and W. Allen Kilgore, Acting Director of Aeronautics. Director of Space Flight Systems Dr. Mike Barrett will serve as the moderator.
Climate Town Hall with Chief Scientist and Senior Climate Advisor Dr. Kate Calvin
Barbara L. Brown, director of Exploration Research and Technology Programs at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, poses for a portrait inside the spaceport’s Space Station Processing Facility High Bay on Aug. 5, 2022. Brown leads processing, assembly, integration, and test of payloads and flight science experiments bound for the International Space Station. Additionally, Brown serves as Kennedy’s lead for the formulation of concepts to support uncrewed operations on the Moon and Mars, directing research, development, testing, and demonstration of flight systems and technologies to advance exploration and space systems. The programs and projects under her purview span NASA’s Exploration Systems, Science, Space Operations, and Space Technology mission directorates.
Portraits of Barbara Brown
Kennedy Space Center deputy director Kelvin Manning, left, NASA Kennedy Space Center director Janet Petro, NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, and NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, welcome Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff as they arrive at the Launch and Landing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center ahead of the launch of Artemis I, Monday, Aug. 29, 2022, in Florida. NASA’s Artemis I flight test is the first integrated flight test of the agency’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, and ground systems.  Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
Artemis I Preflight
The Safety and Mission Assurance Directors from all NASA centers came together July 26-28, 2016 at Goddard Space Flight Center for their quarterly meeting. As part of the event, the attendees received a tour of the facilities and a briefing from the Goddard's Solar System Exploration Division Director Dr. Paul Mahaffy.
SMA Directors Meeting
Dr. Wernher von Braun, Director of the Marshall Space Flight Center (right), listens to an explanation of an advanced orbiting observatory concept from MSFC employees Ted Carey, Vehicle and Mission Analysis Office (left), and Frank Williams, Director of Advanced Systems Office.
Wernher von Braun
S70-35013 (15 April 1970) --- Prototype of the "mail box" constructed at the Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC) to remove carbon dioxide from the Apollo 13 Command Module (CM) is displayed in the Mission Control Center (MCC).  The "mail box" was constructed when it became apparent CO2 was prevalent in the CM and the spacecraft's lithium hydroxide system was not removing it sufficiently.  A space suit exhaust hose is connected to a lithium hydroxide canister to purge the cabin air.  There are 16 such canisters in the CM and each will last approximately 12 hours.  Looking at the "mail box" are (from the left): Milton L. Windler, shift 1 flight director; Dr. Donald K. (Deke) Slayton, director of flight crew operations, MSC; Howard W. Tindall, deputy director, flight operations, MSC; Sigurd A. Sjoberg, director, flight operations, MSC; Dr. Christopher C. Kraft, deputy director, MSC; and Dr. Robert R. Gilruth, director, MSC.
S70-35013
During the climate town hall meeting on June 17th 2024, Dr. Calvin and center leaders explored how technologies being developed at NASA Glenn Research Center could help reduce the effects of climate change. The panelists who lead the discussion include: Dr. Calvin; Dr. Rickey Shyne, Director of Research and Engineering; Bryan Smith, Director of Facilities, Test, & Manufacturing; and W. Allen Kilgore, Acting Director of Aeronautics. Director of Space Flight Systems Dr. Mike Barrett served as the moderator.
Climate Town Hall with Chief Scientist and Senior Climate Advisor Dr. Kate Calvin
During the climate town hall meeting on June 17th 2024, Dr. Calvin and center leaders explored how technologies being developed at NASA Glenn Research Center could help reduce the effects of climate change. The panelists who lead the discussion include: Dr. Calvin; Dr. Rickey Shyne, Director of Research and Engineering; Bryan Smith, Director of Facilities, Test, & Manufacturing; and W. Allen Kilgore, Acting Director of Aeronautics. Director of Space Flight Systems Dr. Mike Barrett served as the moderator.
Climate Town Hall with Chief Scientist and Senior Climate Advisor Dr. Kate Calvin
During the climate town hall meeting on June 17th 2024, Dr. Calvin and center leaders explored how technologies being developed at NASA Glenn Research Center could help reduce the effects of climate change. The panelists who lead the discussion include: Dr. Calvin; Dr. Rickey Shyne, Director of Research and Engineering; Bryan Smith, Director of Facilities, Test, & Manufacturing; and W. Allen Kilgore, Acting Director of Aeronautics. Director of Space Flight Systems Dr. Mike Barrett served as the moderator.
Climate Town Hall with Chief Scientist and Senior Climate Advisor Dr. Kate Calvin
TODD MAY TALKS ABOUT NASA'S SPACE LAUNCH SYSTEM AND OTHER MISSIONS IN HIS OFFICE AT NASA'S MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER IN HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA. MAY WAS NAMED DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF MARSHALL IN AUGUST 2015.
Todd May talks about SLS
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- James C. Harrington, second from left, director of the Spacelab program for NASA, discusses the program during a European Space Agency briefing held when the orbital laboratory was dedicated on Feb. 5, 1982.  With Harrington, seated from left, are Hugh Harris, head of the Public Information Branch, NASA Office of Public Affairs; Michel Bignier, director of Space Transportation Systems, ESA; and Michael Sander, director, Spacelab Flight Division, NASA.
KSC-82pc-109
Twelve scientific specialists of the Peenemuende team at the front of Building 4488, Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Alabama. They led the Army's space efforts at ABMA before transfer of the team to National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA), George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). (Left to right) Dr. Ernst Stuhlinger, Director, Research Projects Office; Dr. Helmut Hoelzer, Director, Computation Laboratory: Karl L. Heimburg, Director, Test Laboratory; Dr. Ernst Geissler, Director, Aeroballistics Laboratory; Erich W. Neubert, Director, Systems Analysis Reliability Laboratory; Dr. Walter Haeussermarn, Director, Guidance and Control Laboratory; Dr. Wernher von Braun, Director Development Operations Division; William A. Mrazek, Director, Structures and Mechanics Laboratory; Hans Hueter, Director, System Support Equipment Laboratory;Eberhard Rees, Deputy Director, Development Operations Division; Dr. Kurt Debus, Director Missile Firing Laboratory; Hans H. Maus, Director, Fabrication and Assembly Engineering Laboratory
Origin of Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)
From left, Kennedy Space Center Deputy Director Janet Petro, Director Bob Cabana, Exploration Ground Systems’ (EGS) Senior Vehicle Operations Manager Cliff Lanham, Space Launch System (SLS) Stages Manager Julie Bassler, and Associate Director, Technical, Kelvin Manning celebrate the arrival of the SLS core stage on April 28, 2021, with a symbolic “passing of the baton” from the SLS program to EGS. Journeying from NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi aboard the Pegasus barge, the core stage arrived at the Florida spaceport on April 27 to be processed for flight by EGS. It is the final piece of Artemis hardware to arrive at Kennedy and will be offloaded and moved to the Vehicle Assembly Building, where it will be prepared for integration atop the mobile launcher with the completed stack of solid rocket boosters ahead of the Artemis I launch. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test SLS and Orion as an integrated system prior to crewed flights to the Moon.
Artemis I Core Stage Arrival at KSC: SLS to EGS Handover
MORE THAN 250 PEOPLE FROM ACROSS NASA'S MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER PARTICIPATED IN THE SPACE LAUNCH SYSTEM (SLS) POST-PRELIMINARY DESIGN REVIEW REPORT, HELD AUG. 5 IN ACTIVITIES BUILDING 4316. DISCUSSING THE REVIEW AND THANKING THE MARSHALL TEAM FOR A JOB WELL DONE, ARE FROM LEFT, GARRY LYLES, SLS CHIEF ENGINEER; TODD MAY, MANAGER OF THE SLS PROGRAM; STEVE CASH, DIRECTOR OF MARSHALL’S SAFETY & MISSION ASSURANCE DIRECTORATE; AND CHRIS SINGER, MANAGER OF MARSHALL’S ENGINEERING DIRECTORATE
1300906
NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Director Jody Singer, left, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Deputy Program manager, Space Launch System Program, Chris Cianciola, U.S. Representative Randy Weber (R-TX), and Boeing Director of operations at Michoud Assembly Facility Jennifer Boland-Masterson, right, view the core stage for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket that will help power the first Artemis mission to the Moon, Monday, Dec. 9, 2019, at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. Through Artemis NASA will land the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
Artemis Day, Unveiling of Moon Mission Rocket Stage
From left, Jeremy Graeber, chief NASA test director, and Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, Artemis 1 launch director, participate in validation testing inside Firing Room 1 in the Launch Control Center at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 11, 2019.  The launch team includes personnel with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) and Jacobs Test and Operations Contract (TOSC). The simulation was designed to validate the firing room consoles and communications systems, as well as the new Spaceport Command and Control System (SCCS), which will operate, monitor and coordinate ground equipment in preparation for Artemis 1, the uncrewed first flight of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft.
Artemis Launch Team Validation Simulation in Firing Room 1
S73-31875 (2 Aug. 1973) --- After learning of a problem in the Command/Service Module which was used to transport the Skylab 3 crew to the orbiting Skylab space station cluster, NASA officials held various meetings to discuss the problem. Here, four men monitor the current status of the problem in the Mission Operations Control Room (MOCR) of the Mission Control Center (MCC) at the Johnson Space Center (JSC). From the left are Gary E. Coen, Guidance and Navigation System flight controller; Howard W. Tindall Jr., Director of Flight Operations at JSC; Dr. Christopher C. Kraft Jr., JSC Director; and Sigurd A. Sjoberg, JSC Deputy Director. Photo credit: NASA
NASA OFFICIALS - MISSION OPERATIONS CONROL ROOM (MOCR) - MONITORING PROBLEMS - SKYLAB (SL)-3 COMMAND MODULE (CM) - JSC
Air Force Two is seen as it arrives at the Launch and Landing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center ahead of the first launch attempt of Artemis I, Monday, Aug. 29, 2022, in Florida. NASA’s Artemis I flight test is the first integrated flight test of the agency’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, and ground systems. The launch director halted today’s launch attempt at approximately 8:30 a.m. ET. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Artemis I Preflight
Air Force Two is seen as it arrives at the Launch and Landing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center ahead of the launch of Artemis I, Monday, Aug. 29, 2022, in Florida. NASA’s Artemis I flight test is the first integrated flight test of the agency’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, and ground systems. The launch director halted today’s launch attempt at approximately 8:30 a.m. ET. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Artemis I Preflight
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. --  In the firing room, Bill Parsons (left), director of NASA's Kennedy Space Center, and Dave King, director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, discuss the imminent launch of space shuttle Discovery on its STS-124 mission.  Discovery is making its 35th flight.  The STS-124 mission is the 26th in the assembly of the space station.  It is the second of three flights launching components to complete the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory.  The shuttle crew will install Kibo's large Japanese Pressurized Module and its remote manipulator system, or RMS.  The 14-day flight includes three spacewalks. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
KSC-08pd1534
NASA MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER DIRECTOR TODD MAY TALKS ABOUT HIS VISION FOR THE CENTER DURING AN ALL-HANDS MEETING JUNE 22 IN MORRIS AUDITORIUM, AND BROADCAST CENTERWIDE. ALSO SPEAKING TO THE MARSHALL TEAM AND TAKING QUESTIONS DURING THE EVENT ARE, FROM LEFT, MARSHALL DEPUTY DIRECTOR JODY SINGER, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR ROBIN HENDERSON AND ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, TECHNICAL, PAUL MCCONNAUGHEY. "WE'RE IN THE BUSINESS OF MAKING THE IMPOSSIBLE POSSIBLE," SAID MAY, CITING PROGRESS ON THE SPACE LAUNCH SYSTEM AND THE JOURNEY TO MARS AND RECOUNTING HIGHLIGHTS OF MARSHALL'S 56-YEAR HISTORY.
TODD MAY ADDRESSES ALL HANDS
Lakiesha Hawkins, Assistant Deputy Associate Administrator for the Moon to Mars (M2M) Program within the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate (ESDMD), takes a peak at the Payload Adapter test article at Marshall Space Flight Center. The adapter, which will debut on NASA’s Artemis IV mission, is an evolution from the Orion stage adapter used in the Block 1 configuration of the rocket for the first three Artemis missions. It will be housed inside the universal stage adapter atop the rocket’s more powerful in-space stage, called the exploration upper stage. The payload adapter, like the launch vehicle stage adapter and the Orion stage adapter, is fully manufactured and tested at Marshall, which manages the SLS Program.
Lakiesha Hawkins Climbs into the Payload Adapter Test Article
On August 15, 2018 NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine visited Marshall Space Flight Center. Upon his arrival he was greeted by MSFC Acting Director Jody Singer along with the senior management team. During his tour of the Marshall Center, Bridenstine visited the System Integration Lab and the Software Integration and Testing Facility where Marshall is supporting end-to-end integrated avionics and software integration, check-out, verification and validation for the systems that will control the Space Launch System rocket during its flight and ascent.
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine visits Marshall Space Flight
On August 15, 2018 NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine visited Marshall Space Flight Center. Upon his arrival he was greeted by MSFC Acting Director Jody Singer along with the senior management team. During his tour of the Marshall Center, Bridenstine visited the System Integration Lab and the Software Integration and Testing Facility where Marshall is supporting end-to-end integrated avionics and software integration, check-out, verification and validation for the systems that will control the Space Launch System rocket during its flight and ascent.
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine visits Marshall Space Flight
On August 15, 2018 NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine visited Marshall Space Flight Center. Upon his arrival he was greeted by MSFC Acting Director Jody Singer along with the senior management team. During his tour of the Marshall Center, Bridenstine visited the System Integration Lab and the Software Integration and Testing Facility where Marshall is supporting end-to-end integrated avionics and software integration, check-out, verification and validation for the systems that will control the Space Launch System rocket during its flight and ascent.
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine visits Marshall Space Flight
On August 15, 2018 NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine visited Marshall Space Flight Center. Upon his arrival he was greeted by MSFC Acting Director Jody Singer along with the senior management team. During his tour of the Marshall Center, Bridenstine visited the System Integration Lab and the Software Integration and Testing Facility where Marshall is supporting end-to-end integrated avionics and software integration, check-out, verification and validation for the systems that will control the Space Launch System rocket during its flight and ascent.
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine visits Marshall Space Flight
On August 15, 2018 NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine visited Marshall Space Flight Center. Upon his arrival he was greeted by MSFC Acting Director Jody Singer along with the senior management team. During his tour of the Marshall Center, Bridenstine visited the System Integration Lab and the Software Integration and Testing Facility where Marshall is supporting end-to-end integrated avionics and software integration, check-out, verification and validation for the systems that will control the Space Launch System rocket during its flight and ascent.
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine visits Marshall Space Flight
From left, John Ramsey, chief transformation officer for Jacobs; Jennifer Kunz, associate director, technical, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center; Lorna Kenna, vice president and general manager, Jacobs; Burt Summerfield, associate director, management, NASA Kennedy; Catherine Koerner, associate administrator for NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate; Kelvin Manning, deputy director, NASA Kennedy; Shawn Quinn, manager, NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems; Cliff Lanham, senior vehicle operations manager, NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems; Matthew Ramsey, Artemis II mission manager; Paul Hudson, Jacobs senior vehicle engineer; Jay Grow, Boeing’s associate chief engineer for Space Launch System Launch Operations; and Bill Muddle, lead RS-25 field engineer at Aerojet Rocketdyne, hold a banner to celebrate the arrival of the Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) core stage at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday, July 24, 2024. Journeying from NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans aboard the Pegasus barge, the core stage arrived at the Florida spaceport on July 23, 2024, to be processed for flight by NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems Program.
Artemis II Core Stage Offload and Transport to VAB - Group Photo
From left, John Ramsey, chief transformation officer for Jacobs; Jennifer Kunz, associate director, technical, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center; Lorna Kenna, vice president and general manager, Jacobs; Burt Summerfield, associate director, management, NASA Kennedy; Catherine Koerner, associate administrator for NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate; Kelvin Manning, deputy director, NASA Kennedy; Shawn Quinn, manager, NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems; Cliff Lanham, senior vehicle operations manager, NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems; Matthew Ramsey, Artemis II mission manager; Paul Hudson, Jacobs senior vehicle engineer; Jay Grow, Boeing’s associate chief engineer for Space Launch System Launch Operations; and Bill Muddle, lead RS-25 field engineer at Aerojet Rocketdyne, hold a banner to celebrate the arrival of the Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) core stage at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday, July 24, 2024. Journeying from NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans aboard the Pegasus barge, the core stage arrived at the Florida spaceport on July 23, 2024, to be processed for flight by NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems Program.
Artemis II Core Stage Offload and Transport to VAB - Group Photo
KSC Director Roy Bridges (right) views the new Checkout and Launch Control System (CLCS) at the Hypergolic Maintenance Facility (HMF). Looking on (left to right)are NASA Associate Administrator for Space Flight Joseph Rothenberg, United Space Alliance Lead IPT Frank Norris, KSC Deputy Center Director Jim Jennings, and Deputy Director of External Relations & Business Development Joe Gordon (behind Bridges). At the controls is Charles Novak, HMF programmer, United Space Alliance. The CLCS was declared operational in a ribbon cutting ceremony earlier. The new control room will be used to process the Orbital Maneuvering System pods and Forward Reaction Control System modules at the HMF. This hardware is removed from Space Shuttle orbiters and routinely taken to the HMF for checkout and servicing
KSC00pp1241
KSC Director Roy Bridges (right) views the new Checkout and Launch Control System (CLCS) at the Hypergolic Maintenance Facility (HMF). Looking on (left to right)are NASA Associate Administrator for Space Flight Joseph Rothenberg, United Space Alliance Lead IPT Frank Norris, KSC Deputy Center Director Jim Jennings, and Deputy Director of External Relations & Business Development Joe Gordon (behind Bridges). At the controls is Charles Novak, HMF programmer, United Space Alliance. The CLCS was declared operational in a ribbon cutting ceremony earlier. The new control room will be used to process the Orbital Maneuvering System pods and Forward Reaction Control System modules at the HMF. This hardware is removed from Space Shuttle orbiters and routinely taken to the HMF for checkout and servicing
KSC-00pp1241
From left: Jim Maser, senior vice president of the Space Business Unit of Aerojet Rocketdyne; acting NASA Administrator Steve Jurzyck; John Bailey, associate director of NASA's Stennis Space Center; Rick Gilbrech, director of NASA's Stennis Space Center; Mike McDaniel, general manager of Aerojet Rocketdyne at Stennis Space Center; Amy Growder, chief operating officer of Aerojet Rocketdyne; Mary Byrd, associate director of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center; and Jody Singer, director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center; pose for a picture giving a thumbs-up following a second hot fire test of the core stage for the first flight of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket in the B-2 Test Stand, Thursday, March 18, 2021, at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. The four RS-25 engines fired for the full-duration of 8 minutes during the test and generated 1.6 million pounds of thrust. The hot fire test is the final stage of the Green Run test series, a comprehensive assessment of the Space Launch System’s core stage prior to launching the Artemis I mission to the Moon.  Photo Credit: (NASA/Robert Markowitz)
Second Hot Fire Test of SLS Rocket Core Stage
Vice President Mike Pence, second from right; NASA Acting Administrator Robert Lightfoot, left; Deputy Director, Kennedy Space Center, Janet Petro, second from left; NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman, center; and Director, Kennedy Space Center, Robert Cabana, right, look at the Orion capsule that will fly on the first integrated flight with the Space Launch System rocket in 2019, during a tour of the Kennedy Space Center's Operations and Checkout Building.
Vice President Mike Pence visits Kennedy Space Center
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -  In the Space Station Processing Facility, Center Director Roy Bridges (left), Program Manager of the International Space Station (ISS) Randy Brinkley (second from left) and STS-98 Commander Ken Cockrell (right) applaud the unveiling of the name "Destiny" for the U.S. Laboratory module.  The lab, which is behnd them on a workstand, is scheduled to be launched on STS-98 on Space Shuttle Endeavour in early 2000.  It will become the centerpiece of scientific research on the ISS.  The Shuttle will spend six days docked to the Station while the laboratory is attached and three spacewalks are conducted to compete its assembly.  The laboratory will be launched with five equipment racks aboard, which will provide essential functions for Station systems, including high data-rate communications, and maintain the Station's orientation using control gyroscopes launched earlier.  Additional equipment and research racks will be installed in the laboratory on subsequent Shuttle flights.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Space Station Processing Facility, Center Director Roy Bridges (left), Program Manager of the International Space Station (ISS) Randy Brinkley (second from left) and STS-98 Commander Ken Cockrell (right) applaud the unveiling of the name "Destiny" for the U.S. Laboratory module. The lab, which is behnd them on a workstand, is scheduled to be launched on STS-98 on Space Shuttle Endeavour in early 2000. It will become the centerpiece of scientific research on the ISS. The Shuttle will spend six days docked to the Station while the laboratory is attached and three spacewalks are conducted to compete its assembly. The laboratory will be launched with five equipment racks aboard, which will provide essential functions for Station systems, including high data-rate communications, and maintain the Station's orientation using control gyroscopes launched earlier. Additional equipment and research racks will be installed in the laboratory on subsequent Shuttle flights.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA Headquarters in Washington and the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA leaders spoke to members of the new media about how the first flight of the new Orion spacecraft is a first step in the agency's plans to send humans to Mars. Seen on a video monitor at Kennedy, Headquarter participants, from the left are: Trent Perrotto of NASA Public Affairs, Jason Crusan, director of Advanced Exploration Systems Division of Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, Jim Reuther, deputy associate administrator for Programs, Space Technology Mission Directorate, and Jim Green, director of Planetary Division of the Science Mission Directorate.      Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to destinations not yet explored by humans, including an asteroid and Mars. It will have emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. The first unpiloted flight test of Orion is scheduled to launch Dec. 4, 2014 atop a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket, and in 2018 on NASA’s Space Launch System rocket. For more information, visit www.nasa.gov/orion Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
KSC-2014-4626
At NASA Headquarters in Washington and the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA leaders spoke to members of the new media about how the first flight of the new Orion spacecraft is a first step in the agency's plans to send humans to Mars. Seen on a video monitor at Kennedy, Headquarter participants, from the left are: Trent Perrotto of NASA Public Affairs, Jason Crusan, director of Advanced Exploration Systems Division of Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, Jim Reuther, deputy associate administrator for Programs, Space Technology Mission Directorate, and Jim Green, director of Planetary Division of the Science Mission Directorate. Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to destinations not yet explored by humans, including an asteroid and Mars. It will have emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. The first unpiloted flight test of Orion is scheduled to launch Dec. 4, 2014 atop a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket, and in 2018 on NASA’s Space Launch System rocket.
Orion Journey to Mars, L-2 Briefing
Melissa Jones, NASA Landing and Recovery Director for Exploration Ground Systems, participates in an Artemis I detailed mission briefing inside the Press Site auditorium at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Aug. 5, 2022. Jones leads the Artemis I Recovery Team partnered with the U.S. Navy that will recover the Artemis I Orion crew module from the Pacific Ocean after splashdown. Also participating in the briefing from NASA’s Johnson Space Center were Debbie Korth, Orion program deputy manager; Rick LaBrode, lead Artemis I flight director; Judd Frieling, Artemis I ascent/entry flight director; Reid Wiseman, chief astronaut; and Philippe Deloo, Orion European Service Module program manager, European Space Agency. The first in an increasingly complex series of missions, Artemis I is an uncrewed flight test to test the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft as an integrated system prior to crewed flights to the Moon. Through Artemis, NASA will land the first woman and first person of color on the lunar surface, paving the way for long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone before venturing to Mars.
Artemis I Mission Briefing from JSC
Melissa Jones, NASA Landing and Recovery Director for Exploration Ground Systems, participates in an Artemis I detailed mission briefing inside the Press Site auditorium at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Aug. 5, 2022. Jones leads the Artemis I Recovery Team partnered with the U.S. Navy that will recover the Artemis I Orion crew module from the Pacific Ocean after splashdown. Also participating in the briefing from NASA’s Johnson Space Center were Debbie Korth, Orion program deputy manager; Rick LaBrode, lead Artemis I flight director; Judd Frieling, Artemis I ascent/entry flight director; Reid Wiseman, chief astronaut; and Philippe Deloo, Orion European Service Module program manager, European Space Agency. The first in an increasingly complex series of missions, Artemis I is an uncrewed flight test to test the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft as an integrated system prior to crewed flights to the Moon. Through Artemis, NASA will land the first woman and first person of color on the lunar surface, paving the way for long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone before venturing to Mars.
Artemis I Mission Briefing from JSC
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The Orion crew module, stacked atop its service module, is being prepared for its move out of the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. At far left is Kennedy Center Director Bob Cabana. To Cabana's left is Kennedy Deputy Director Janet Petro, and at far right is Kennedy Associate Director Kelvin Manning. The spacecraft for Exploration Flight Test-1 will be transported to the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility where it will be fueled ahead of its December flight test.       Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to destinations not yet explored by humans, including an asteroid and Mars. It will have emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. The first unpiloted test flight of the Orion is scheduled to launch atop a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida to an altitude of 3,600 miles above the Earth's surface. The two-orbit, four-hour flight test will help engineers evaluate the systems critical to crew safety including the heat shield, parachute system and launch abort system. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/orion. Photo credit: NASA/Daniel Casper
KSC-2014-3818
NASA Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate Thomas Zurbuchen delivers remarks during a panel discussion with NASA Social attendees, Saturday, Aug. 27, 2022, at the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Artemis I flight test is the first integrated flight test of the agency’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, and ground systems. Launch of the uncrewed flight test is targeted for no earlier than Aug. 29 at 8:33 a.m. ET. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)
Artemis I NASA Social Panel Discussion
NASA Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate Thomas Zurbuchen delivers remarks during a panel discussion with NASA Social attendees, Saturday, Aug. 27, 2022, at the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Artemis I flight test is the first integrated flight test of the agency’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, and ground systems. Launch of the uncrewed flight test is targeted for no earlier than Aug. 29 at 8:33 a.m. ET. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)
Artemis I NASA Social Panel Discussion
The district directors of the Florida Congressional Delegation for the U.S House of Representatives and Senate pause for a photo in front of the Orion crew module during a tour of the high bay in the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Nov. 9, 2017. Orion is undergoing processing to prepare it for its first uncrewed integrated flight atop the Space Launch System rocket on Artemis I. Twelve directors attended the tour, including Sean Beaudet, constituent advocate for Senator Bill Nelson; Patrick Gavin, district director for Congressman Bill Posey; and Dale Ketcham, chief of Strategic Alliances for Space Florida.
Florida Delegation Orion Tour
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA.  -  Space Shuttle Program managers, directors and engineers man the consoles in the Launch Control Center.  They are taking part in an End-to-End (ETE) Mission Management Team (MMT) launch simulation at KSC.  In Firing Room 1 at KSC, Shuttle launch team members put the Shuttle system through an integrated simulation. The control room is set up with software used to simulate flight and ground systems in the launch configuration.  Seated in the center is Bob Sieck, a member of the Stafford-Covey Shuttle Return to Flight Task Group; at his left is Forrest McCartney, former Kennedy Space Center director.  Sieck served as launch director and director of Shuttle Processing in the 80s and 90s.  The ETE MMT simulation included L-2 and L-1 day Prelaunch MMT meetings, an external tanking_weather briefing, and a launch countdown.  The ETE transitioned to the Johnson Space Center for the flight portion of the simulation, with the STS-114 crew in a simulator at JSC.  Such simulations are common before a launch to keep the Shuttle launch team sharp and ready for liftoff.
KSC-05pd-0358
Artemis I Launch Director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, left, and Assistant Launch Director Jeremy Graeber participate in a wet dress rehearsal for the Artemis I mission on April 14, 2022, inside Firing Room 1 in the Launch Control Center at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The wet dress rehearsal is the final major test before launch and allows the launch team to run through all countdown operations prior to liftoff. The first in an increasingly complex series of missions, Artemis I will test NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft as an integrated system prior to crewed flights to the Moon.
Artemis I Wet Dress Rehearsal
Kennedy Space Center Associate Director Kelvin Manning, right, speaks with a guest during a ceremony  marking NASA's Spacecraft/Payload Integration and Evolution (SPIE) organization formally turning over processing of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket's Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) to the center's Ground Systems Development and Operations (GSDO) Directorate. The ICPS is the first integrated piece of flight hardware to arrive in preparation for the uncrewed Exploration Mission-1. With the Orion attached, the ICPS sits atop the SLS rocket and will provide the spacecraft with the additional thrust needed to travel tens of thousands of miles beyond the Moon.
ICPS Turnover GSDO Employee Event
Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, left, launch director for Artemis 1, and Jeremy Graeber, right, chief NASA test director, monitor activities during the first formal terminal countdown simulation inside Firing Room 1 in the Launch Control Center at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 12, 2019.  This was the first in a series of simulations to help the members of the launch team, including personnel with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) and Jacobs Test and Operations Contract (TOSC), prepare for the launch of Artemis 1, the uncrewed first flight of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft.
Artemis Launch Team's First Formal Terminal Countdown Simulation
NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen atop the mobile launcher at Launch Pad 39B, Monday, Aug. 29, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Artemis I flight test is the first integrated test of the agency’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, SLS rocket, and supporting ground systems. The launch director halted today’s launch attempt at approximately 8:30 a.m. ET. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Artemis I Preflight
NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen atop the mobile launcher at Launch Pad 39B, Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Artemis I flight test is the first integrated test of the agency’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, SLS rocket, and supporting ground systems. The launch director waived off today’s Artemis I launch attempt at approximately 11:17 a.m. EDT.  Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Artemis I Prelaunch
NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen atop the mobile launcher at Launch Pad 39B, Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Artemis I flight test is the first integrated test of the agency’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, SLS rocket, and supporting ground systems. The launch director waived off today’s Artemis I launch attempt at approximately 11:17 a.m. EDT.  Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Artemis I Preflight
Mike Bolger, Ground Systems Development and Operations Program manager at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, speaks to guests during a ceremony in the high bay of the Space Station Processing Facility. The event marked the milestone of the Space Launch System rocket's Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) being turned over from NASA's Spacecraft/Payload Integration and Evolution organization to the spaceport's Ground Systems Development and Operations directorate. The ICPS is the first integrated piece of flight hardware to arrive in preparation for the uncrewed Exploration Mission-1.
ICPS Turnover GSDO Employee Event
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Constellation Program Manager Jeff Hanley addresses a post-launch news conference in the Press Site auditorium following the successful launch of the Ares I-X test rocket at 11:30 a.m. EDT Oct. 28. From left, are, Doug Cooke, associate administrator for NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate; Hanley; Bob Ess, mission manager for the Ares I-X flight test; and Edward Mango, launch director for the Ares I-X flight test. For more information on the Ares I-X vehicle and flight test, visit http://www.nasa.gov/aresIX. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
KSC-2009-5955
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a post-launch news conference is held in the Press Site auditorium following the successful launch of the Ares I-X test rocket at 11:30 a.m. EDT Oct. 28. Smiling, from left, are Doug Cooke, associate administrator for NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate; Jeff Hanley, Constellation Program manager; Bob Ess, mission manager for the Ares I-X flight test; and Edward Mango, launch director for the Ares I-X flight test. For more information on the Ares I-X vehicle and flight test, visit http://www.nasa.gov/aresIX. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
KSC-2009-5954
This diagram shows the flow of recyclable resources in the International Space Station (ISS). The Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) Group of the Flight Projects Directorate at the Marshall Space Flight Center is responsible for the regenerative ECLSS hardware, as well as providing technical support for the rest of the system. The regenerative ECLSS, whose main components are the Water Recovery System (WRS), and the Oxygen Generation System (OGS), reclaims and recycles water and oxygen. The ECLSS maintains a pressurized habitation environment, provides water recovery and storage, maintains and provides fire detection / suppression, and provides breathable air and a comfortable atmosphere in which to live and work within the ISS. The ECLSS hardware will be located in the Node 3 module of the ISS.
International Space Station (ISS)
This diagram shows the flow of water recovery and management in the International Space Station (ISS). The Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) Group of the Flight Projects Directorate at the Marshall Space Flight Center is responsible for the regenerative ECLSS hardware, as well as providing technical support for the rest of the system. The regenerative ECLSS, whose main components are the Water Recovery System (WRS), and the Oxygen Generation System (OGS), reclaims and recycles water oxygen. The ECLSS maintains a pressurized habitation environment, provides water recovery and storage, maintains and provides fire detection/ suppression, and provides breathable air and a comfortable atmosphere in which to live and work within the ISS. The ECLSS hardware will be located in the Node 3 module of the ISS.
International Space Station (ISS)
NASA’s Kennedy Space Center senior managers (on right, front to back) Janet Sellars, director of Human Resources; Kimberlyn B. Carter, associate program manager for Exploration Ground Systems; Barbara L. Brown, director of Exploration Research and Technology Programs; and Hortense Blackwell, director of Center Engagement and Business Integration Services, pose with members of the all-female flight crew for Delta Air Lines’ Women Inspiring Our Next Generation (WING) flight after the crew touched down at the Launch and Landing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Friday, Sept. 22, 2023. The flight brought girls from Atlanta, Georgia, ranging in age from 12 to 18, to learn about the various careers available at the Florida spaceport. While at Kennedy, the group had the opportunity to view center facilities, hear from a panel of women with a combination of careers from Kennedy and Delta, and tour the visitor complex.
Delta Wing Event
In this Space Shuttle STS-102 mission image, the Payload Equipment Restraint System H-Strap is shown at the left side of the U.S. Laboratory hatch and behind Astronaut James D. Weatherbee, mission specialist. PERS is an integrated modular system of components designed to assist the crew of the International Space Station (ISS) in restraining and carrying necessary payload equipment and tools in a microgravity environment. The Operations Development Group, Flight Projects Directorate at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), while providing operation support to the ISS Materials Science Research Facility (MSRF), recognized the need for an on-orbit restraint system to facilitate control of lose objects, payloads, and tools. The PERS is the offspring of that need and it helps the ISS crew manage tools and rack components that would otherwise float away in the near-zero gravity environment aboard the Space Station. The system combines Kevlar straps, mesh pockets, Velcro and a variety of cornecting devices into a portable, adjustable system. The system includes the Single Strap, the H-Strap, the Belly Pack, the Laptop Restraint Belt, and the Tool Page Case. The Single Strap and the H-Strap were flown on this mission. The PERS concept was developed by industrial design students at Auburn University and the MSFC Flight Projects Directorate.
International Space Station (ISS)
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a news conference is held in the Press Site auditorium following the conclusion of the flight test readiness review, or FTRR, for the Ares I-X test rocket. From left are Doug Cooke, associate administrator for NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate; Bob Ess, mission manager for the Ares I-X flight test; and Edward Mango, launch director for the Ares I-X flight test.    During the meeting, senior NASA and contractor managers assessed the risks associated with the test and determined the rocket, support systems and procedures are ready for launch.  The Ares I-X launch date was announced after the FTRR and is officially set for Oct. 27.  For information on the Ares I-X vehicle and flight test, visit http://www.nasa.gov/aresIX.  Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller
KSC-2009-5865
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a news conference is held in the Press Site auditorium following the conclusion of the flight test readiness review, or FTRR, for the Ares I-X test rocket. From left are moderator George Diller, NASA Public Affairs officer; Doug Cooke, associate administrator for NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate; Bob Ess, mission manager for the Ares I-X flight test; and Edward Mango, launch director for the Ares I-X flight test.    During the meeting, senior NASA and contractor managers assessed the risks associated with the test and determined the rocket, support systems and procedures are ready for launch.  The Ares I-X launch date was announced after the FTRR and is officially set for Oct. 27.  For information on the Ares I-X vehicle and flight test, visit http://www.nasa.gov/aresIX.  Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller
KSC-2009-5861
In a panel discussion in the Kennedy Space Center’s Operations Support Building II, social media followers were briefed by NASA scientists on asteroids, how they relate to the origins of our solar system and the search for life beyond Earth. The discussion took place before launch of the agency’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Panelists for this conversation are, from the left, Ellen Stofan, NASA chief scientist; Michelle Thaller, deputy director of science communications for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate; Felicia Chou, NASA Communications; Alex Young, associate director for science in the Heliophysics Science Division at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland; and Lindley Johnson, director of the Planetary Defense Coordination Office in NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.
OSIRIS-REx "Uncovering the Secrets of Asteroids" Briefing
In a panel discussion in the Kennedy Space Center’s Operations Support Building II, social media followers were briefed by NASA scientists on asteroids, how they relate to the origins of our solar system and the search for life beyond Earth. The discussion took place before launch of the agency’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Panelists in view are, from the left, Felicia Chou, NASA Communications; Alex Young, associate director for science in the Heliophysics Science Division at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland; and Lindley Johnson, director of the Planetary Defense Coordination Office in NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. Also participating in the panel discussion are Ellen Stofan, NASA chief scientist and Michelle Thaller, deputy director of science communications for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.
OSIRIS-REx "Uncovering the Secrets of Asteroids" Briefing
In a panel discussion in the Kennedy Space Center’s Operations Support Building II, social media followers were briefed by NASA scientists on asteroids, how they relate to the origins of our solar system and the search for life beyond Earth. The discussion took place before launch of the agency’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Panelists for this conversation are, from the left, Ellen Stofan, NASA chief scientist; Michelle Thaller, deputy director of science communications for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate; Felicia Chou, NASA Communications; Alex Young, associate director for science in the Heliophysics Science Division at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland; and Lindley Johnson, director of the Planetary Defense Coordination Office in NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.
OSIRIS-REx "Uncovering the Secrets of Asteroids" Briefing
NASA Kennedy Space Center director Janet Petro, left, NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, and NASA Administrator Bill Nelson,  welcome Vice President Kamala Harris as she arrives at the Launch and Landing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center ahead of the planned launch of Artemis I, Monday, Aug. 29, 2022, in Florida. NASA’s Artemis I flight test is the first integrated flight test of the agency’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, and ground systems.  Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
Artemis I Preflight
Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, at left, NASA Artemis launch director; and Wes Mosedale, technical assistant to the launch director, monitor a cryogenic propellant loading simulation inside Firing Room 1 in the Launch Control Center on Nov. 2, 2020, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A team of engineers with Exploration Ground Systems and Jacobs, members of the cryogenics launch team, are rehearsing the steps to load the super-cooled liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen into the Space Launch System’s (SLS) core and second stages to prepare for Artemis I. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon. NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon in 2024.
LCC Cyro Team Ops
JSC2009-E-119745 (13 May 2009) --- Flight director Tony Ceccacci (left) and astronaut Dan Burbank, STS-125 spacecraft communicator (CAPCOM), monitor data at their consoles in the space shuttle flight control room in the Mission Control Center at NASA's Johnson Space Center during flight day three activities. The Hubble Space Telescope, grappled by Space Shuttle Atlantis? remote manipulator system (RMS), is visible on one of the big screens.
STS-125 Flight Controllers on Console During HST Grapple - Orbit 1. Flight Director: Tony Ceccacci
JSC2009-E-119746 (13 May 2009) --- Flight director Tony Ceccacci (left) and astronaut Dan Burbank, STS-125 spacecraft communicator (CAPCOM), monitor data at their consoles in the space shuttle flight control room in the Mission Control Center at NASA's Johnson Space Center during flight day three activities. The Hubble Space Telescope, grappled by Space Shuttle Atlantis? remote manipulator system (RMS), is visible on one of the big screens.
STS-125 Flight Controllers on Console During HST Grapple - Orbit 1. Flight Director: Tony Ceccacci
Rick Gilbrech, director of NASA's Stennis Space Center, left, and Jody Singer, director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, right, high five following a second hot fire test of the core stage for the first flight of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket in the B-2 Test Stand, Thursday, March 18, 2021, at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. The four RS-25 engines fired for the full-duration of 8 minutes during the test and generated 1.6 million pounds of thrust. The hot fire test is the final stage of the Green Run test series, a comprehensive assessment of the Space Launch System’s core stage prior to launching the Artemis I mission to the Moon.  Photo Credit: (NASA/Robert Markowitz)
Second Hot Fire Test of SLS Rocket Core Stage
The motorcade carrying Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff is seen at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center ahead of the first launch attempt of Artemis I, Monday, Aug. 29, 2022, in Florida. NASA’s Artemis I flight test is the first integrated flight test of the agency’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, and ground systems. The launch director halted today’s launch attempt at approximately 8:30 a.m. ET.  Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Artemis I Preflight
NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen atop the mobile launcher at Launch Pad 39B after the launch director halted the day’s launch attempt at approximately 8:30 a.m. EDT, Monday, Aug. 29, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Artemis I flight test is the first integrated test of the agency’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, SLS rocket, and supporting ground systems. Launch of the uncrewed flight test is targeted for Sept. 3 at 2:17 p.m. EDT.  Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Artemis I Prelaunch
From left, Artemis I Launch Director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, Technical Assistant to the Launch Director Wes Mosedale, and Assistant Launch Director Jeremy Graeber are photographed inside Firing Room 2 of the Rocco A. Petrone Launch Control Center at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida during a certification ceremony on Aug. 12, 2022. The ceremony was held to commemorate the certification of the Artemis I launch team following their launch simulation held in December 2021. During the ceremony, management staff handed out certificates to individual team members. The first in an increasingly complex series of missions, Artemis I will test NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft as an integrated system prior to crewed flights to the Moon. Through Artemis, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the lunar surface, paving the way for long-term lunar presence and using the Moon as a steppingstone before venturing to Mars.
Artemis I Award Certification Ceremony
Kathy Lueders, associate administrator, Space Operations Mission Directorate at NASA, participates in a postlaunch news conference following the liftoff of NASA Boeing’s Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) on May 19, 2022. Liftoff occurred at 6:54 p.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex-41 at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Boeing’s uncrewed flight test is designed to test the system’s end-to-end capabilities for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program providing valuable data towards NASA certifying Boeing’s crew transportation system for regular crewed flights to and from the International Space Station.
Boeing OFT-2 Post Launch News Conference
Kathy Lueders, associate administrator, Space Operations Mission Directorate at NASA, left, and Steve Stich, manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, right, participate in a postlaunch news conference following the liftoff of NASA Boeing’s Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) on May 19, 2022. Liftoff occurred at 6:54 p.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex-41 at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Boeing’s uncrewed flight test is designed to test the system’s end-to-end capabilities for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program providing valuable data towards NASA certifying Boeing’s crew transportation system for regular crewed flights to and from the International Space Station.
Boeing OFT-2 Post Launch News Conference
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Director Jody Singer, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Deputy Program manager, Space Launch System Program, Chris Cianciola, Boeing Director of operations at Michoud Assembly Facility Jennifer Boland-Masterson, U.S. Representative Randy Weber (R-TX), and Dayne Cutrell, Chief of Staff for Alabama Senator Richard Shelby, background, view the core stage for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket that will help power the first Artemis mission to the Moon, Monday, Dec. 9, 2019, at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. Through Artemis NASA will land the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
Artemis Day, Unveiling of Moon Mission Rocket Stage
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In the Kennedy Space Center’s Press Site auditorium, members of the news media are briefed on the upcoming Orion flight test by Jeremy Graeber, Orion Recovery Director in Ground Systems Development and Operations at Kennedy. Also participating in the news conference are Bryan Austin, Lockheed Martin mission manager, left, and Ron Fortson, United Launch Alliance director of Mission Management.      Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to destinations not yet explored by humans, including an asteroid and Mars. It will have emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. The first unpiloted flight test of Orion is scheduled to launch Dec. 4, 2014 atop a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket, and in 2018 on NASA’s Space Launch System rocket. For more information, visit www.nasa.gov/orion Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
KSC-2014-4393
In the Kennedy Space Center’s Press Site auditorium, members of the news media are briefed on the upcoming Orion flight test by Jeremy Graeber, Orion Recovery Director in Ground Systems Development and Operations at Kennedy. Also participating in the news conference are Bryan Austin, Lockheed Martin mission manager, left, and Ron Fortson, United Launch Alliance director of Mission Management. Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to destinations not yet explored by humans, including an asteroid and Mars. It will have emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. The first unpiloted flight test of Orion is scheduled to launch Dec. 4, 2014 atop a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket, and in 2018 on NASA’s Space Launch System rocket.
Orion Flight Test Preview Briefing
Artemis launch director, Charlie Blackwell-Thompson and associate administrator of NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, Kathryn Lueders finish coloring in the other eye of the Japanese Daruma doll to highlight the successful Artemis I mission on Dec. 20, 2022 in Firing Room 1 of the Rocco A. Petrone Launch Control Center at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency gave a Daruma doll to both Lueders and associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, Jim Free as a token of good luck prior to the Artemis I launch. Free filled in his eye on Dec. 11, 2022, with Artemis I Ascent and Entry Flight Director Judd Frieling in Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
Kathy Lueders and Charlie Blackwell-Thompson
Artemis launch director, Charlie Blackwell-Thompson and associate administrator of NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, Kathryn Lueders finish coloring in the other eye of the Japanese Daruma doll to highlight the successful Artemis I mission on Dec. 20, 2022 in Firing Room 1 of the Rocco A. Petrone Launch Control Center at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency gave a Daruma doll to both Lueders and associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, Jim Free as a token of good luck prior to the Artemis I launch. Free filled in his eye on Dec. 11, 2022, with Artemis I Ascent and Entry Flight Director Judd Frieling in Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
Kathy Lueders and Charlie Blackwell-Thompson
Artemis launch director, Charlie Blackwell-Thompson and associate administrator of NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, Kathryn Lueders finish coloring in the other eye of the Japanese Daruma doll to highlight the successful Artemis I mission on Dec. 20, 2022 in Firing Room 1 of the Rocco A. Petrone Launch Control Center at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency gave a Daruma doll to both Lueders and associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, Jim Free as a token of good luck prior to the Artemis I launch. Free filled in his eye on Dec. 11, 2022, with Artemis I Ascent and Entry Flight Director Judd Frieling in Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
Kathy Lueders and Charlie Blackwell-Thompson
Artemis launch director, Charlie Blackwell-Thompson and associate administrator of NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, Kathryn Lueders finish coloring in the other eye of the Japanese Daruma doll to highlight the successful Artemis I mission on Dec. 20, 2022 in Firing Room 1 of the Rocco A. Petrone Launch Control Center at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency gave a Daruma doll to both Lueders and associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, Jim Free as a token of good luck prior to the Artemis I launch. Free filled in his eye on Dec. 11, 2022, with Artemis I Ascent and Entry Flight Director Judd Frieling in Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
Kathy Lueders and Charlie Blackwell-Thompson
Artemis launch director, Charlie Blackwell-Thompson and associate administrator of NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, Kathryn Lueders finish coloring in the other eye of the Japanese Daruma doll to highlight the successful Artemis I mission on Dec. 20, 2022 in Firing Room 1 of the Rocco A. Petrone Launch Control Center at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency gave a Daruma doll to both Lueders and associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, Jim Free as a token of good luck prior to the Artemis I launch. Free filled in his eye on Dec. 11, 2022, with Artemis I Ascent and Entry Flight Director Judd Frieling in Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
Kathy Lueders and Charlie Blackwell-Thompson
NASA engineers and test directors gather in Firing Room 3 in the Launch Control Center at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, to watch a demonstration of the automated command and control software for the agency's Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion spacecraft. In front, far right, is Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, launch director for Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1). The software is called the Ground Launch Sequencer. It will be responsible for nearly all of the launch commit criteria during the final phases of launch countdowns. The Ground and Flight Application Software Team (GFAST) demonstrated the software. It was developed by the Command, Control and Communications team in the Ground Systems Development and Operations (GSDO) Program. GSDO is helping to prepare the center for the first test flight of Orion atop the SLS on EM-1.
GFAST Software Demonstration
Carla Rekucki, lead NASA test director in NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems (EGS), center, and other launch team members participate in validation testing inside Firing Room 1 in the Launch Control Center at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 11, 2019.  The team includes personnel with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) and Jacobs Test and Operations Contract (TOSC). The simulation was designed to validate the firing room consoles and communications systems, as well as the new Spaceport Command and Control System (SCCS), which will operate, monitor and coordinate ground equipment in preparation for Artemis 1, the uncrewed first flight of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft.
Artemis Launch Team Validation Simulation in Firing Room 1
The Payload Operations Center (POC) is the science command post for the International Space Station (ISS). Located at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, it is the focal point for American and international science activities aboard the ISS. The POC's unique capabilities allow science experts and researchers around the world to perform cutting-edge science in the unique microgravity environment of space. The POC is staffed around the clock by shifts of payload flight controllers. At any given time, 8 to 10 flight controllers are on consoles, operating, plarning for, and controlling various systems and payloads. This photograph shows the Payload Operations Director (POD) at work. The POD is the leader of the POC flight control team. The Director guides all payload activities in coordination with Mission Control at Johnson Space Center at Houston, Texas, the Station crew, the international partners, and other research facilities.
International Space Station (ISS)
Members of the news media view the 10 levels of new work platforms in High Bay 3 inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) during a tour of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida with Center Director Bob Cabana. The final platform, A north, was recently installed. The platforms will surround the Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft on the mobile launcher during processing to prepare for the first test flight. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades to the VAB, including installation of the new work platforms.
Cabana Multi-User Spaceport Tour of KSC
Artemis I Launch Director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson monitors activities during the ninth formal terminal countdown simulation inside Firing Room 1 in the Launch Control Center at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 24, 2021. Members of the Artemis I launch team include personnel with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) and contractor Jacobs. This is part of a series of simulations to help the team prepare for the launch of Artemis I, the uncrewed first flight of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft.
Artemis I Terminal Count Launch Simulation
Members of the Artemis I launch team are photographed inside Firing Room 1 of the Rocco A. Petrone Launch Control Center at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida prior to a certification ceremony on Aug. 12, 2022. From left are Laurie Sally, Space Launch System (SLS) test conductor; Josh Waters, assistant ground test conductor; Wes Mosedale, technical assistant to the launch director; Jeremy Graeber, assistant launch director; Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, launch director; Jeff Spaulding, senior NASA test director; Danny Zeno, NASA test director; Lucas Vojak, assistant Orion test conductor; and Terry Woxberg, Orion test conductor. The ceremony was held to commemorate the certification of the Artemis I launch team following their launch simulation held in December 2021. During the ceremony, senior members of the launch team handed out certificates to individual team members. The first in an increasingly complex series of missions, Artemis I will test the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft as an integrated system prior to crewed flights to the Moon. Through Artemis, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the lunar surface, paving the way for long-term lunar presence and using the Moon as a steppingstone before venturing to Mars.
Artemis I Award Certification Ceremony Group Photos
Artemis teams conduct the final simulation for the Artemis I mission inside the Launch Control Center at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Aug. 4, 2022. Artemis I will be the first integrated test of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft. During the flight, Orion will launch atop the most powerful rocket in the world and fly farther than any spacecraft for humans has ever flown. The spacecraft will stay in space longer than any human spacecraft has without docking to the International Space Station and return home faster than ever before. Shown here is Assistant Launch Director Jeremy Graeber and Launch Director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson.
Artemis I Final Simulation
Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana delivers opening remarks at a press conference ahead of the Boeing Orbital Flight Test mission, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2019, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The uncrewed Orbital Flight Test will be Starliner’s maiden mission to the International Space Station for NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The mission, currently targeted for a 6:36 a.m. EST launch on Dec. 20, will serve as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Boeing Orbital Flight Test Prelaunch
NASA’s Test, Launch and Recovery Operations Branch Chief Jeremy Graeber, who also serves as the assistant launch director, participates in Artemis I launch countdown training on Feb. 3, 2020, inside the Kennedy Space Center’s Firing Room 1 in the Launch Control Center. Under the leadership of Launch Director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, a team of nearly 100 engineers from Orion, Space Launch System (SLS) and NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems came together to work through a series of simulated challenges, as well as a final countdown procedure. During these exercises, different issues were introduced to familiarize the team with launch day operations, while providing them with an opportunity to practice how they would handle those issues in real-time. Artemis I will be the first integrated test flight of the Orion spacecraft and SLS rocket – the system that will ultimately land the first woman and the next man on the Moon.
Launch Team Firing Room I Simulation for Artemis I