This graphic shows the orbits of all the known Potentially Hazardous Asteroids PHAs, numbering over 1,400 as of early 2013.

This frame from an animation shows the location of a set of Hazard-Avoidance cameras on the back of NASA Curiosity rover.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance rover will rely on data depicted in this Hazard Map to help guide it to a safe landing. Landing hazards are depicted in red; safer areas are colored blue and green. To select the best location to touch down while avoiding damage to the rover, the spacecraft's Terrain-Relative Navigation system will take images of the terrain below as Perseverance descends through the atmosphere. Computers aboard the rover will then compare these images with its onboard map — the best ever created for a space mission — and adjust course as needed. Terrain-Relative Navigation has enabled the mission to select Jezero Crater as its landing site. Scientists believe an ancient river flowed into a lake there and deposited sediments in a fan shape known as a delta. Such an environment was likely to have preserved signs of any life that gained a foothold billions of years ago. But while the region has high astrobiological potential, it is also very hazardous, with dunes, cliffs and boulder-strewn areas that pose a huge challenge for landing. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24167

A photograph shows the exterior of NASA’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHSF) on Tuesday, April 21, 2026, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Recently, technicians performed several upgrades to the facility ahead of the arrival of the agency’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, designed to provide deep, panoramic views of the cosmos, generating never-before-seen pictures that will revolutionize our understanding of the universe. Roman will undergo several prelaunch operations, including thermal protection closeout, cleaning, solar array work, and loading hydrazine propellant. The PHSF is one of the very few facilities where spacecraft undergo both hazardous fueling operations and delicate contamination control procedures.

A photograph shows the exterior of NASA’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHSF) on Tuesday, April 21, 2026, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Recently, technicians performed several upgrades to the facility ahead of the arrival of the agency’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, designed to provide deep, panoramic views of the cosmos, generating never-before-seen pictures that will revolutionize our understanding of the universe. Roman will undergo several prelaunch operations, including thermal protection closeout, cleaning, solar array work, and loading hydrazine propellant. The PHSF is one of the very few facilities where spacecraft undergo both hazardous fueling operations and delicate contamination control procedures.

A photograph shows the exterior of NASA’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHSF) on Tuesday, April 21, 2026, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Recently, technicians performed several upgrades to the facility ahead of the arrival of the agency’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, designed to provide deep, panoramic views of the cosmos, generating never-before-seen pictures that will revolutionize our understanding of the universe. Roman will undergo several prelaunch operations, including thermal protection closeout, cleaning, solar array work, and loading hydrazine propellant. The PHSF is one of the very few facilities where spacecraft undergo both hazardous fueling operations and delicate contamination control procedures.

NASA AMES HAZMAT (Hazardous Materials) Suit

NASA AMES HAZMAT (Hazardous Materials) PLSS pack with Doug Smith

NASA AMES HAZMAT (Hazardous Materials) PLSS pack with Doug Smith

NASA AMES HAZMAT (Hazardous Materials) PLSS pack with Doug Smith

NASA AMES HAZMAT (Hazardous Materials) Suit & PLSS pack

NASA AMES HAZMAT (Hazardous Materials) Suit & PLSS pack

NASA AMES HAZMAT (Hazardous Materials) Suit & PLSS pack

This frame from a video shows an engineering test for NASA Curiosity rover. During the test, the clear dust covers on the Hazard-Avoidance cameras were popped off.

NASA AMES HAZMAT (Hazardous Materials) PLSS pack with Doug Smith at FMC test ground

Stennis Space Center employees Mike McKinion (left), with Erica Lane Enterprises, and Luke Scianna, with the Jacobs Facility Operating Services Contract, monitor the facility and surrounding area on the 'all-hazards network' known as HazNet. The HazNet system at Stennis was developed by a local Mississippi company to help facilitate coordinated response during emergency and disaster situations. The system was installed in the new Emergency Operations Center built at Stennis before being implemented throughout NASA. HazNet was designed by NVision Solutions Inc. of Bay St. Louis, Miss., through NASA's Innovative Partnerships Program. In addition to being used at Stennis, it has been installed at other Gulf Coast communities to help coordinate response during emergencies and such natural disasters as hurricanes.

This single frame from a four-frame movie shows New Horizons' final deep search for hazardous material around Pluto, obtained on July 1, 2015. These data allow a highly sensitive search for any new moons. The images were taken with the spacecraft's Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) over a 100-minute period, and were the final observations in the series of dedicated searches for hazards in the Pluto system which began on May 11. The images show all five known satellites of Pluto moving in their orbits around the dwarf planet, but analysis of these data has so far not revealed the existence of any additional moons. This means that any undiscovered Plutonian moons further than a few thousand miles from Pluto must be smaller than about 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) in diameter, if their surfaces have similar brightness to Pluto's big moon Charon. For comparison, Pluto's faintest known moon, Styx, which is conspicuous in the lower left quadrant of these images, is about 4 miles (7 kilometers) across, assuming the same surface brightness. The absence of additional moons, and also the absence of detectable rings in the hazard search data, imply that the spacecraft is very unlikely to be damaged by collisions with rings, or dust particles ejected from moons, during its high-speed passage through the Pluto system. The four movie frames were taken at 16:28, 16:38, 17:52, and 18:04 UTC on July 1, from a range of 9.4 million miles (15.2 million kilometers). Each frame is a mosaic of four sets of overlapping images, with a total exposure time of 120 seconds. The images have been heavily processed to remove the glare of Pluto and Charon, and the dense background of stars, though blemishes remain at the locations of many of the brighter stars. The "tails" extending to the right or downward from Pluto and Charon are camera artifacts caused by the extreme overexposure of both objects. Pluto and its five moons Charon, Styx, Nix, Kerberos and Hydra are identified by their initials, and their orbits around the center of gravity of the system (which is located just outside Pluto itself) are also shown. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19701

This image shows the recently upgraded air showers which blast high-velocity HEPA-filtered air onto people before they enter a clean room at NASA’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. The PHSF went through several upgrades ahead of the arrival of Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Roman will provide deep, panoramic views of the cosmos, generating never-before-seen pictures that will revolutionize our understanding of the universe. Roman will undergo several prelaunch operations, including thermal protection closeout, cleaning, solar array work, and loading hydrazine propellant.

This image shows the recently upgraded air showers which blast high-velocity HEPA-filtered air onto people before they enter a clean room at NASA’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. The PHSF went through several upgrades ahead of the arrival of Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Roman will provide deep, panoramic views of the cosmos, generating never-before-seen pictures that will revolutionize our understanding of the universe. Roman will undergo several prelaunch operations, including thermal protection closeout, cleaning, solar array work, and loading hydrazine propellant.

This photograph shows a newly repainted crane mounted inside NASA’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026, preparations for the arrival of the agency’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Workers repainted the facility’s 15-ton bridge crane to prevent any paint chips from becoming foreign object debris. The Roman space telescope will provide deep, panoramic views of the cosmos, generating never-before-seen pictures that will revolutionize our understanding of the universe. Roman will undergo several prelaunch operations, including thermal protection closeout, cleaning, solar array work, and loading hydrazine propellant.

This image shows the recently upgraded air showers which blast high-velocity HEPA-filtered air onto people before they enter a clean room at NASA’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. The PHSF went through several upgrades ahead of the arrival of Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Roman will provide deep, panoramic views of the cosmos, generating never-before-seen pictures that will revolutionize our understanding of the universe. Roman will undergo several prelaunch operations, including thermal protection closeout, cleaning, solar array work, and loading hydrazine propellant.

NASA's Perseverance rover was able to use its new Terrain-Relative Navigation technology to avoid hazards and find a safe place to land in Jezero Crater on Mars. In this graphic, the blue areas are considered safe zones and red are considered more dangerous. Perseverance's landing spot is marked with a green dot. A version with an arrow makes the landing site easier to see. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 mission is part of a larger program that includes missions to the Moon as a way to prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA23970

KRISHNA VADREVU ANALYZING LANDSAT AND DIGITAL ELEVATION DATA FOR FIRE HAZARD MAPPING STUDIES

In this video, images from NASA's Mars Ingenuity Helicopter's Flight 9, which took place on July 5, 2021, have been post-processed using the helicopter's hazard avoidance capability, which was added via a software update to the helicopter in late 2022. The update provides two key improvements: It identifies areas unsuitable for landing (shaded in red) as well as candidate landing sites (shown in green). The algorithm also enables the use of digital elevation maps to help navigate. Movie available at https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25662

When NASA started plarning for manned space travel in 1959, the myriad challenges of sustaining life in space included a seemingly mundane but vitally important problem: How and what do you feed an astronaut? There were two main concerns: preventing food crumbs from contaminating the spacecraft's atmosphere or floating into sensitive instruments, and ensuring complete freedom from potentially catastrophic disease-producing bacteria, viruses, and toxins. To solve these concerns, NASA enlisted the help of the Pillsbury Company. Pillsbury quickly solved the first problem by coating bite-size foods to prevent crumbling. They developed the hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) concept to ensure against bacterial contamination. Hazard analysis is a systematic study of product, its ingredients, processing conditions, handling, storage, packing, distribution, and directions for consumer use to identify sensitive areas that might prove hazardous. Hazard analysis provides a basis for blueprinting the Critical Control Points (CCPs) to be monitored. CCPs are points in the chain from raw materials to the finished product where loss of control could result in unacceptable food safety risks. In early 1970, Pillsbury plants were following HACCP in production of food for Earthbound consumers. Pillsbury's subsequent training courses for Food and Drug Administration (FDA) personnel led to the incorporation of HACCP in the FDA's Low Acid Canned Foods Regulations, set down in the mid-1970s to ensure the safety of all canned food products in the U.S.

NASA’s Psyche spacecraft undergoes processing and servicing ahead of launch atop a work stand inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 3, 2022. Psyche is targeting to lift off aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket on Aug. 1, 2022. The spacecraft will use solar-electric propulsion to travel approximately 1.5 billion miles to rendezvous with its namesake asteroid in 2026. The Psyche mission is led by Arizona State University. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, is responsible for the mission’s overall management, system engineering, integration and testing, and mission operations. Maxar Technologies in Palo Alto, California, provided the high-power solar electric propulsion spacecraft chassis. NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP), based at Kennedy, is managing the launch. Psyche will be the 14th mission in the agency's Discovery program and LSP’s 100th primary mission.

NASA’s Psyche spacecraft undergoes processing and servicing ahead of launch atop a work stand inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 3, 2022. Psyche is targeting to lift off aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket on Aug. 1, 2022. The spacecraft will use solar-electric propulsion to travel approximately 1.5 billion miles to rendezvous with its namesake asteroid in 2026. The Psyche mission is led by Arizona State University. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, is responsible for the mission’s overall management, system engineering, integration and testing, and mission operations. Maxar Technologies in Palo Alto, California, provided the high-power solar electric propulsion spacecraft chassis. NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP), based at Kennedy, is managing the launch. Psyche will be the 14th mission in the agency's Discovery program and LSP’s 100th primary mission.

NASA’s Psyche spacecraft undergoes processing and servicing ahead of launch atop a work stand inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 3, 2022. Psyche is targeting to lift off aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket on Aug. 1, 2022. The spacecraft will use solar-electric propulsion to travel approximately 1.5 billion miles to rendezvous with its namesake asteroid in 2026. The Psyche mission is led by Arizona State University. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, is responsible for the mission’s overall management, system engineering, integration and testing, and mission operations. Maxar Technologies in Palo Alto, California, provided the high-power solar electric propulsion spacecraft chassis. NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP), based at Kennedy, is managing the launch. Psyche will be the 14th mission in the agency's Discovery program and LSP’s 100th primary mission.

This image shows the results of the New Horizons team first search for potentially hazardous material around Pluto, conducted May 11-12, 2015, from a range of 47 million miles 76 million kilometers.

Technicians at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida perform work on the agency’s Psyche spacecraft inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHSF) on May 3, 2022. While inside the PHSF, the spacecraft will undergo routine processing and servicing ahead of launch. Psyche is targeting to lift off aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket on Aug. 1, 2022. The spacecraft will use solar-electric propulsion to travel approximately 1.5 billion miles to rendezvous with its namesake asteroid in 2026. The Psyche mission is led by Arizona State University. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, is responsible for the mission’s overall management, system engineering, integration and testing, and mission operations. Maxar Technologies in Palo Alto, California, provided the high-power solar electric propulsion spacecraft chassis. NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP), based at Kennedy, is managing the launch. Psyche will be the 14th mission in the agency's Discovery program and LSP’s 100th primary mission.

Technicians at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida perform work on the agency’s Psyche spacecraft inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHSF) on May 3, 2022. While inside the PHSF, the spacecraft will undergo routine processing and servicing ahead of launch. Psyche is targeting to lift off aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket on Aug. 1, 2022. The spacecraft will use solar-electric propulsion to travel approximately 1.5 billion miles to rendezvous with its namesake asteroid in 2026. The Psyche mission is led by Arizona State University. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, is responsible for the mission’s overall management, system engineering, integration and testing, and mission operations. Maxar Technologies in Palo Alto, California, provided the high-power solar electric propulsion spacecraft chassis. NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP), based at Kennedy, is managing the launch. Psyche will be the 14th mission in the agency's Discovery program and LSP’s 100th primary mission.

Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHSF) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, technicians prepare to move the agency’s Psyche spacecraft – recently removed from its shipping container and inside a protective covering – to a work stand on May 2, 2022. Psyche is scheduled to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket on Aug. 1, 2022. The spacecraft will use solar-electric propulsion to travel approximately 1.5 billion miles to rendezvous with its namesake asteroid in 2026. The Psyche mission is led by Arizona State University. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, is responsible for the mission’s overall management, system engineering, integration and testing, and mission operations. Maxar Technologies in Palo Alto, California, provided the high-power solar electric propulsion spacecraft chassis. NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP), based at Kennedy, is managing the launch. Psyche will be the 14th mission in the agency's Discovery program and LSP’s 100th primary mission.

Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHSF) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the agency’s Psyche spacecraft – recently removed from its shipping container and inside a protective covering – is moved by crane to a work stand on Monday, May 2, 2022. Psyche is scheduled to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket on Aug. 1, 2022. The spacecraft will use solar-electric propulsion to travel approximately 1.5 billion miles to rendezvous with its namesake asteroid in 2026. The Psyche mission is led by Arizona State University. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, is responsible for the mission’s overall management, system engineering, integration and testing, and mission operations. Maxar Technologies in Palo Alto, California, provided the high-power solar electric propulsion spacecraft chassis. NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP), based at Kennedy, is managing the launch. Psyche will be the 14th mission in the agency's Discovery program and LSP’s 100th primary mission.

Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHSF) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the agency’s Psyche spacecraft – recently removed from its shipping container and inside a protective covering – is moved by crane to a work stand on Monday, May 2, 2022. Psyche is scheduled to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket on Aug. 1, 2022. The spacecraft will use solar-electric propulsion to travel approximately 1.5 billion miles to rendezvous with its namesake asteroid in 2026. The Psyche mission is led by Arizona State University. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, is responsible for the mission’s overall management, system engineering, integration and testing, and mission operations. Maxar Technologies in Palo Alto, California, provided the high-power solar electric propulsion spacecraft chassis. NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP), based at Kennedy, is managing the launch. Psyche will be the 14th mission in the agency's Discovery program and LSP’s 100th primary mission.

Technicians at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida perform work on the agency’s Psyche spacecraft inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHSF) on May 3, 2022. While inside the PHSF, the spacecraft will undergo routine processing and servicing ahead of launch. Psyche is targeting to lift off aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket on Aug. 1, 2022. The spacecraft will use solar-electric propulsion to travel approximately 1.5 billion miles to rendezvous with its namesake asteroid in 2026. The Psyche mission is led by Arizona State University. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, is responsible for the mission’s overall management, system engineering, integration and testing, and mission operations. Maxar Technologies in Palo Alto, California, provided the high-power solar electric propulsion spacecraft chassis. NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP), based at Kennedy, is managing the launch. Psyche will be the 14th mission in the agency's Discovery program and LSP’s 100th primary mission.

Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHSF) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the agency’s Psyche spacecraft – recently removed from its shipping container and inside a protective covering – is moved by crane to a work stand on Monday, May 2, 2022. Psyche is scheduled to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket on Aug. 1, 2022. The spacecraft will use solar-electric propulsion to travel approximately 1.5 billion miles to rendezvous with its namesake asteroid in 2026. The Psyche mission is led by Arizona State University. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, is responsible for the mission’s overall management, system engineering, integration and testing, and mission operations. Maxar Technologies in Palo Alto, California, provided the high-power solar electric propulsion spacecraft chassis. NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP), based at Kennedy, is managing the launch. Psyche will be the 14th mission in the agency's Discovery program and LSP’s 100th primary mission.

The Mars Exploration Rover-2 is moved to a workstand in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility.

NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter is viewed by one of the hazard cameras aboard the Perseverance rover during the helicopter's fourth flight on April 30, 2021. The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter was built by JPL, which also manages this technology demonstration project for NASA Headquarters. It is supported by NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, and Space Technology Mission Directorate. NASA's Ames Research Center and Langley Research Center provided significant flight performance analysis and technical assistance during Ingenuity's development. AeroVironment Inc., Qualcomm, Snapdragon, and SolAero also provided design assistance and major vehicle components. The Mars Helicopter Delivery System was designed and manufactured by Lockheed Space Systems in Denver. More About the Mission A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24642

This poster highlights NASA JPL missions that provide important inputs to research on volcanoes, fires, earthquakes, droughts, tsunamis, floods and hurricanes.

Technicians test and extend one of the two “wings” comprising the solar arrays for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft on Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, at the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Each array measures about 46.5 feet (14.2 meters) long and about 13.5 feet (4.1 meters) high. The spacecraft needs the massive solar arrays to power to Jupiter’s icy moon Europa to help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet.

Technicians test and extend one of the two “wings” comprising the solar arrays for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft on Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, at the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Each array measures about 46.5 feet (14.2 meters) long and about 13.5 feet (4.1 meters) high. The spacecraft needs the massive solar arrays to power to Jupiter’s icy moon Europa to help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet.

Technicians encapsulate NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy payload fairing in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. The payload fairing will protect the spacecraft during liftoff from Launch Complex 39A on its journey to explore Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa. The spacecraft will complete nearly 50 flybys of Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, to determine if there are conditions suitable for life beyond Earth.

Technicians test and extend one of the two “wings” comprising the solar arrays for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft on Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, at the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Each array measures about 46.5 feet (14.2 meters) long and about 13.5 feet (4.1 meters) high. The spacecraft needs the massive solar arrays to power to Jupiter’s icy moon Europa to help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet.

Technicians tested deploying a set of massive solar arrays measuring about 46.5 feet (14.2 meters) long and about 13.5 feet (4.1 meters) high for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. Once launched to study Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, the solar arrays will fully extend to power the spacecraft to perform flybys to gather science and data to determine if the moon can support habitable conditions.

Technicians encapsulated NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside payload fairings on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The fairings will protect the spacecraft during launch as it begins its journey to explore Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa. The mission will help scientists determine if the moon could support life. NASA and SpaceX are targeting launch at 12:31 p.m. EDT on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Technicians tested deploying a set of massive solar arrays measuring about 46.5 feet (14.2 meters) long and about 13.5 feet (4.1 meters) high for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. Once launched to study Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, the solar arrays will fully extend to power the spacecraft to perform flybys to gather science and data to determine if the moon can support habitable conditions.

Technicians encapsulated NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside payload fairings on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The fairings will protect the spacecraft during launch as it begins its journey to explore Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa. The mission will help scientists determine if the moon could support life. NASA and SpaceX are targeting launch at 12:31 p.m. EDT on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Technicians prepare to encapsulate NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy payload fairing in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. The payload fairing will protect the spacecraft during liftoff from Launch Complex 39A on its journey to explore Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa. The spacecraft will complete nearly 50 flybys of Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, to determine if there are conditions suitable for life beyond Earth.

Technicians tested deploying a set of massive solar arrays measuring about 46.5 feet (14.2 meters) long and about 13.5 feet (4.1 meters) high for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. Once launched to study Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, the solar arrays will fully extend to power the spacecraft to perform flybys to gather science and data to determine if the moon can support habitable conditions.

Technicians tested deploying a set of massive solar arrays measuring about 46.5 feet (14.2 meters) long and about 13.5 feet (4.1 meters) high for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. Once launched to study Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, the solar arrays will fully extend to power the spacecraft to perform flybys to gather science and data to determine if the moon can support habitable conditions.

Technicians tested deploying a set of massive solar arrays measuring about 46.5 feet (14.2 meters) long and about 13.5 feet (4.1 meters) high for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. Once launched to study Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, the solar arrays will fully extend to power the spacecraft to perform flybys to gather science and data to determine if the moon can support habitable conditions.

Technicians prepare to encapsulate NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy payload fairing in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. The payload fairing will protect the spacecraft during liftoff from Launch Complex 39A on its journey to explore Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa. The spacecraft will complete nearly 50 flybys of Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, to determine if there are conditions suitable for life beyond Earth.

Technicians pose for a photo in front of one of the two “wings” comprising the solar arrays for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft on Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, at the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Each array measures about 46.5 feet (14.2 meters) long and about 13.5 feet (4.1 meters) high. The spacecraft needs the massive solar arrays to power to Jupiter’s icy moon Europa to help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet.

Technicians encapsulated NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside payload fairings on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The fairings will protect the spacecraft during launch as it begins its journey to explore Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa. The mission will help scientists determine if the moon could support life. NASA and SpaceX are targeting launch at 12:31 p.m. EDT on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Technicians encapsulated NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside payload fairings on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The fairings will protect the spacecraft during launch as it begins its journey to explore Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa. The mission will help scientists determine if the moon could support life. NASA and SpaceX are targeting launch at 12:31 p.m. EDT on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Technicians encapsulate NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy payload fairing in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. The payload fairing will protect the spacecraft during liftoff from Launch Complex 39A on its journey to explore Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa. The spacecraft will complete nearly 50 flybys of Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, to determine if there are conditions suitable for life beyond Earth.

Technicians tested deploying a set of massive solar arrays measuring about 46.5 feet (14.2 meters) long and about 13.5 feet (4.1 meters) high for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. Once launched to study Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, the solar arrays will fully extend to power the spacecraft to perform flybys to gather science and data to determine if the moon can support habitable conditions.

Technicians tested deploying a set of massive solar arrays measuring about 46.5 feet (14.2 meters) long and about 13.5 feet (4.1 meters) high for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. Once launched to study Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, the solar arrays will fully extend to power the spacecraft to perform flybys to gather science and data to determine if the moon can support habitable conditions.

Technicians prepare to encapsulate NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy payload fairing in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. The payload fairing will protect the spacecraft during liftoff from Launch Complex 39A on its journey to explore Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa. The spacecraft will complete nearly 50 flybys of Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, to determine if there are conditions suitable for life beyond Earth.

Technicians encapsulated NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside payload fairings on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The fairings will protect the spacecraft during launch as it begins its journey to explore Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa. The mission will help scientists determine if the moon could support life. NASA and SpaceX are targeting launch at 12:31 p.m. EDT on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Technicians prepare to encapsulate NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy payload fairing in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. The payload fairing will protect the spacecraft during liftoff from Launch Complex 39A on its journey to explore Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa. The spacecraft will complete nearly 50 flybys of Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, to determine if there are conditions suitable for life beyond Earth.

Technicians test and extend one of the two “wings” comprising the solar arrays for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft on Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, at the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Each array measures about 46.5 feet (14.2 meters) long and about 13.5 feet (4.1 meters) high. The spacecraft needs the massive solar arrays to power to Jupiter’s icy moon Europa to help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet.

Technicians tested deploying a set of massive solar arrays measuring about 46.5 feet (14.2 meters) long and about 13.5 feet (4.1 meters) high for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. Once launched to study Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, the solar arrays will fully extend to power the spacecraft to perform flybys to gather science and data to determine if the moon can support habitable conditions.

Technicians prepare to encapsulate NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy payload fairing in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. The payload fairing will protect the spacecraft during liftoff from Launch Complex 39A on its journey to explore Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa. The spacecraft will complete nearly 50 flybys of Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, to determine if there are conditions suitable for life beyond Earth.

Technicians tested deploying a set of massive solar arrays measuring about 46.5 feet (14.2 meters) long and about 13.5 feet (4.1 meters) high for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. Once launched to study Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, the solar arrays will fully extend to power the spacecraft to perform flybys to gather science and data to determine if the moon can support habitable conditions.

Technicians encapsulated NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside payload fairings on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The fairings will protect the spacecraft during launch as it begins its journey to explore Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa. The mission will help scientists determine if the moon could support life. NASA and SpaceX are targeting launch at 12:31 p.m. EDT on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Technicians tested deploying a set of massive solar arrays measuring about 46.5 feet (14.2 meters) long and about 13.5 feet (4.1 meters) high for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. Once launched to study Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, the solar arrays will fully extend to power the spacecraft to perform flybys to gather science and data to determine if the moon can support habitable conditions.

Technicians encapsulated NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside payload fairings on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The fairings will protect the spacecraft during launch as it begins its journey to explore Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa. The mission will help scientists determine if the moon could support life. NASA and SpaceX are targeting launch at 12:31 p.m. EDT on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Technicians prepare NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) for encapsulation in the SpaceX payload fairing inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The satellite is scheduled to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on April 16. The satellite is the next step in NASA's search for planets outside our solar system, known as exoplanets. TESS is a NASA Astrophysics Explorer mission led and operated by MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Dr. George Ricker of MIT’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research serves as principal investigator for the mission. Additional partners include Orbital ATK, NASA’s Ames Research Center, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and the Space Telescope Science Institute. More than a dozen universities, research institutes and observatories worldwide are participants in the mission. NASA’s Launch Services Program is responsible for launch management.

Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is being prepared for encapsulation in the SpaceX payload fairing. The satellite is scheduled to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on April 16. The satellite is the next step in NASA's search for planets outside our solar system, known as exoplanets. TESS is a NASA Astrophysics Explorer mission led and operated by MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Dr. George Ricker of MIT’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research serves as principal investigator for the mission. Additional partners include Orbital ATK, NASA’s Ames Research Center, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and the Space Telescope Science Institute. More than a dozen universities, research institutes and observatories worldwide are participants in the mission. NASA’s Launch Services Program is responsible for launch management.

In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the agency's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, has been uncreated from its shipping container for inspections and preflight processing. The satellite is NASA's next step in the search for planets outside of the solar system also known as "exoplanets." TESS is a NASA Astrophysics Explorer mission led and operated by MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Dr. George Ricker of MIT’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research serves as principal investigator for the mission. Additional partners include Orbital ATK, NASA’s Ames Research Center, and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and the Space Telescope Science Institute. More than a dozen universities, research institutes and observatories worldwide are participants in the mission. NASA’s Launch Services Program is responsible for launch management. SpaceX of Hawthorne, California, is the provider of the Falcon 9 launch service. TESS is scheduled to launch atop a Falcon 9 rocket no earlier than April 16, 2018 from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the agency's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, has been uncreated from its shipping container for inspections and preflight processing. The satellite is NASA's next step in the search for planets outside of the solar system also known as "exoplanets." TESS is a NASA Astrophysics Explorer mission led and operated by MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Dr. George Ricker of MIT’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research serves as principal investigator for the mission. Additional partners include Orbital ATK, NASA’s Ames Research Center, and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and the Space Telescope Science Institute. More than a dozen universities, research institutes and observatories worldwide are participants in the mission. NASA’s Launch Services Program is responsible for launch management. SpaceX of Hawthorne, California, is the provider of the Falcon 9 launch service. TESS is scheduled to launch atop a Falcon 9 rocket no earlier than April 16, 2018 from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the agency's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, has been uncreated from its shipping container for inspections and preflight processing. The satellite is NASA's next step in the search for planets outside of the solar system also known as "exoplanets." TESS is a NASA Astrophysics Explorer mission led and operated by MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Dr. George Ricker of MIT’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research serves as principal investigator for the mission. Additional partners include Orbital ATK, NASA’s Ames Research Center, and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and the Space Telescope Science Institute. More than a dozen universities, research institutes and observatories worldwide are participants in the mission. NASA’s Launch Services Program is responsible for launch management. SpaceX of Hawthorne, California, is the provider of the Falcon 9 launch service. TESS is scheduled to launch atop a Falcon 9 rocket no earlier than April 16, 2018 from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Technicians prepare NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) for encapsulation in the SpaceX payload fairing inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The satellite is scheduled to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on April 16. The satellite is the next step in NASA's search for planets outside our solar system, known as exoplanets. TESS is a NASA Astrophysics Explorer mission led and operated by MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Dr. George Ricker of MIT’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research serves as principal investigator for the mission. Additional partners include Orbital ATK, NASA’s Ames Research Center, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and the Space Telescope Science Institute. More than a dozen universities, research institutes and observatories worldwide are participants in the mission. NASA’s Launch Services Program is responsible for launch management.

In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, technicians remove one of the circuit boards on the Mars Exploration Rover 2 MER-2.

The aeroshell for Mars Exploration Rover 2 rests on end after rotation in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility.

Technicians maneuver the aeroshell for Mars Exploration Rover 2 onto a workstand in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility.

This image of Block Island was taken on July 28, 2009, with the front hazard-identification camera on NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity.

In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, an overhead crane lowers the Mars Exploration Rover MER aeroshell toward a rotation stand.

This image taken by a front Hazard-Avoidance camera on NASA Curiosity shows track marks from the rover first Martian drives.

Technicians test, retract, and stow one of the two “wings” comprising the solar arrays for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft on Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, at the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Each array measures about 46.5 feet (14.2 meters) long and about 13.5 feet (4.1 meters) high when extended. The spacecraft needs the massive solar arrays to power to Jupiter’s icy moon Europa to help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet.

Technicians align, install, and then extend the second set of solar arrays, measuring 46.5 feet (14.2 meters) long and about 13.5 feet (4.1 meters) high, for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. The huge arrays – spanning more than 100 feet when fully deployed, or about the length of a basketball court – will collect sunlight to power the spacecraft as it flies multiple times around Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, conducting science investigations to determine its potential to support life.

Technicians prepare to install the nearly 10 feet (3 meters) wide dish-shaped high-gain antenna to NASA’s Europa Clipper, a spacecraft to study Jupiter’s icy moon, at the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, June 18, 2024. The spacecraft will perform a series of flybys of the Jupiter moon Europa to gather data on its atmosphere, icy crust, and the ocean underneath, and the high-gain antenna will send the research data to scientists on Earth to determine if the moon can support habitable condition. The Europa Clipper spacecraft is scheduled to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A no earlier than October 2024.

Technicians prepare to install the nearly 10 feet (3 meters) wide dish-shaped high-gain antenna to NASA’s Europa Clipper, a spacecraft to study Jupiter’s icy moon, at the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday, June 17, 2024. The spacecraft will perform a series of flybys of the Jupiter moon Europa to gather data on its atmosphere, icy crust, and the ocean underneath, and the high-gain antenna will send the research data to scientists on Earth to determine if the moon can support habitable condition. The Europa Clipper spacecraft is scheduled to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A no earlier than October 2024.

Technicians install and align the second set of solar arrays for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. The Europa Clipper spacecraft will need the 46.5 feet (14.2 meter) long, five-panel solar arrays on each side, to gather enough sunlight to power the spacecraft to perform flybys around Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, so science instruments aboard the spacecraft can determine if the moon could hold the building blocks necessary to sustain life.

Technicians prepare to install the nearly 10 feet (3 meters) wide dish-shaped high-gain antenna to NASA’s Europa Clipper, a spacecraft to study Jupiter’s icy moon, at the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, June 18, 2024. The spacecraft will perform a series of flybys of the Jupiter moon Europa to gather data on its atmosphere, icy crust, and the ocean underneath, and the high-gain antenna will send the research data to scientists on Earth to determine if the moon can support habitable condition. The Europa Clipper spacecraft is scheduled to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A no earlier than October 2024.

Technicians install and align the second set of solar arrays for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. The Europa Clipper spacecraft will need the 46.5 feet (14.2 meter) long, five-panel solar arrays on each side, to gather enough sunlight to power the spacecraft to perform flybys around Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, so science instruments aboard the spacecraft can determine if the moon could hold the building blocks necessary to sustain life.

Technicians test, retract, and stow one of the two “wings” comprising the solar arrays for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft on Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, at the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Each array measures about 46.5 feet (14.2 meters) long and about 13.5 feet (4.1 meters) high when extended. The spacecraft needs the massive solar arrays to power to Jupiter’s icy moon Europa to help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet.

Technicians move NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility to accommodate installation of its five-panel solar array at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. After moving the spacecraft, the team had to precisely align the spacecraft in preparation for the installation. The huge arrays – spanning more than 100 feet when fully deployed, or about the length of a basketball court – will collect sunlight to power the spacecraft as it flies multiple times around Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, conducting science investigations to determine its potential to support life.

Technicians test the system to deploy NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft solar arrays, which uses “thermal knives” to cut the restraints holding the solar arrays in place inside the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024. The Europa Clipper spacecraft will travel to Jupiter’s icy moon to determine its potential to support life. After launch the thermal knives will cut the restraints, allowing the solar arrays to deploy and collect sunlight to power the spacecraft as it begins its journey to investigate Europa.

Technicians prepare to install the nearly 10 feet (3 meters) wide dish-shaped high-gain antenna to NASA’s Europa Clipper, a spacecraft to study Jupiter’s icy moon, at the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday, June 17, 2024. The spacecraft will perform a series of flybys of the Jupiter moon Europa to gather data on its atmosphere, icy crust, and the ocean underneath, and the high-gain antenna will send the research data to scientists on Earth to determine if the moon can support habitable condition. The Europa Clipper spacecraft is scheduled to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A no earlier than October 2024.

Technicians align, install, and then extend the second set of solar arrays, measuring 46.5 feet (14.2 meters) long and about 13.5 feet (4.1 meters) high, for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. The huge arrays – spanning more than 100 feet when fully deployed, or about the length of a basketball court – will collect sunlight to power the spacecraft as it flies multiple times around Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, conducting science investigations to determine its potential to support life.

Technicians install and align the second set of solar arrays for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. The Europa Clipper spacecraft will need the 46.5 feet (14.2 meter) long, five-panel solar arrays on each side, to gather enough sunlight to power the spacecraft to perform flybys around Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, so science instruments aboard the spacecraft can determine if the moon could hold the building blocks necessary to sustain life.

Technicians move NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility to accommodate installation of its five-panel solar array at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. After moving the spacecraft, the team had to precisely align the spacecraft in preparation for the installation. The huge arrays – spanning more than 100 feet when fully deployed, or about the length of a basketball court – will collect sunlight to power the spacecraft as it flies multiple times around Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, conducting science investigations to determine its potential to support life.

Technicians prepare to install the nearly 10 feet (3 meters) wide dish-shaped high-gain antenna to NASA’s Europa Clipper, a spacecraft to study Jupiter’s icy moon, at the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday, June 17, 2024. The spacecraft will perform a series of flybys of the Jupiter moon Europa to gather data on its atmosphere, icy crust, and the ocean underneath, and the high-gain antenna will send the research data to scientists on Earth to determine if the moon can support habitable condition. The Europa Clipper spacecraft is scheduled to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A no earlier than October 2024.

In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, workers monitor the Phoenix spacecraft during a heat shield deployment test, with a firing of ordnance associated with the separation device. Phoenix will land in icy soils near the north polar permanent ice cap of Mars and explore the history of the water in these soils and any associated rocks, while monitoring polar climate. Landing is planned in May 2008 on arctic ground where a mission currently in orbit, Mars Odyssey, has detected high concentrations of ice just beneath the top layer of soil. Launch of Phoenix aboard a Delta II rocket is targeted for Aug. 3 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

Technicians prepare to install the nearly 10 feet (3 meters) wide dish-shaped high-gain antenna to NASA’s Europa Clipper, a spacecraft to study Jupiter’s icy moon, at the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, June 18, 2024. The spacecraft will perform a series of flybys of the Jupiter moon Europa to gather data on its atmosphere, icy crust, and the ocean underneath, and the high-gain antenna will send the research data to scientists on Earth to determine if the moon can support habitable condition. The Europa Clipper spacecraft is scheduled to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A no earlier than October 2024.

Technicians test the system to deploy NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft solar arrays, which uses “thermal knives” to cut the restraints holding the solar arrays in place inside the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024. The Europa Clipper spacecraft will travel to Jupiter’s icy moon to determine its potential to support life. After launch the thermal knives will cut the restraints, allowing the solar arrays to deploy and collect sunlight to power the spacecraft as it begins its journey to investigate Europa.

Technicians install and align the second set of solar arrays for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. The Europa Clipper spacecraft will need the 46.5 feet (14.2 meter) long, five-panel solar arrays on each side, to gather enough sunlight to power the spacecraft to perform flybys around Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, so science instruments aboard the spacecraft can determine if the moon could hold the building blocks necessary to sustain life.

Technicians test the system to deploy NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft solar arrays, which uses “thermal knives” to cut the restraints holding the solar arrays in place inside the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024. The Europa Clipper spacecraft will travel to Jupiter’s icy moon to determine its potential to support life. After launch the thermal knives will cut the restraints, allowing the solar arrays to deploy and collect sunlight to power the spacecraft as it begins its journey to investigate Europa.