Employees at Stennis Space Center continue work on the A-3 Test Stand. As shown, a section of the test cell is lifted for installation on the stand's structural steel frame. Work on the A-3 Test Stand began in 2007. It is scheduled for activation in 2012.

Test cells comprise specimen sand contained in a latex membrane (with a grid pattern for CCD cameras) between metal end plates and housed in a water-filled Lexan jacket. Experiment flown on STS-79 and STS-89. Principal Investigator: Dr. Stein Sture.

FUEL CELL CONDENSER FOR THE APOLLO SYSTEM TEST RIG

Astronaut James D. Halsell, Jr., mission commander, uses a Hi-8mm camcorder to videotape the Hand Held Diffusion Test Cells (HHDTC), in the Spacelab Science Module aboard the Earth-orbiting Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-94). Each test cell has three chambers containing a protein solution, a buffer solution and a precipitant solution chamber. Using the liquid-liquid diffusion method, the different fluids are brought into contact but not mixed. Over a period of time, the fluids will diffuse into each other through the random motion of molecules. The gradual increase in concentration of the precipitant within the protein solution causes the proteins to crystallize.

A test cell for Mechanics of Granular Materials (MGM) experiment is tested for long-term storage with water in the system as plarned for STS-107. This view shows the compressed sand column with the protective water jacket removed. Sand and soil grains have faces that can cause friction as they roll and slide against each other, or even cause sticking and form small voids between grains. This complex behavior can cause soil to behave like a liquid under certain conditions such as earthquakes or when powders are handled in industrial processes. Mechanics of Granular Materials (MGM) experiments aboard the Space Shuttle use the microgravity of space to simulate this behavior under conditons that cannot be achieved in laboratory tests on Earth. MGM is shedding light on the behavior of fine-grain materials under low effective stresses. Applications include earthquake engineering, granular flow technologies (such as powder feed systems for pharmaceuticals and fertilizers), and terrestrial and planetary geology. Nine MGM specimens have flown on two Space Shuttle flights. Another three are scheduled to fly on STS-107. The principal investigator is Stein Sture of the University of Colorado at Boulder. Credit: University of Colorado at Boulder

A test cell for Mechanics of Granular Materials (MGM) experiment is tested for long-term storage with water in the system as plarned for STS-107. This view shows the top of the sand column with the metal platten removed. Sand and soil grains have faces that can cause friction as they roll and slide against each other, or even cause sticking and form small voids between grains. This complex behavior can cause soil to behave like a liquid under certain conditions such as earthquakes or when powders are handled in industrial processes. Mechanics of Granular Materials (MGM) experiments aboard the Space Shuttle use the microgravity of space to simulate this behavior under conditons that cannot be achieved in laboratory tests on Earth. MGM is shedding light on the behavior of fine-grain materials under low effective stresses. Applications include earthquake engineering, granular flow technologies (such as powder feed systems for pharmaceuticals and fertilizers), and terrestrial and planetary geology. Nine MGM specimens have flown on two Space Shuttle flights. Another three are scheduled to fly on STS-107. The principal investigator is Stein Sture of the University of Colorado at Boulder. Credit: University of Colorado at Boulder

A test cell for Mechanics of Granular Materials (MGM) experiment is tested for long-term storage with water in the system as plarned for STS-107. This view shows the compressed sand column with the protective water jacket removed. Sand and soil grains have faces that can cause friction as they roll and slide against each other, or even cause sticking and form small voids between grains. This complex behavior can cause soil to behave like a liquid under certain conditions such as earthquakes or when powders are handled in industrial processes. Mechanics of Granular Materials (MGM) experiments aboard the Space Shuttle use the microgravity of space to simulate this behavior under conditons that cannot be achieved in laboratory tests on Earth. MGM is shedding light on the behavior of fine-grain materials under low effective stresses. Applications include earthquake engineering, granular flow technologies (such as powder feed systems for pharmaceuticals and fertilizers), and terrestrial and planetary geology. Nine MGM specimens have flown on two Space Shuttle flights. Another three are scheduled to fly on STS-107. The principal investigator is Stein Sture of the University of Colorado at Boulder. Credit: University of Colorado at Boulder

A test cell for Mechanics of Granular Materials (MGM) experiment is shown approximately 20 and 60 minutes after the start of an experiment on STS-89. Sand and soil grains have faces that can cause friction as they roll and slide against each other, or even cause sticking and form small voids between grains. This complex behavior can cause soil to behave like a liquid under certain conditions such as earthquakes or when powders are handled in industrial processes. Mechanics of Granular Materials (MGM) experiments aboard the Space Shuttle use the microgravity of space to simulate this behavior under conditons that carnot be achieved in laboratory tests on Earth. MGM is shedding light on the behavior of fine-grain materials under low effective stresses. Applications include earthquake engineering, granular flow technologies (such as powder feed systems for pharmaceuticals and fertilizers), and terrestrial and planetary geology. Nine MGM specimens have flown on two Space Shuttle flights. Another three are scheduled to fly on STS-107. The principal investigator is Stein Sture of the University of Colorado at Boulder. Credit: NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)

Astronaut Carl Walz installs Mechanics of Granular Materials (MGM) test cell on STS-79. Sand and soil grains have faces that can cause friction as they roll and slide against each other, or even cause sticking and form small voids between grains. This complex behavior can cause soil to behave like a liquid under certain conditions such as earthquakes or when powders are handled in industrial processes. Mechanics of Granular Materials (MGM) experiments aboard the Space Shuttle use the microgravity of space to simulate this behavior under conditons that carnot be achieved in laboratory tests on Earth. MGM is shedding light on the behavior of fine-grain materials under low effective stresses. Applications include earthquake engineering, granular flow technologies (such as powder feed systems for pharmaceuticals and fertilizers), and terrestrial and planetary geology. Nine MGM specimens have flown on two Space Shuttle flights. Another three are scheduled to fly on STS-107. The principal investigator is Stein Sture of the University of Colorado at Boulder. Credit: NASA/John Space Center

ISS041-E-037551 (29 Sept. 2014) --- Russian cosmonaut Elena Serova, Expedition 41 flight engineer, works with test samples from the Kaskad cell cultivation experiment in a glovebox in the Poisk Mini-Research Module 2 (MRM2) of the International Space Station.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians dressed in clean room suits attach a crane to the Orion crew and service module stack for Exploration Flight Test-1. Orion will be lifted out of the test cell and transferred to a mating device. 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 later this year atop a 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/Ben Smegelsky

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Orion crew and service module stack for Exploration Flight Test-1 was lifted by crane out of the test cell and is being moved along the center aisle. Orion will be transferred to a mating device. 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 later this year atop a 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/Ben Smegelsky

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Orion crew and service module stack for Exploration Flight Test-1 was lifted by crane out of the test cell. Technicians in clean room suits monitor the progress as the crane slowly lowers the stack onto a mating device. A protective covering surrounds the crew module. 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 later this year atop a 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/Ben Smegelsky

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Orion crew and service module stack for Exploration Flight Test-1 was lifted by crane out of the test cell and is being moved along the center aisle. Orion will be transferred to a mating device. 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 later this year atop a 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/Ben Smegelsky

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Orion crew and service module stack for Exploration Flight Test-1 was lifted by crane out of the test cell and is being moved along the center aisle. Orion will be transferred to a mating device. A protective covering surrounds the crew module. 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 later this year atop a 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/Ben Smegelsky

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, preparations are underway to lift the Orion crew and service module stack for Exploration Flight Test-1 out of the test cell and transfer it to a mating device. 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 later this year atop a 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/Ben Smegelsky

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Orion crew and service module stack for Exploration Flight Test-1 was lifted by crane out of the test cell and is being lowered onto a mating device A protective covering surrounds the crew module. 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 later this year atop a 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/Ben Smegelsky

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians monitor the progress as a crane slowly lifts the Orion crew and service module stack for Exploration Flight Test-1 out of the test cell. Orion will be transferred to a mating device. 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 later this year atop a 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/Ben Smegelsky

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Orion crew and service module stack for Exploration Flight Test-1 was lifted by crane out of the test cell. The stack has been lowered onto the mating device on a stand. Technicians are attaching the stack to the mating device. 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 later this year atop a 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/Ben Smegelsky

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a mating device is positioned on a work stand. Preparations are underway to lift the Orion crew and service module stack for Exploration Flight Test-1 out of the test cell and transfer it to the mating device. 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 later this year atop a 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/Ben Smegelsky

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane slowly lifts the Orion crew and service module stack for Exploration Flight Test-1 out of the test cell. Orion will be transferred to a mating device. 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 later this year atop a 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/Ben Smegelsky

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, preparations are underway to lift the Orion crew and service module stack for Exploration Flight Test-1 out of the test cell and transfer it to a mating device. 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 later this year atop a 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/Ben Smegelsky

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Orion crew and service module stack for Exploration Flight Test-1 was lifted by crane out of the test cell. The stack has been lowered onto the mating device. Technicians are attaching the stack to the mating device. A protective covering surrounds the crew module. 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 later this year atop a 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/Ben Smegelsky

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Orion crew and service module stack for Exploration Flight Test-1 was lifted by crane out of the test cell and is being moved along the center aisle. Orion will be transferred to a mating device. 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 later this year atop a 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/Ben Smegelsky

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Orion crew and service module stack for Exploration Flight Test-1 was lifted by crane out of the test cell. The stack has been lowered onto the mating device on a stand. Technicians are attaching the stack to the mating device. A protective covering surrounds the crew module. 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 later this year atop a 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/Ben Smegelsky

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians dressed in clean room suits attach a crane to the Orion crew and service module stack for Exploration Flight Test-1. Orion will be lifted out of the test cell and transferred to a mating device. 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 later this year atop a 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/Ben Smegelsky

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Orion crew and service module stack for Exploration Flight Test-1 was lifted by crane out of the test cell and is being moved along the center aisle toward the mating device. A protective covering surrounds the crew module. 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 later this year atop a 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/Ben Smegelsky

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians monitor the progress as a crane lifts the Orion crew and service module stack for Exploration Flight Test-1 out of the test cell. Orion will be transferred to a mating device. 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 later this year atop a 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/Ben Smegelsky

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane has lifted the Orion crew and service module stack for Exploration Flight Test-1 out of the test cell and is being transferred to a mating device. A protective covering surrounds the crew module. 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 later this year atop a 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/Ben Smegelsky

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, preparations are underway to lift the Orion crew and service module stack for Exploration Flight Test-1 out of the test cell and transfer it to a mating device. 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 later this year atop a 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/Ben Smegelsky

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Orion crew and service module stack for Exploration Flight Test-1 was lifted by crane out of the test cell and is being lowered onto a mating device. A protective covering surrounds the crew module. 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 later this year atop a 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/Ben Smegelsky

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane slowly lifts the Orion crew and service module stack for Exploration Flight Test-1 out of the test cell. Orion will be transferred to a mating device. 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 later this year atop a 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/Ben Smegelsky

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, preparations are underway to lift the Orion crew and service module stack for Exploration Flight Test-1 out of the test cell and transfer it to a mating device. 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 later this year atop a 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/Ben Smegelsky

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Orion crew and service module stack for Exploration Flight Test-1 was lifted by crane out of the test cell. The stack has been lowered onto the mating device on a stand. A protective covering surrounds the crew module. 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 later this year atop a 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/Ben Smegelsky

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Orion crew and service module stack for Exploration Flight Test-1 was lifted by crane out of the test cell and is being moved along the center aisle. Orion will be transferred to a mating device. A protective covering surrounds the crew module. 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 later this year atop a 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/Ben Smegelsky

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians monitor the progress as a crane slowly lifts the Orion crew and service module stack for Exploration Flight Test-1 out of the test cell. Orion will be transferred to a mating device. 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 later this year atop a 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/Ben Smegelsky

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Orion crew and service module stack for Exploration Flight Test-1 was lifted by crane out of the test cell. The stack has been lowered onto the mating device on a stand. Technicians are attaching the stack to the mating device. A protective covering surrounds the crew module. 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 later this year atop a 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/Ben Smegelsky

One of the two altitude simulating-test chambers in Engine Research Building at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory. The two chambers were collectively referred to as the Four Burner Area. NACA Lewis’ Altitude Wind Tunnel was the nation’s first major facility used for testing full-scale engines in conditions that realistically simulated actual flight. The wind tunnel was such a success in the mid-1940s that there was a backlog of engines waiting to be tested. The Four Burner chambers were quickly built in 1946 and 1947 to ease the Altitude Wind Tunnel’s congested schedule. The Four Burner Area was located in the southwest wing of the massive Engine Research Building, across the road from the Altitude Wind Tunnel. The two chambers were 10 feet in diameter and 60 feet long. The refrigeration equipment produced the temperatures and the exhauster equipment created the low pressures present at altitudes up to 60,000 feet. In 1947 the Rolls Royce Nene was the first engine tested in the new facility. The mechanic in this photograph is installing a General Electric J-35 engine. Over the next ten years, a variety of studies were conducted using the General Electric J-47 and Wright Aeronautical J-65 turbojets. The two test cells were occasionally used for rocket engines between 1957 and 1959, but other facilities were better suited to the rocket engine testing. The Four Burner Area was shutdown in 1959. After years of inactivity, the facility was removed from the Engine Research Building in late 1973 in order to create the High Temperature and Pressure Combustor Test Facility.

Teams at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans move a liquid oxygen tank from the main rocket factory into the adjacent vertical assembly building. The liquid oxygen tank, which will form part of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket for NASA’s Artemis IV mission to the Moon, is rotated from a horizontal to a vertical configuration and loaded into the high bay’s hydrostatic proof testing cell. This non-destructive evaluation method tests the structural integrity of the tank’s welds by filling the tank with water, simulating the propellant used during launch. The propellant tank will hold more than 196,000 gallons of super-cooled liquid oxygen at launch and is one of five major elements that make up the 212-foot-tall SLS rocket stage. The core stage, along with its four RS-25 engines at its base, produces more than two million pounds of thrust to help launch NASA’s Orion spacecraft, astronauts, and supplies beyond Earth’s orbit and to the lunar surface for Artemis.

Teams at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans move a liquid oxygen tank from the main rocket factory into the adjacent vertical assembly building. The liquid oxygen tank, which will form part of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket for NASA’s Artemis IV mission to the Moon, is rotated from a horizontal to a vertical configuration and loaded into the high bay’s hydrostatic proof testing cell. This non-destructive evaluation method tests the structural integrity of the tank’s welds by filling the tank with water, simulating the propellant used during launch. The propellant tank will hold more than 196,000 gallons of super-cooled liquid oxygen at launch and is one of five major elements that make up the 212-foot-tall SLS rocket stage. The core stage, along with its four RS-25 engines at its base, produces more than two million pounds of thrust to help launch NASA’s Orion spacecraft, astronauts, and supplies beyond Earth’s orbit and to the lunar surface for Artemis.

Teams at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans move a liquid oxygen tank from the main rocket factory into the adjacent vertical assembly building. The liquid oxygen tank, which will form part of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket for NASA’s Artemis IV mission to the Moon, is rotated from a horizontal to a vertical configuration and loaded into the high bay’s hydrostatic proof testing cell. This non-destructive evaluation method tests the structural integrity of the tank’s welds by filling the tank with water, simulating the propellant used during launch. The propellant tank will hold more than 196,000 gallons of super-cooled liquid oxygen at launch and is one of five major elements that make up the 212-foot-tall SLS rocket stage. The core stage, along with its four RS-25 engines at its base, produces more than two million pounds of thrust to help launch NASA’s Orion spacecraft, astronauts, and supplies beyond Earth’s orbit and to the lunar surface for Artemis.

Teams at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans move a liquid oxygen tank from the main rocket factory into the adjacent vertical assembly building. The liquid oxygen tank, which will form part of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket for NASA’s Artemis IV mission to the Moon, is rotated from a horizontal to a vertical configuration and loaded into the high bay’s hydrostatic proof testing cell. This non-destructive evaluation method tests the structural integrity of the tank’s welds by filling the tank with water, simulating the propellant used during launch. The propellant tank will hold more than 196,000 gallons of super-cooled liquid oxygen at launch and is one of five major elements that make up the 212-foot-tall SLS rocket stage. The core stage, along with its four RS-25 engines at its base, produces more than two million pounds of thrust to help launch NASA’s Orion spacecraft, astronauts, and supplies beyond Earth’s orbit and to the lunar surface for Artemis.

Teams at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans move a liquid oxygen tank from the main rocket factory into the adjacent vertical assembly building. The liquid oxygen tank, which will form part of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket for NASA’s Artemis IV mission to the Moon, is rotated from a horizontal to a vertical configuration and loaded into the high bay’s hydrostatic proof testing cell. This non-destructive evaluation method tests the structural integrity of the tank’s welds by filling the tank with water, simulating the propellant used during launch. The propellant tank will hold more than 196,000 gallons of super-cooled liquid oxygen at launch and is one of five major elements that make up the 212-foot-tall SLS rocket stage. The core stage, along with its four RS-25 engines at its base, produces more than two million pounds of thrust to help launch NASA’s Orion spacecraft, astronauts, and supplies beyond Earth’s orbit and to the lunar surface for Artemis.

Teams at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans move a liquid oxygen tank from the main rocket factory into the adjacent vertical assembly building. The liquid oxygen tank, which will form part of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket for NASA’s Artemis IV mission to the Moon, is rotated from a horizontal to a vertical configuration and loaded into the high bay’s hydrostatic proof testing cell. This non-destructive evaluation method tests the structural integrity of the tank’s welds by filling the tank with water, simulating the propellant used during launch. The propellant tank will hold more than 196,000 gallons of super-cooled liquid oxygen at launch and is one of five major elements that make up the 212-foot-tall SLS rocket stage. The core stage, along with its four RS-25 engines at its base, produces more than two million pounds of thrust to help launch NASA’s Orion spacecraft, astronauts, and supplies beyond Earth’s orbit and to the lunar surface for Artemis.

Teams at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans move a liquid oxygen tank from the main rocket factory into the adjacent vertical assembly building. The liquid oxygen tank, which will form part of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket for NASA’s Artemis IV mission to the Moon, is rotated from a horizontal to a vertical configuration and loaded into the high bay’s hydrostatic proof testing cell. This non-destructive evaluation method tests the structural integrity of the tank’s welds by filling the tank with water, simulating the propellant used during launch. The propellant tank will hold more than 196,000 gallons of super-cooled liquid oxygen at launch and is one of five major elements that make up the 212-foot-tall SLS rocket stage. The core stage, along with its four RS-25 engines at its base, produces more than two million pounds of thrust to help launch NASA’s Orion spacecraft, astronauts, and supplies beyond Earth’s orbit and to the lunar surface for Artemis.

Teams at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans move a liquid oxygen tank from the main rocket factory into the adjacent vertical assembly building. The liquid oxygen tank, which will form part of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket for NASA’s Artemis IV mission to the Moon, is rotated from a horizontal to a vertical configuration and loaded into the high bay’s hydrostatic proof testing cell. This non-destructive evaluation method tests the structural integrity of the tank’s welds by filling the tank with water, simulating the propellant used during launch. The propellant tank will hold more than 196,000 gallons of super-cooled liquid oxygen at launch and is one of five major elements that make up the 212-foot-tall SLS rocket stage. The core stage, along with its four RS-25 engines at its base, produces more than two million pounds of thrust to help launch NASA’s Orion spacecraft, astronauts, and supplies beyond Earth’s orbit and to the lunar surface for Artemis.

Teams at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans move a liquid oxygen tank from the main rocket factory into the adjacent vertical assembly building. The liquid oxygen tank, which will form part of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket for NASA’s Artemis IV mission to the Moon, is rotated from a horizontal to a vertical configuration and loaded into the high bay’s hydrostatic proof testing cell. This non-destructive evaluation method tests the structural integrity of the tank’s welds by filling the tank with water, simulating the propellant used during launch. The propellant tank will hold more than 196,000 gallons of super-cooled liquid oxygen at launch and is one of five major elements that make up the 212-foot-tall SLS rocket stage. The core stage, along with its four RS-25 engines at its base, produces more than two million pounds of thrust to help launch NASA’s Orion spacecraft, astronauts, and supplies beyond Earth’s orbit and to the lunar surface for Artemis.

Teams at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans move a liquid oxygen tank from the main rocket factory into the adjacent vertical assembly building. The liquid oxygen tank, which will form part of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket for NASA’s Artemis IV mission to the Moon, is rotated from a horizontal to a vertical configuration and loaded into the high bay’s hydrostatic proof testing cell. This non-destructive evaluation method tests the structural integrity of the tank’s welds by filling the tank with water, simulating the propellant used during launch. The propellant tank will hold more than 196,000 gallons of super-cooled liquid oxygen at launch and is one of five major elements that make up the 212-foot-tall SLS rocket stage. The core stage, along with its four RS-25 engines at its base, produces more than two million pounds of thrust to help launch NASA’s Orion spacecraft, astronauts, and supplies beyond Earth’s orbit and to the lunar surface for Artemis.

Teams at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans move a liquid oxygen tank from the main rocket factory into the adjacent vertical assembly building. The liquid oxygen tank, which will form part of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket for NASA’s Artemis IV mission to the Moon, is rotated from a horizontal to a vertical configuration and loaded into the high bay’s hydrostatic proof testing cell. This non-destructive evaluation method tests the structural integrity of the tank’s welds by filling the tank with water, simulating the propellant used during launch. The propellant tank will hold more than 196,000 gallons of super-cooled liquid oxygen at launch and is one of five major elements that make up the 212-foot-tall SLS rocket stage. The core stage, along with its four RS-25 engines at its base, produces more than two million pounds of thrust to help launch NASA’s Orion spacecraft, astronauts, and supplies beyond Earth’s orbit and to the lunar surface for Artemis.

Teams at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans move a liquid oxygen tank from the main rocket factory into the adjacent vertical assembly building. The liquid oxygen tank, which will form part of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket for NASA’s Artemis IV mission to the Moon, is rotated from a horizontal to a vertical configuration and loaded into the high bay’s hydrostatic proof testing cell. This non-destructive evaluation method tests the structural integrity of the tank’s welds by filling the tank with water, simulating the propellant used during launch. The propellant tank will hold more than 196,000 gallons of super-cooled liquid oxygen at launch and is one of five major elements that make up the 212-foot-tall SLS rocket stage. The core stage, along with its four RS-25 engines at its base, produces more than two million pounds of thrust to help launch NASA’s Orion spacecraft, astronauts, and supplies beyond Earth’s orbit and to the lunar surface for Artemis.

STS-134 ET-122 LIFT TO TEST CELL

STS-134 ET-122 LIFT TO TEST CELL

STS-134 ET-122 LIFT TO TEST CELL

STS-131 ET-135 MOVE TO TEST CELL

Common Test Bed, Fuel Cell Laboratory

STS-134 ET-122 LIFT TO TEST CELL

Common Test Bed, Fuel Cell Laboratory

STS-134 ET-122 LIFT TO TEST CELL

STS-131 ET-135 MOVE TO TEST CELL

STS-134 ET-138 LIFT TO TEST CELL

STS-131 ET-135 MOVE TO TEST CELL

STS-131 ET-135 MOVE TO TEST CELL

STS-131 ET-135 MOVE TO TEST CELL

STS-134 ET-138 LIFT TO TEST CELL

Common Test Bed, Fuel Cell Laboratory

STS-134 ET-122 LIFT TO TEST CELL

STS-131 ET-135 MOVE TO TEST CELL

STS-134 ET-122 LIFT TO TEST CELL

STS-131 ET-135 MOVE TO TEST CELL

STS-134 ET-122 LIFT TO TEST CELL

STS-134 ET-122 LIFT TO TEST CELL

STS-134 ET-138 LIFT TO TEST CELL

STS-134 ET-122 LIFT TO TEST CELL

STS-131 ET-135 MOVE TO TEST CELL

STS-131 ET-135 MOVE TO TEST CELL

STS-134 ET-122 LIFT TO TEST CELL

STS-131 ET-135 MOVE TO TEST CELL

STS-134 ET-138 LIFT TO TEST CELL

STS-134 ET-122 LIFT TO TEST CELL

STS-134 ET-122 LIFT TO TEST CELL

STS-134 ET-138 LIFT TO TEST CELL

Teams at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans move a liquid oxygen tank from the main rocket factory into the adjacent vertical assembly building. The liquid oxygen tank, which will form part of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket for NASA’s Artemis IV mission to the Moon, is rotated from a horizontal to a vertical configuration and loaded into the high bay’s hydrostatic proof testing cell. This non-destructive evaluation method tests the structural integrity of the tank’s welds by filling the tank with water, simulating the propellant used during launch. The propellant tank will hold more than 196,000 gallons of super-cooled liquid oxygen at launch and is one of five major elements that make up the 212-foot-tall SLS rocket stage. The core stage, along with its four RS-25 engines at its base, produces more than two million pounds of thrust to help launch NASA’s Orion spacecraft, astronauts, and supplies beyond Earth’s orbit and to the lunar surface for Artemis.

Teams at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans move a liquid oxygen tank from the main rocket factory into the adjacent vertical assembly building. The liquid oxygen tank, which will form part of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket for NASA’s Artemis IV mission to the Moon, is rotated from a horizontal to a vertical configuration and loaded into the high bay’s hydrostatic proof testing cell. This non-destructive evaluation method tests the structural integrity of the tank’s welds by filling the tank with water, simulating the propellant used during launch. The propellant tank will hold more than 196,000 gallons of super-cooled liquid oxygen at launch and is one of five major elements that make up the 212-foot-tall SLS rocket stage. The core stage, along with its four RS-25 engines at its base, produces more than two million pounds of thrust to help launch NASA’s Orion spacecraft, astronauts, and supplies beyond Earth’s orbit and to the lunar surface for Artemis.

The Orion crew and service module stack for Artemis I was lifted out of the Final Assembly and Test (FAST) cell on November 11, 2019. The spacecraft has been stationed in the FAST cell since July for mating and closeout processing. The service module and crew module were moved separately into the cell, stacked and connected together for the mission. After lifting out of the cell, Orion will be attached to a tool called a verticator that rotates the stack from its vertical configuration to a horizontal configuration for transport to NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, where it will undergo full environmental testing to certify the complete vehicle for flight. Once the vehicle returns to Kennedy in several months, it will return to the FAST cell for installation of final panels left off for environmental testing purposes and the service module’s four solar arrays.

The Orion crew and service module stack for Artemis I was lifted out of the Final Assembly and Test (FAST) cell on November 11, 2019. The spacecraft has been stationed in the FAST cell since July for mating and closeout processing. The service module and crew module were moved separately into the cell, stacked and connected together for the mission. After lifting out of the cell, Orion will be attached to a tool called a verticator that rotates the stack from its vertical configuration to a horizontal configuration for transport to NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, where it will undergo full environmental testing to certify the complete vehicle for flight. Once the vehicle returns to Kennedy in several months, it will return to the FAST cell for installation of final panels left off for environmental testing purposes and the service module’s four solar arrays.

The Orion crew and service module stack for Artemis I was lifted out of the Final Assembly and Test (FAST) cell on November 11, 2019. The spacecraft has been stationed in the FAST cell since July for mating and closeout processing. The service module and crew module were moved separately into the cell, stacked and connected together for the mission. After lifting out of the cell, Orion will be attached to a tool called a verticator that rotates the stack from its vertical configuration to a horizontal configuration for transport to NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, where it will undergo full environmental testing to certify the complete vehicle for flight. Once the vehicle returns to Kennedy in several months, it will return to the FAST cell for installation of final panels left off for environmental testing purposes and the service module’s four solar arrays.

The Orion crew and service module stack for Artemis I was lifted out of the Final Assembly and Test (FAST) cell on November 11, 2019. The spacecraft has been stationed in the FAST cell since July for mating and closeout processing. The service module and crew module were moved separately into the cell, stacked and connected together for the mission. After lifting out of the cell, Orion will be attached to a tool called a verticator that rotates the stack from its vertical configuration to a horizontal configuration for transport to NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, where it will undergo full environmental testing to certify the complete vehicle for flight. Once the vehicle returns to Kennedy in several months, it will return to the FAST cell for installation of final panels left off for environmental testing purposes and the service module’s four solar arrays.

The Orion crew and service module stack for Artemis I was lifted out of the Final Assembly and Test (FAST) cell on November 11, 2019. The spacecraft has been stationed in the FAST cell since July for mating and closeout processing. The service module and crew module were moved separately into the cell, stacked and connected together for the mission. After lifting out of the cell, Orion will be attached to a tool called a verticator that rotates the stack from its vertical configuration to a horizontal configuration for transport to NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, where it will undergo full environmental testing to certify the complete vehicle for flight. Once the vehicle returns to Kennedy in several months, it will return to the FAST cell for installation of final panels left off for environmental testing purposes and the service module’s four solar arrays.

The Orion crew and service module stack for Artemis I was lifted out of the Final Assembly and Test (FAST) cell on November 11, 2019. The spacecraft has been stationed in the FAST cell since July for mating and closeout processing. The service module and crew module were moved separately into the cell, stacked and connected together for the mission. After lifting out of the cell, Orion will be attached to a tool called a verticator that rotates the stack from its vertical configuration to a horizontal configuration for transport to NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, where it will undergo full environmental testing to certify the complete vehicle for flight. Once the vehicle returns to Kennedy in several months, it will return to the FAST cell for installation of final panels left off for environmental testing purposes and the service module’s four solar arrays.

The Orion crew and service module stack for Artemis I was lifted out of the Final Assembly and Test (FAST) cell on November 11, 2019. The spacecraft has been stationed in the FAST cell since July for mating and closeout processing. The service module and crew module were moved separately into the cell, stacked and connected together for the mission. After lifting out of the cell, Orion will be attached to a tool called a verticator that rotates the stack from its vertical configuration to a horizontal configuration for transport to NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, where it will undergo full environmental testing to certify the complete vehicle for flight. Once the vehicle returns to Kennedy in several months, it will return to the FAST cell for installation of final panels left off for environmental testing purposes and the service module’s four solar arrays.

The Orion crew and service module stack for Artemis I was lifted out of the Final Assembly and Test (FAST) cell on November 11, 2019. The spacecraft has been stationed in the FAST cell since July for mating and closeout processing. The service module and crew module were moved separately into the cell, stacked and connected together for the mission. After lifting out of the cell, Orion will be attached to a tool called a verticator that rotates the stack from its vertical configuration to a horizontal configuration for transport to NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, where it will undergo full environmental testing to certify the complete vehicle for flight. Once the vehicle returns to Kennedy in several months, it will return to the FAST cell for installation of final panels left off for environmental testing purposes and the service module’s four solar arrays.

The Orion crew and service module stack for Artemis I was lifted out of the Final Assembly and Test (FAST) cell on November 11, 2019. The spacecraft has been stationed in the FAST cell since July for mating and closeout processing. The service module and crew module were moved separately into the cell, stacked and connected together for the mission. After lifting out of the cell, Orion will be attached to a tool called a verticator that rotates the stack from its vertical configuration to a horizontal configuration for transport to NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, where it will undergo full environmental testing to certify the complete vehicle for flight. Once the vehicle returns to Kennedy in several months, it will return to the FAST cell for installation of final panels left off for environmental testing purposes and the service module’s four solar arrays.

The Orion crew and service module stack for Artemis I was lifted out of the Final Assembly and Test (FAST) cell on November 11, 2019. The spacecraft has been stationed in the FAST cell since July for mating and closeout processing. The service module and crew module were moved separately into the cell, stacked and connected together for the mission. After lifting out of the cell, Orion will be attached to a tool called a verticator that rotates the stack from its vertical configuration to a horizontal configuration for transport to NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, where it will undergo full environmental testing to certify the complete vehicle for flight. Once the vehicle returns to Kennedy in several months, it will return to the FAST cell for installation of final panels left off for environmental testing purposes and the service module’s four solar arrays.

The Orion crew and service module stack for Artemis I was lifted out of the Final Assembly and Test (FAST) cell on November 11, 2019. The spacecraft has been stationed in the FAST cell since July for mating and closeout processing. The service module and crew module were moved separately into the cell, stacked and connected together for the mission. After lifting out of the cell, Orion will be attached to a tool called a verticator that rotates the stack from its vertical configuration to a horizontal configuration for transport to NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, where it will undergo full environmental testing to certify the complete vehicle for flight. Once the vehicle returns to Kennedy in several months, it will return to the FAST cell for installation of final panels left off for environmental testing purposes and the service module’s four solar arrays.

The Orion crew and service module stack for Artemis I was lifted out of the Final Assembly and Test (FAST) cell on November 11, 2019. The spacecraft has been stationed in the FAST cell since July for mating and closeout processing. The service module and crew module were moved separately into the cell, stacked and connected together for the mission. After lifting out of the cell, Orion will be attached to a tool called a verticator that rotates the stack from its vertical configuration to a horizontal configuration for transport to NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, where it will undergo full environmental testing to certify the complete vehicle for flight. Once the vehicle returns to Kennedy in several months, it will return to the FAST cell for installation of final panels left off for environmental testing purposes and the service module’s four solar arrays.

The Orion crew and service module stack for Artemis I was lifted out of the Final Assembly and Test (FAST) cell on November 11, 2019. The spacecraft has been stationed in the FAST cell since July for mating and closeout processing. The service module and crew module were moved separately into the cell, stacked and connected together for the mission. After lifting out of the cell, Orion will be attached to a tool called a verticator that rotates the stack from its vertical configuration to a horizontal configuration for transport to NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, where it will undergo full environmental testing to certify the complete vehicle for flight. Once the vehicle returns to Kennedy in several months, it will return to the FAST cell for installation of final panels left off for environmental testing purposes and the service module’s four solar arrays.

The Orion crew and service module stack for Artemis I was lifted out of the Final Assembly and Test (FAST) cell on November 11, 2019. The spacecraft has been stationed in the FAST cell since July for mating and closeout processing. The service module and crew module were moved separately into the cell, stacked and connected together for the mission. After lifting out of the cell, Orion will be attached to a tool called a verticator that rotates the stack from its vertical configuration to a horizontal configuration for transport to NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, where it will undergo full environmental testing to certify the complete vehicle for flight. Once the vehicle returns to Kennedy in several months, it will return to the FAST cell for installation of final panels left off for environmental testing purposes and the service module’s four solar arrays.

The Orion crew and service module stack for Artemis I was lifted out of the Final Assembly and Test (FAST) cell on November 11, 2019. The spacecraft has been stationed in the FAST cell since July for mating and closeout processing. The service module and crew module were moved separately into the cell, stacked and connected together for the mission. After lifting out of the cell, Orion will be attached to a tool called a verticator that rotates the stack from its vertical configuration to a horizontal configuration for transport to NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, where it will undergo full environmental testing to certify the complete vehicle for flight. Once the vehicle returns to Kennedy in several months, it will return to the FAST cell for installation of final panels left off for environmental testing purposes and the service module’s four solar arrays.

The Orion crew and service module stack for Artemis I was lifted out of the Final Assembly and Test (FAST) cell on November 11, 2019. The spacecraft has been stationed in the FAST cell since July for mating and closeout processing. The service module and crew module were moved separately into the cell, stacked and connected together for the mission. After lifting out of the cell, Orion will be attached to a tool called a verticator that rotates the stack from its vertical configuration to a horizontal configuration for transport to NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, where it will undergo full environmental testing to certify the complete vehicle for flight. Once the vehicle returns to Kennedy in several months, it will return to the FAST cell for installation of final panels left off for environmental testing purposes and the service module’s four solar arrays.

The Orion crew and service module stack for Artemis I was lifted out of the Final Assembly and Test (FAST) cell on November 11, 2019. The spacecraft has been stationed in the FAST cell since July for mating and closeout processing. The service module and crew module were moved separately into the cell, stacked and connected together for the mission. After lifting out of the cell, Orion will be attached to a tool called a verticator that rotates the stack from its vertical configuration to a horizontal configuration for transport to NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, where it will undergo full environmental testing to certify the complete vehicle for flight. Once the vehicle returns to Kennedy in several months, it will return to the FAST cell for installation of final panels left off for environmental testing purposes and the service module’s four solar arrays.