NASA Pathways intern Saré Culbertson, right, works with NASA operations engineer Jack Hayes at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, on Nov. 7, 2024. They are verifying GPS and global navigation satellite system coordinates using Emlid Reach RS2+ receiver equipment, which supports surveying, mapping, and navigation in preparation for future air taxi test flight research.

Exterior view of the Engineering Support Building (formerly Operations support Building)

Exterior view of the Engineering Support Building (formerly Operations support Building)

Aerial view of the Engineering Support Building (formerly Operations support Building)

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility, Dan Clark, with KSC Boeing, operates the camera for a 3D digital scan of the actuator on the table. There are two actuators per engine on the Shuttle, one for pitch motion and one for yaw motion. The Space Shuttle Main Engine hydraulic servoactuators are used to gimbal the main engine.

HAWTHORNE, Calif. -- NASA astronauts and industry experts check out the crew accommodations in the Dragon spacecraft under development by Space Exploration Technologies SpaceX of Hawthorne, Calif., for the agency's Commercial Crew Program. On top, from left, are NASA Crew Survival Engineering Team Lead Dustin Gohmert, NASA astronauts Tony Antonelli and Lee Archambault, and SpaceX Mission Operations Engineer Laura Crabtree. On bottom, from left, are SpaceX Thermal Engineer Brenda Hernandez and NASA astronauts Rex Walheim and Tim Kopra. In 2011, NASA selected SpaceX during Commercial Crew Development Round 2 CCDev2) activities to mature the design and development of a crew transportation system with the overall goal of accelerating a United States-led capability to the International Space Station. The goal of CCP is to drive down the cost of space travel as well as open up space to more people than ever before by balancing industry’s own innovative capabilities with NASA's 50 years of human spaceflight experience. Six other aerospace companies also are maturing launch vehicle and spacecraft designs under CCDev2, including Alliant Techsystems Inc. ATK, The Boeing Co., Excalibur Almaz Inc., Blue Origin, Sierra Nevada, and United Launch Alliance ULA. For more information, visit www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew. Image credit: Space Exploration Technologies

Dryden Model Shop's Tony Frakowiak remotely flies an experimental model aircraft being powered by a spotlight operated by Dryden aerospace engineer (code RA) Ryan Warner.

iss058e005069 (Jan. 18, 2019) --- Expedition 58 Flight Engineer Anne McClain of NASA looks at a laptop computer screen inside the U.S. Destiny laboratory module during ground conference operations.

Teams at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center help monitor launch conditions for the Crew 1 mission from the Huntsville Operations Support Center in Huntsville, Alabama. SpaceX will launch a Falcon 9 rocket carrying NASA astronauts aboard the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station on Nov. 15, 2020. The Marshall team is supporting flight control teams working with NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, and SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, as they monitor the different phases of the upcoming mission. Engineers and technicians at Marshall will use headsets and loops to communicate with the multiple locations on console for the launch.

A test operator in clean-room garb observes rolling of the wheels during the first drive test of NASA Curiosity rover, on July 23, 2010. Technicians and engineers conducted the drive test at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

iss058e001880 (Jan. 2, 2019) --- NASA astronaut and Expedition 58 Flight Engineer Anne McClain works inside the Unity module conducting research operations for the Protein Crystal Experiment-16 that is exploring therapies for Parkinson's disease.

Engineers and technicians in the control room at the Dryden Flight Research Center must constantly monitor critical operations and checks during research projects like NASA's hypersonic X-43A. Visible in the photo, taken two days before the X-43's captive carry flight in January 2004, are [foreground to background]; Tony Kawano (Range Safety Officer), Brad Neal (Mission Controller), and Griffin Corpening (Test Conductor).

ISS006-E-45260 (20 March 2003) --- Cosmonaut Nikolai M. Budarin, Expedition Six flight engineer, is pictured in the Zvezda Service Module on the International Space Station (ISS). Budarin represents Rosaviakosmos.

This is an up-close view of the X-59’s engine inlet – fresh after being painted. The 13-foot F414-GE-100 engine will be placed inside the inlet bringing the X-59 aircraft one step closer to completion. Once fully assembled, the X-59 aircraft will begin flight operations, working toward demonstration of the ability to fly supersonic while reducing the loud sonic boom to a quiet sonic thump, helping to enable commercial supersonic air travel over land.

PSL CONTROL ROOM TEST ENGINEERS AND OPERATORS GE J85 TBCC ENGINE TEST TURBINE BASED COMBINED CYCLE

Operators in the control room for the Altitude Wind Tunnel at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Aircraft Engine Research Laboratory remotely operate a Wright R–3350 engine in the tunnel’s test section. Four of the engines were used to power the B–29 Superfortress, a critical weapon in the Pacific theater during World War II. The wind tunnel, which had been in operation for approximately six months, was the nation’s only wind tunnel capable of testing full-scale engines in simulated altitude conditions. The soundproof control room was used to operate the wind tunnel and control the engine being run in the test section. The operators worked with assistants in the adjacent Exhauster Building and Refrigeration Building to manage the large altitude simulation systems. The operator at the center console controlled the tunnel’s drive fan and operated the engine in the test section. Two sets of pneumatic levers near his right forearm controlled engine fuel flow, speed, and cooling. Panels on the opposite wall, out of view to the left, were used to manage the combustion air, refrigeration, and exhauster systems. The control panel also displayed the master air speed, altitude, and temperature gauges, as well as a plethora of pressure, temperature, and airflow readings from different locations on the engine. The operator to the right monitored the manometer tubes to determine the pressure levels. Despite just being a few feet away from the roaring engine, the control room remained quiet during the tests.

FROM LEFT, EUGENA GOGGANS AND MELISSA HOPPER, BOTH STOWAGE ENGINEERS, AND LYBREASE WOODARD, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF THE MISSION OPERATIONS LAB, GREET DR. ELLEN OCHOA IN THE PAYLOAD OPERATIONS INTEGRATION CENTER FOR THE ISS

Operators fire the RS-25 engine at NASA’s Stennis Space Center on Nov. 15, 2023, up to the 113% power level. The first four Artemis missions are using modified space shuttle main engines that can power up to 109% of their rated level. New RS-25 engines will power up to the 111% level to provide additional thrust, so testing up to the 113% power level provides a margin of operational safety.

S88-42092 (15 July 1988) --- STS-26 Discovery, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 103, rollover at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is closely monitored by engineers and technicians in the late stages of the move from the orbiter processing facility (OPF) to the vehicle assembly building (VAB) as preflight preparations continue. A large crowd of KSC employees and other spectators watches in the background as OV-103, supported by its landing gear, is pulled toward VAB (background). While in the VAB, OV-103 will be mated to two solid rocket boosters (SRBs) and an external fuel tank.

S65-05112 (30 May 1965) --- Cutaway engineering drawing showing some of the features of the zero-gravity integral propulsion unit.

Engineers at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) have begun a series of engine tests on a new breed of space propulsion: a Reaction Control Engine developed for the Space Launch Initiative (SLI). The engine, developed by TRW Space and Electronics of Redondo Beach, California, is an auxiliary propulsion engine designed to maneuver vehicles in orbit. It is used for docking, reentry, attitude control, and fine-pointing while the vehicle is in orbit. The engine uses nontoxic chemicals as propellants, a feature that creates a safer environment for ground operators, lowers cost, and increases efficiency with less maintenance and quicker turnaround time between missions. Testing includes 30 hot-firings. This photograph shows the first engine test performed at MSFC that includes SLI technology. Another unique feature of the Reaction Control Engine is that it operates at dual thrust modes, combining two engine functions into one engine. The engine operates at both 25 and 1,000 pounds of force, reducing overall propulsion weight and allowing vehicles to easily maneuver in space. The low-level thrust of 25 pounds of force allows the vehicle to fine-point maneuver and dock while the high-level thrust of 1,000 pounds of force is used for reentry, orbit transfer, and coarse positioning. SLI is a NASA-wide research and development program, managed by the MSFC, designed to improve safety, reliability, and cost effectiveness of space travel for second generation reusable launch vehicles.

A NASA scientist displays Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) turbine component which underwent air flow tests at Marshall's Structures and Dynamics Lab. Such studies could improve efficiency of aircraft engines, and lower operational costs.

Thermal Evaluaion of X-37 Body Flap Sea test in Panel Test Facility PTF-115 with (l) Duoc Tran, Boeing Test engineer and (r) Vincent Meglio, NASA lead Engineering Technician / Operator

Smokeless flame juts from the diffuser of a unique vacuum chamber in which the upper stage rocket engine, the hydrogen fueled J-2, was tested at a simulated space altitude in excess of 60,000 feet. The smoke you see is actually steam. In operation, vacuum is established by injecting steam into the chamber and is maintained by the thrust of the engine firing through the diffuser. The engine was tested in this environment for start, stop, coast, restart, and full-duration operations. The chamber was located at Rocketdyne's Propulsion Field Laboratory, in the Santa Susana Mountains, near Canoga Park, California. The J-2 engine was developed by Rocketdyne for the Marshall Space Flight Center.

This view of Mars was captured by NASA's Odyssey orbiter using its Thermal Emission Imaging System, or THEMIS, camera. This image is a false color composite, made by combining three channels of infrared data that highlight water-ice clouds and dust in the atmosphere. This panorama was one of 10 captured on May 9, 2023, from an altitude of roughly 250 miles (400 kilometers) above the Martian surface – about the same altitude at which the International Space Station flies over Earth. The 10 panoramas of the Martian horizon were taken to capture a one-of-a-kind view of the Martian atmosphere as Odyssey circled the planet during its two-hour orbit. The reason why the view is so uncommon is because of the challenges involved in creating it. Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California (which leads the Odyssey mission) and Lockheed Martin Space (which built Odyssey and co-leads day-to-day operations) spent three months planning the observations. THEMIS' sensitivity to warmth enables it to map ice, rock, sand, and dust, along with temperature changes, on the planet's surface. It can also measure how much water ice or dust is in the atmosphere, but only in a narrow column directly below the spacecraft. That's because THEMIS is fixed in place on the orbiter; it usually points straight down. Mission scientists wanted a more expansive view of the atmosphere. Seeing where those layers of water-ice clouds and dust are in relation to each other – whether there's one layer or several stacked on top of each other – helps them improve models of Mars' atmosphere. Because THEMIS can't pivot, adjusting the angle of the camera requires adjusting the position of the whole spacecraft. In this case, the team needed to rotate the orbiter almost 90 degrees while making sure the Sun would still shine on the spacecraft's solar panels but not on sensitive equipment that could overheat. The easiest orientation turned out to be one where the orbiter's antenna pointed away from Earth. That meant the team was out of communication with Odyssey for several hours until the operation was completed. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA26203

Reverend Henry Birkenhauer and E.F. Carome measure ground vibrations on West 220th Street caused by the operation of the 8- by 6-Foot Supersonic Wind Tunnel at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory. The 8- by 6 was the laboratory’s first large supersonic wind tunnel. It was also the NACA’s most powerful supersonic tunnel, and the NACA’s first facility capable of running an engine at supersonic speeds. The 8- by 6 was originally an open-throat and non-return tunnel. This meant that the supersonic air flow was blown through the test section and out the other end into the atmosphere. Complaints from the local community led to the installation of a muffler at the tunnel exit and the eventual addition of a return leg. Reverend Brikenhauer, a seismologist, and Carome, an electrical technician were brought in from John Carroll University to take vibration measurements during the 8- by 6 tunnel’s first run with a supersonic engine. They found that the majority of the vibrations came from the air and not the ground. The tunnel’s original muffler offered some relief during the facility checkout runs, but it proved inadequate during the operation of an engine in the test section. Tunnel operation was suspended until a new muffler was designed and installed. The NACA researchers, however, were pleased with the tunnel’s operation. They claimed it was the first time a jet engine was operated in an airflow faster than Mach 2.

Lockheed Martin engineers assemble Orion's Artemis I crew module at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Operations and Checkout Building on April 27, 2018.

Lockheed Martin engineers assemble Orion's Artemis I crew module at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Operations and Checkout Building on April 27, 2018.

SSC's rocket engine test complex and its four unique test stands provide test operations for the development and certification of propulsion systems, subsystems and components.

Lockheed Martin engineers assemble Orion's Artemis I crew module at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Operations and Checkout Building on April 27, 2018.

Lockheed Martin engineers assemble Orion's Artemis I crew module at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Operations and Checkout Building on April 27, 2018.

Lockheed Martin engineers assemble Orion's Artemis I crew module at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Operations and Checkout Building on April 27, 2018.

Lockheed Martin engineers assemble Orion's Artemis I crew module at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Operations and Checkout Building on April 27, 2018.

Lockheed Martin engineers assemble Orion's Artemis I crew module at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Operations and Checkout Building on April 27, 2018.

Lockheed Martin engineers assemble Orion's Artemis I crew module at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Operations and Checkout Building on April 27, 2018.

Lockheed Martin engineers assemble Orion's Artemis I crew module at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Operations and Checkout Building on April 27, 2018.

Lockheed Martin engineers assemble Orion's Artemis I crew module at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Operations and Checkout Building on April 27, 2018.

Lockheed Martin engineers assemble Orion's Artemis I crew module at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Operations and Checkout Building on April 27, 2018.

ACE-TR Operations at GRC-TSC, Advanced Colloids Experiment with Temperature control for the Research, Engineering, and Mission Integration Services, REMIS (JSC) contract

Expedition 39 flight engineer Steve Swanson waves to the camera during Extravehicular Activity 26 (EVA 26) cleanup operations at the S0 Truss.

Lockheed Martin engineers assemble Orion's Artemis I crew module at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Operations and Checkout Building on April 27, 2018.

On May 25, 2012, NASA recorded another first during a 40-second test of the next-generation J-2X engine on the A-2 Test Stand at Stennis Space Center. Test conductors fired the J-2X in both the secondary and primary modes of operation. Previous tests were run in one mode only; combining the two allowed operators to collect critical data on engine performance.

Jacobs Test Project Engineer Don Vinton, left and NASA Operations Project Engineer Doug Robertson, monitor operations from his position in Firing Room 1 at the Kennedy Space Center's Launch Control Center during a countdown simulation for Exploration Mission 1. It was the agency's first simulation of a portion of the countdown for the first launch of a Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft that will eventually take astronauts beyond low-Earth orbit to destinations such as the Moon and Mars.

Engineers and technicians with Jacobs Engineering on the Test and Operations Contract monitor the progress as a crane is used to move one of two pathfinders, or test versions, of solid rocket booster segments for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. At far right, the first pathfinder booster segment has been secured in the vertical position on a test stand. Inside the RPSF, the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program and Jacobs will prepare the booster segments, which are inert, for a series of lifts, moves and stacking operations to prepare for Exploration Mission-1, deep-space missions and the journey to Mars.

Members of the news media view the high bay inside the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility (RPSF) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Inside the RPSF, engineers and technicians with Jacobs Engineering on the Test and Operations Support Contract, explain the various test stands. In the far corner is one of two pathfinders, or test versions, of solid rocket booster segments for NASA’s Space Launch System rocket. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program and Jacobs are preparing the booster segments, which are inert, for a series of lifts, moves and stacking operations to prepare for Exploration Mission-1, deep-space missions and the journey to Mars.

The CPS controls operations used by Glenn Research Center's wind tunnels, propulsion systems lab, engine components research lab, and compressor, turbine and combustor test cells. Used widely throughout the lab, it operates equipment such as exhausters, chillers, cooling towers, compressors, dehydrators, and other such equipment.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – These two locomotive engineers are among those who operate NASA railroad trains at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The space agency utilizes railroad operations to not only move equipment at Kennedy, but to transport hardware to and from contractor facilities across the nation. Photo credit: NASA

iss065e241343 (Aug. 12, 2021) --- Northrop Grumman's Cygnus space freighter awaits its capture with the Canadarm2 robotic arm operated operated NASA by Flight Engineer Megan McArthur. The International Space Station was orbiting 261 miles above the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Brazil at the time of this photograph.

An Aerojet AJ26 rocket engine is hoisted for installation at Stennis Space Center's E-1 Test Stand on July 19. Stennis operators have been preparing the E-1 stand for testing AJ26 engines since April 2009. Modifications included construction of a 27-foot-deep flame deflection trench.

NASA Acting Deputy Chief Technologist Vicki Crips being briefed by Tim Cox, Controls Engineer at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center at Edwards, California, on the operation of the sonic boom prediction algorithms being used in engineering simulation for the NASA Supersonic Quest program.

An Aerojet AJ26 rocket engine is hoisted for installation at Stennis Space Center's E-1 Test Stand on July 19. Stennis operators have been preparing the E-1 stand for testing AJ26 engines since April 2009. Modifications included construction of a 27-foot-deep flame deflection trench.

ISS003-E-5479 (24 August 2001) --- Cosmonaut Vladimir Dezhurov, Expedition Three flight engineer, operates a video camera in the Zvezda Service Module. In the background, cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin, flight engineer, is visible with a photographic camera. Tyurin and Dezhurov represent Rosaviakosmos.

LCROSS Impact Night From left to right: Khanh Trinh (Simulator Engineer), and Dan Andrews (LCROSS Project Manager) in background, John Bresina (Command Sequencing Engineer), and John Schreiner (Mission Operations Manager), shake hands after confirmation the LCROSS spacecraft successfully impacted its target crater on the moon.

Operators in the Engine Research Building’s Central Control Room at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory. The massive 4.25-acre Engine Research Building contains dozens of test cells, test stands, and altitude chambers. A powerful collection of compressors and exhausters located in the central portion of the basement provided process air and exhaust for these test areas. This system is connected to similar process air systems in the laboratory’s other large test facilities. The Central Control Room coordinates this activity and communicates with the local utilities. This photograph was taken just after a major upgrade to the control room in 1948. The panels on the wall contain rudimentary floor plans of the different Engine Research Building sections with indicator lights and instrumentation for each test cell. The process air equipment included 12 exhausters, four compressors, a refrigeration system, cooling water, and an exhaust system. The operators in the control room kept in contact with engineers running the process air system and those conducting the tests in the test cells. The operators also coordinated with the local power companies to make sure enough electricity was available to operate the powerful compressors and exhausters.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- A presentation by Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering is on display at the KSC Visitor Complex for this year's NASA MarsPort Engineering Design Student Competition 2002 conference. Participants are presenting papers on engineering trade studies to design optimal configurations for a MarsPort Deployable Greenhouse for operation on the surface of Mars. Judges in the competition were from KSC, Dynamac Corporation and Florida Institute of Technology. The winning team's innovative ideas will be used by NASA to evaluate and study other engineering trade concepts

The flight crew of NASA's SOFIA airborne observatory and DLR telescope engineers who operated the system during its visit to NASA Ames Research Center on Jan. 14, 2008 included (from left), DLR telescope engineer Ulli Lampater, flight engineer Marty Trout, pilot Bill Brockett, telescope engineer Andres Reinacher and pilot Frank Batteas.

The Fuel Burner Rig is a test laboratory at NASA Glenn, which subjects new jet engine materials, treated with protective coatings, to the hostile, high temperature, high velocity environment found inside aircraft turbine engines. These samples face 200-mile per hour flames to simulate the temperatures of aircraft engines in flight. The rig can also simulate aircraft carrier and dusty desert operations where salt and sand can greatly reduce engine life and performance.

The 3D-printed titanium scoop of the Cold Operable Lunar Deployable Arm (COLDArm) robotic arm system is poised above a test bed filled with material to simulate lunar regolith (broken rocks and dust) at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. COLDArm can function in temperatures as cold as minus 280 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 173 degrees Celsius). Robotics engineer David E. Newill-Smith looks on during testing in September 2022. COLDArm is designed to go on a Moon lander and operate during lunar night, a period that lasts about 14 Earth days. Frigid temperatures during lunar night would stymie current spacecraft, which must rely on energy-consuming heaters to stay warm. To operate in the cold, the 6-foot-6-inch (2-meter) arm combines several key new technologies: gears made of bulk metallic glass that require no lubrication or heating, cold motor controllers that don't need to be kept warm in an electronics box near the core of the spacecraft, and a cryogenic six-axis force torque sensor that lets the arm "feel" what it's doing and make adjustments. A variety of attachments and small instruments could go on the end of the arm, including the scoop, which could be used for collecting samples from a planet's surface. Like the arm on NASA's InSight Mars lander, COLDArm could deploy science instruments to the surface. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25316

Saré Culbertson, NASA Pathways intern at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, adjusts the Emlid Reach RS2+ receiver equipment that connects with GPS and global navigation satellite systems on Nov. 7, 2024, in preparation for future air taxi test flight research.

Researchers at the Lewis Research Center had been studying different methods of electric rocket propulsion since the mid-1950s. Harold Kaufman created the first successful engine, the electron bombardment ion engine, in the early 1960s. Over the ensuing decades Lewis researchers continued to advance the original ion thruster concept. A Space Electric Rocket Test (SERT) spacecraft was launched in June 1964 to test Kaufman’s engine in space. SERT I had one cesium engine and one mercury engine. The suborbital flight was only 50 minutes in duration but proved that the ion engine could operate in space. This was followed in 1966 by the even more successful SERT II, which operated on and off for over ten years. Lewis continued studying increasingly more powerful ion thrusters. These electric engines created and accelerated small particles of propellant material to high exhaust velocities. Electric engines have a very small amount of thrust and are therefore not capable of lifting a spaceship from the surface of the Earth. Once lofted into orbit, however, electric engines are can produce small, continuous streams of thrust for several years.

A Wright Aeronautical XRJ47-W-5 ramjet installed in a test chamber of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics’ (NACA) new Propulsion Systems Laboratory at the Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory. Construction of the facility had only recently been completed, and NACA engineers were still testing the various operating systems. The Propulsion Systems Laboratory was the NACA’s most powerful facility for testing full-scale engines in simulated flight altitudes. It contained two 14-foot diameter and 100-foot-long altitude chambers that ran parallel to one another with a control room in between. The engine being tested was installed inside the test section of one of the chambers, seen in this photograph. Extensive instrumentation was fitted onto the engine prior to the test. Once the chamber was sealed, the altitude conditions were introduced, and the engine was ignited. Operators in the control room could run the engine at the various speeds and adjust the altitude conditions to the desired levels. The engine’s exhaust was ejected into the cooling equipment. Two 48-inch diameter XRJ47-W-5 ramjets were used to power the North American Aviation Navaho Missile. The Navaho was a winged missile that was intended to travel up to 3000 miles carrying a nuclear warhead. It was launched using rocket booster engines that were ejected after the missile’s ramjet engines were ignited.

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama, has begun a series of engine tests on the Reaction Control Engine developed by TRW Space and Electronics for NASA's Space Launch Initiative (SLI). SLI is a technology development effort aimed at improving the safety, reliability, and cost effectiveness of space travel for reusable launch vehicles. The engine in this photo, the first engine tested at MSFC that includes SLI technology, was tested for two seconds at a chamber pressure of 185 pounds per square inch absolute (psia). Propellants used were liquid oxygen as an oxidizer and liquid hydrogen as fuel. Designed to maneuver vehicles in orbit, the engine is used as an auxiliary propulsion system for docking, reentry, fine-pointing, and orbit transfer while the vehicle is in orbit. The Reaction Control Engine has two unique features. It uses nontoxic chemicals as propellants, which creates a safer environment with less maintenance and quicker turnaround time between missions, and it operates in dual thrust modes, combining two engine functions into one engine. The engine operates at both 25 and 1,000 pounds of force, reducing overall propulsion weight and allowing vehicles to easily maneuver in space. The force of low level thrust allows the vehicle to fine-point maneuver and dock, while the force of the high level thrust is used for reentry, orbital transfer, and course positioning.

S88-29076 (10 Jan 1988) --- KSC employees work together to carefully guide a 7,000 pound main engine into the number one position in Discovery's aft compartment. Because of the engine's weight and size, special handling equipment is needed to perform the installation. Discovery is currently being prepared for the upcoming STS-26 mission in bay 1 of the Orbiter Processing Facility. This engine, 2019, arrived at KSC on Jan. 6 and was installed Jan. 10. The other two engines are scheduled to be installed later this month. The shuttle's three main liquid fueled engines provide the main propulsion for the orbiter vehicle. The cluster of three engines operate in parallel with the solid rocket boosters during the initial ascent.

Members of the news media watch as a crane is used to move one of two pathfinders, or test versions, of solid rocket booster segments for NASA’s Space Launch System rocket to a test stand in the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Inside the RPSF, the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program and Jacobs Engineering, on the Test and Operations Support Contract, will prepare the booster segments, which are inert, for a series of lifts, moves and stacking operations to prepare for Exploration Mission-1, deep-space missions and the journey to Mars.

Dwight Mosby, Payload Operations Mission Division Manager, welcomes scientists and engineers from around the world as they participate in the annual Payload Operations and Integration Working Group meeting held Oct. 20-21. The event offers payload developers, investigators and project managers the opportunity to coordinate processes and schedules and to review the status of scientific payloads currently on or soon launching to the International Space Station. The gathering, hosted by NASA Marshall’s Payload Operations and Integration Center, was held virtually. The POIC is mission control for science on the International Space Station.

At the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility (RPSF) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, members of the news media watch as cranes are used to lift one of two pathfinders, or test versions, of solid rocket booster segments for NASA’s Space Launch System rocket. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program and Jacobs Engineering, on the Test and Operations Support Contract, are preparing the booster segments, which are inert, for a series of lifts, moves and stacking operations to prepare for Exploration Mission-1, deep-space missions and the journey to Mars.

At the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility (RPSF) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, members of the news media photograph the process as cranes are used to lift one of two pathfinders, or test versions, of solid rocket booster segments for NASA’s Space Launch System rocket. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program and Jacobs Engineering, on the Test and Operations Support Contract, are preparing the booster segments, which are inert, for a series of lifts, moves and stacking operations to prepare for Exploration Mission-1, deep-space missions and the journey to Mars.

NASA mechanical test operations engineer Briou Bourgeois speaks with a visitor to the NASA Stennis booth during solar eclipse activities at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indiana on April 8.

ISS022-E-014695 (26 Dec. 2009) --- Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Soichi Noguchi, Expedition 22 flight engineer, uses a vacuum cleaner during housekeeping operations in the Kibo laboratory of the International Space Station.

iss060e043926 (Aug. 23, 2019) --- Expedition 60 Flight Engineer Christina Koch of NASA conducts science operations for the BioFabrication Facility experiment researching the effectiveness of using 3D biological printers to produce usable human organs in microgravity.

ISS032-E-010377 (28 July 2012) --- Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Aki Hoshide, Expedition 32 flight engineer, uses a vacuum cleaner during housekeeping operations in the Kibo laboratory of the International Space Station.

ISS024-E-006224 (20 June 2010) --- NASA astronaut Doug Wheelock, Expedition 24 flight engineer, uses a vacuum cleaner during housekeeping operations in the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station.

iss066e108544 (Jan. 6, 2022) --- NASA astronaut and Expedition 66 Flight Engineer Mark Vande Hei conducts operations for the Plant Habitat-5 space agriculture experiment that is studying cotton genetics.

ISS024-E-007736 (10 July 2010) --- NASA astronaut Shannon Walker, Expedition 24 flight engineer, uses a vacuum cleaner during housekeeping operations in the Kibo laboratory of the International Space Station.

Expedition 39 flight engineer Rick Mastracchio poses for a photo with the replacement Fan Pump Separator (FPS) and Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) 3005. Image was taken in the Quest Airlock (A/L) during FPS remove and replace operations.

iss060e035160 (Aug. 12, 2019) --- Expedition 60 Flight Engineer Christina Koch of NASA conducts science operations inside Japan's Kibo laboratory module with a science freezer that preserves biological research samples for later analysis.

NASA Dryden Operations co-op student Shannon Kolensky holds one of the APV-3 UAVs flown in the Networked UAV Teaming Experiment steady during an engine runup.

iss065e241432 (Aug. 12, 2021) --- Northrop Grumman's Cygnus space freighter is pictured shortly after it was captured in the grips of the Canadarm2 robotic arm operated NASA Flight Engineer Megan McArthur.

Technicians at General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., (GA-ASI) facility at Adelanto, Calif., carefully install a turboprop engine to the rear fuselage of NASA's Altair aircraft during final assembly operations.

iss066e108292 (Jan. 6, 2022) --- NASA astronaut and Expedition 66 Flight Engineer Mark Vande Hei conducts operations for the Plant Habitat-5 space agriculture experiment that is studying cotton genetics.

ISS022-E-014698 (26 Dec. 2009) --- Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Soichi Noguchi, Expedition 22 flight engineer, uses a vacuum cleaner during housekeeping operations in the Kibo laboratory of the International Space Station.

Work continues on the A-3 Test Stand at Stennis Space Center. The new stand will allow operators to test next-generation rocket engines at simulated altitudes up to 100,000 feet. The test stand is scheduled for completion and activation in 2013.

ISS024-E-007735 (10 July 2010) --- NASA astronaut Shannon Walker, Expedition 24 flight engineer, uses a vacuum cleaner during housekeeping operations in the Kibo laboratory of the International Space Station.

The A-3 Test Stand under construction at Stennis Space Center is set for completion and activation in 2013. It will allow operators to conduct simulated high-altitude testing on the next-generation J-2X rocket engine.

iss071e154431 (May 31, 2024) --- Expedition 71 Flight Engineer and NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps observes an Astrobee robotic free flyer during an operations test inside the International Space Station's Kibo laboratory module.

Astronaut Alexander Gerst,Expedition 40 flight engineer (background),and Expedition 40 Commander Steve Swanson are photographed performing blood sample collection in the Columbus module as part of HRF Generic Frozen Blood Collection Operations.

Jerry Buhrow, an engineer in the Materials Analysis Lab, places a sample on a thermal testing unit inside a lab at NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building on Oct. 6, 2020.

ISS019-E-007597 (18 April 2009) --- Astronaut Michael Barratt, Expedition 19/20 flight engineer, uses a vacuum cleaner during housekeeping operations in the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station.

ISS030-E-065369 (15 Jan. 2012) --- European Space Agency astronaut Andre Kuipers, Expedition 30 flight engineer, uses a vacuum cleaner during housekeeping operations in the Kibo laboratory of the International Space Station.

ISS019-E-007593 (18 April 2009) --- Astronaut Michael Barratt, Expedition 19/20 flight engineer, uses a vacuum cleaner during housekeeping operations in the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station.

ISS030-E-065378 (15 Jan. 2012) --- European Space Agency astronaut Andre Kuipers, Expedition 30 flight engineer, uses a vacuum cleaner during housekeeping operations in the Kibo laboratory of the International Space Station.

iss066e108552 (Jan. 6, 2022) --- NASA astronaut and Expedition 66 Flight Engineer Mark Vande Hei conducts operations for the Plant Habitat-5 space agriculture experiment that is studying cotton genetics.

iss060e001460 (June 28, 2019) --- Expedition 60 Flight Engineer Christina Koch of NASA partially installs cables inside the Unity module to support Canadarm2 robotic arm operations aboard the International Space Station.

ISS024-E-007737 (10 July 2010) --- NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson, Expedition 24 flight engineer, uses a vacuum cleaner during housekeeping operations in the Kibo laboratory of the International Space Station.

iss065e208537 (June 26, 2021) --- NASA astronaut and Expedition 65 Flight Engineer Shane Kimbrough poses for a portrait in the middle of research operations aboard the International Space Station.

Briou Bourgeois is a mechanical test operations engineer at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, where he enjoys working on a variety of projects to support NASA’s efforts of leading the way in space exploration for humanity.

ISS030-E-210319 (15 Jan. 2012) --- European Space Agency astronaut Andre Kuipers, Expedition 30 flight engineer, uses a vacuum cleaner during housekeeping operations in the Kibo laboratory of the International Space Station.

The PF2 segment is an engineering model used to verify the fligh design and the flight manufacturing procedures prior to the start of flight manufacturing. PF2 is also being used to verify the in house operational procedures.

Julio Treviño, lead operations engineer for NASA’s Global Hawk SkyRange project, stands in front of an F/A-18 mission support aircraft at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.

S104-E-5092 (16 July 2001) --- Susan J. Helms, Expedition Two flight engineer, talks to amateur radio operators on Earth from the HAM radio workstation in the Zarya module of the International Space Station (ISS).