Expedition 49 Russian cosmonaut Sergei Ryzhikov of Roscosmos dons his Russian Sokol suit ahead of the Soyuz qualification exams with fellow Russian cosmonaut Andrey Borisenko of Roscosmos and NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2016, at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC) in Star City, Russia. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
Members of the recovery team watch as a test version of the Orion crew module is secured in the flooded well deck of the USS San Diego during Underway Recovery Test 5 in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. NASA's Ground Systems Development and Operations Program and the U.S. Navy are conducting a series of tests to prepare for recovery of Orion on its return from deep space missions. The testing will allow the team to demonstrate and evaluate recovery processes, procedures, hardware and personnel in open waters. Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to destinations not yet explored by humans, including an asteroid and NASA's Journey to Mars. It will have emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. Orion is scheduled to launch on NASA's Space Launch System in late 2018. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/orion.
NASA Dawn spacecraft took this view from Ceres on June 16, 2016, showing Ernutet Crater 32 miles, 52 kilometers in diameter at top. NASA's Dawn spacecraft took this image on June 16, 2016, from its low-altitude mapping orbit, at a distance of about 240 miles (385 kilometers) above the surface. The image resolution is 120 feet (35 meters) per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20833
A crane lifts the Core State Inter-tank Umbilical (CSITU) for NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) at the Launch Equipment Test Facility at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The CSITU will be attached to the "C" tower of the Vehicle Motion Simulator 2 test fixture. The umbilical will undergo a series of tests to confirm it is functioning properly and ready to support the SLS rocket for launch. The CSITU is a swing arm umbilical that will connect to the SLS core stage inter-tank. The umbilical's main function is to vent gaseous hydrogen from the core stage. The arm also provides conditioned air, pressurized gases, and power and data connection to the core stage. The center’s Engineering Directorate and the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program are overseeing processing and testing of the umbilicals.
ISS047e137096 (06/03/2016) --- This stunning Earth image taken from the International Space Station looks from Northwestern China on the bottom into eastern Kazakhstan. The large lake in Kazakhstan with golden sun glint is named Lake Balkhash. It is one of the largest lakes in Asia and is the 15th largest lake in the world. The lake is fed by 7 rivers.
AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS OF MSFC-4600 COMPLEX
This image captured by NASA 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft is located in Noachis Terra. The unnamed crater at the bottom of the image contains a central pit. Central features such as pits and peaks can provide information about both the impacted surface and the size of the meteorite. Orbit Number: 65680 Latitude: -28.4965 Longitude: 349.805 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2016-10-03 22:49 http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21180
A test version of the Orion crew module is guided into the flooded well deck of the USS San Diego during Underway Recovery Test 5 in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. Recovery team personnel in a rigid hull inflatable boat have secured tether lines to the crew module. NASA's Ground Systems Development and Operations Program and the U.S. Navy are conducting a series of tests to prepare for recovery of Orion on its return from deep space missions. The testing will allow the team to demonstrate and evaluate recovery processes, procedures, hardware and personnel in open waters. Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to destinations not yet explored by humans, including an asteroid and NASA's Journey to Mars. It will have emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. Orion is scheduled to launch on NASA's Space Launch System in late 2018. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/orion.
At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, a solid rocket motor is attached to a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket at Space Launch Complex 2. Preparations are continuing for launch of the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS-1) spacecraft on March 27, 2017. JPSS-1 is part of the next-generation environmental satellite system, a collaborative program between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA.
This enhanced color view from NASA's New Horizons spacecraft zooms in on the southeastern portion of Pluto's great ice plains, where at lower right the plains border rugged, dark highlands informally named Krun Macula. Krun Macula -- Krun is the lord of the underworld in the Mandaean religion, and a macula is a dark feature on a planetary surface -- is believed to get its dark red color from tholins, complex molecules found across Pluto. Krun Macula rises 1.5 miles (2.5 kilometers) above the surrounding plain -- informally named Sputnik Planum -- and is scarred by clusters of connected, roughly circular pits that typically reach between 5 and 8 miles (8 and 13 kilometers) across, and up to 1.5 miles (2.5 kilometers) deep. At the boundary with Sputnik Planum, these pits form deep valleys reaching more than 25 miles (40 kilometers) long, 12.5 miles (20 kilometers) wide and almost 2 miles (3 kilometers) deep (almost twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in Arizona), and have floors covered with nitrogen ice. New Horizons scientists think these pits may have formed through surface collapse, although what may have prompted such a collapse is a mystery. This scene was created using three separate observations made by New Horizons in July 2015. The right half of the image is composed of 260 feet- (80 meter-) per-pixel data from the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI), obtained at 9,850 miles (15,850 kilometers) from Pluto, about 23 minutes before New Horizons' closest approach. The left half is composed of 410 feet- (125 meter-) per-pixel LORRI data, obtained about six minutes earlier, with New Horizons 15,470 miles (24,900 kilometers) from Pluto. These data respectively represent portions of the highest- and second-highest-resolution observations obtained by New Horizons in the Pluto system. The entire scene was then colorized using 2230 feet- (680 meter-) per-pixel data from New Horizons' Ralph/Multispectral Visual Imaging Camera (MVIC), obtained at 21,100 miles (33,900 kilometers) from Pluto, about 45 minutes before closest approach. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20733
Today's VIS image is located in Aeolis Mensae, east of Gale Crater. The linear ridge/valley system near the center of the image was formed by unidirectional winds eroding poorly cemented material. This feature is called yardangs. Orbit Number: 64265 Latitude: -5.37213 Longitude: 145.043 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2016-06-09 09:32 http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20806
A crane lifts the Crew Access Arm and White Room for Boeing's CST-100 Starliner spacecraft to be attached to the Crew Access Tower at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41. When attached to the 200-foot tall Crew Access Tower, the arm will serve as the connection that astronauts will walk through prior to boarding the Starliner spacecraft when stacked atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. This installation completes the major construction of the first new Crew Access Tower to be built at the Cape since the Apollo era. Under a Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) contract with NASA, Boeing’s Starliner system will be certified by NASA's Commercial Crew Program to fly crews to and from the International Space Station.
Technicians prepare one of the fins for installation on the Orbital ATK Pegasus XL rocket inside Building 1555 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The fins will provide aerodynamic stability during flight. The rocket is being prepared at Vandenberg, and then will be transported to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, attached to the Orbital ATK L-1011 carrier aircraft with NASA’s Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) in its payload fairing. CYGNSS will launch on the Pegasus XL rocket from the Skid Strip at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. CYGNSS will make frequent and accurate measurements of ocean surface winds throughout the life cycle of tropical storms and hurricanes. The data that CYGNSS provides will enable scientists to probe key air-sea interaction processes that take place near the core of storms, which are rapidly changing and play a critical role in the beginning and intensification of hurricanes.
In the Press Site auditorium at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Taraji P. Henson speaks to members of the media during a news conference with other key individuals involved in the upcoming motion picture "Hidden Figures." The movie is based on the book of the same title, by Margot Lee Shetterly. It chronicles the lives of Katherine Johnson (played by Henson), Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson, three African-American women who worked for NASA as human "computers.” Their mathematical calculations were crucial to the success of Project Mercury missions including John Glenn’s orbital flight aboard Friendship 7 in 1962. The film is due in theaters in January 2017.
This image captured by NASA 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of the interior of Milankovic Crater.
West of NASA Curiosity landing site, this image from NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft along the northwestern floor of Gale Crater is between Aeolis Mons informally called Mt. Sharp and the crater rim.
Dr. von Braun, Dr. Weidner, and Ed Weaver examining a welding device during a tour of the MSFC Manufacturing and Engineering (ME) Laboratory on October 17, 1967.
The American flag is in view above the Orion heat shield for Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1) inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The heat shield arrived aboard the agency’s Super Guppy aircraft at the Shuttle Landing Facility, managed and operated by Space Florida, from Lockheed Martin’s manufacturing facility near Denver. The heat shield will be offloaded and moved onto a test stand to begin processing. The Orion spacecraft will launch atop NASA’s Space Launch System rocket on EM-1, an uncrewed test flight, in 2018.
A heavy-lift crane lifts the first half of the E-level work platforms, E south, for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, up from the floor of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The E platform will be installed on the south side of High Bay 3, about 246 feet above the floor. The E platforms are the sixth of 10 levels of work platforms that will surround and provide access to the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft for Exploration Mission 1. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to VAB High Bay 3, including installation of the new work platforms, to prepare for NASA’s journey to Mars.
The Orion crew module for Artemis I is lifted into a test stand for pressure testing in the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 21, 2016.
This view combines multiple images from the telephoto-lens camera of the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover to reveal fine details of the downwind face of "Namib Dune." The site is part of the dark-sand "Bagnold Dunes" field along the northwestern flank of Mount Sharp. Images taken from orbit have shown that dunes in the Bagnold field move as much as about 3 feet (1 meter) per Earth year. Sand on this face of Namib Dune has cascaded down a slope of about 26 to 28 degrees. The top of the face is about 13 to 17 feet (4 to 5 meters) above the rocky ground at its base. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20283
Today's VIS image shows part of the canyon wall of Melas Chasma. Orbit Number: 65682 Latitude: -9.38343 Longitude: 289.417 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2016-10-04 02:52 http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21181
Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, former NASA astronaut Dan Tani, who now is senior director of Missions and Cargo Operations for Orbital ATK in Dulles, Virginia, participates in a press interview. In the background is the Cygnus spacecraft scheduled to deliver hardware and supplies to the International Space Station on the upcoming Orbital ATK Commercial Resupply Services-6 mission.
In the Kennedy Space Center’s Press Site auditorium, Kenneth Todd, NASA ISS Operations Integration manager; speaks to members of the media at a prelaunch news conference for Orbital ATK CRS-6 commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station.
Launch Complex 39B is seen during an aerial survey of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Saturday. The survey was performed to identify structures and facilities that may have sustained damage from Hurricane Matthew as the storm passed to the east of Kennedy on Oct. 6 and 7, 2016. Officials determined that the center received some isolated roof damage, damaged support buildings, a few downed power lines, and limited water intrusion. Beach erosion also occurred, although the storm surge was less than expected. NASA closed the center ahead of the storm’s onset and only a small team of specialists known as the Rideout Team was on the center as the storm approached and passed
A construction worker wearing a safety harness and tethered lines monitors the progress during the installation of the second half of the B-level work platforms, B north, for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, high up in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The B platform will be installed on the north side of High Bay 3. The B platforms are the ninth of 10 levels of work platforms that will surround and provide access to the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft for Exploration Mission 1. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to VAB High Bay 3, including installation of the new work platforms, to prepare for NASA’s Journey to Mars.
Two large alligators sun themselves on the sand near the NASA Causeway at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The center shares a boundary with the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is home to more than 65 amphibian and reptile species, along with 330 native and migratory bird species, 25 mammal and 117 fish species.
Engineers and astronauts conduct testing in a representative model of the Orion spacecraft at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on July 28, 2016 to gather the crew's feedback on the design of the docking hatch and on post-landing equipment operations. ..While the crew will primarily use the side hatch for entry and exit on Earth and the docking hatch to travel between Orion and a habitation module on long-duration deep space missions, the crew will need to be able to exit out of the docking hatch if wave heights in the Pacific Ocean upon splashdown are too high. The work is being done to help ensure all elements of Orion's design are safe and effective for the crew to use on future missions on the journey to Mars.
An Orbital Maneuvering System engine at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on March 28, 2016.
Technicians with Orbital ATK remove the first half of the Pegasus payload fairing for NASA’s Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) from its shipping container near Building 1555 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. CYGNSS is being prepared at Vandenberg, and then will be transported to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard the Orbital ATK Pegasus XL rocket which will be attached to the Orbital ATK L-1011 carrier aircraft. CYGNSS will launch on the Pegasus XL rocket from the Skid Strip at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. CYGNSS will make frequent and accurate measurements of ocean surface winds throughout the life cycle of tropical storms and hurricanes. The data that CYGNSS provides will enable scientists to probe key air-sea interaction processes that take place near the core of storms, which are rapidly changing and play a critical role in the beginning and intensification of hurricanes.
At Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 41, an Atlas V rocket with NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, or GOES-R, lifts off at 6:42 p.m. EST. GOES-R is the first satellite in a series of next-generation GOES satellites for NOAA, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. It will launch to a geostationary orbit over the western hemisphere to provide images of storms and help meteorologists predict severe weather conditionals and develop long-range forecasts.
Photos of the Launch Vehicle Data Center (LVDC) in Hangar AE - Telemetry Room - showing the engineering consule upgrades.
Girls Night In was held at Goddard on Nov 4-5, 2016. This is a pilot program which reinvigorates, inspires, and engages high school girls who may be struggling or not fully engaged in STEM (Science, Technology Engineering and Math) education. The program allowed NASA women to share and demonstrate the work they do, provide the girls an opportunity to completely immerse themselves in Goddard science, technology, engineering and math as well as provide them activities that will challenge and promote knowledge and discovery. Goddard invites other NASA centers tolearn from this pilot program and work towards a simultaneous multicenter event in the future. Participating schools were: DuVal, Crossland, Flowers, High Point, Northwestern and Oxon Hill
JOSH WHITE DEMONSTRATING THE CAPABILITIES OF THE SYSTEM TO AUTONOMOUSLY INSPECT AND MACHINE ADDITIVELY MANUFACTURED PARTS (SAIMAP).
Thomas Zurbuchen, in plaid shirt, NASA's associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, listens to a presentation at the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The United Launch Alliance Atlas V Centaur second stage departs the Launch Vehicle Integration Facility aboard a transport trailer for delivery to the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-R) will launch aboard the Atlas V rocket in November. GOES-R is the first satellite in a series of next-generation NOAA GOES Satellites.
EuCROPIS EVT-2 Power Cell in N-239 Lab showing LED light viewing area
In an effort to improve fuel efficiency, NASA and the aircraft industry are rethinking aircraft design. Inside the 8' x 6' wind tunnel at NASA Glenn, engineers recently tested a fan and inlet design, commonly called a propulsor, which could use four to eight percent less fuel than today's advanced aircraft.
EuCROPIS EVT-2 Power Cell in N-239 Lab with Ivan Paulino-Lima
The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, enclosed in a payload fairing, is towed from the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center to begin the trip to Space Launch Complex 41 at the adjacent Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket that is to lift OSIRIS-REx into space was stacked at SLC-41 so the spacecraft and fairing could be hoisted and bolted to the rocket promptly. The spacecraft will be sent to rendezvous with, survey and take a sample from an asteroid called Bennu.
Maryland's Sen. Barbara Mikulski greeted employees at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, during a packed town hall meeting Jan. 6. She discussed her history with Goddard and appropriations for NASA in 2016. Read more: http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/maryland-sen-barbara-mikulski-visits-nasa-goddard Credit: NASA/Goddard/Rebecca Roth <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b> N
A heavy load transport truck from Tillett Heavy Hauling in Titusville, Florida, arrives at the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying the second half of the A-level work platforms, A north, for the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. This is the final platform delivered to Kennedy. The A-level platforms are the topmost platforms for High Bay 3 in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). The platform will be delivered to the VAB staging area in the west parking lot. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to High Bay 3 to support processing of the SLS and Orion spacecraft. A total of 10 levels of new platforms, 20 platform halves altogether, will surround the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft and provide access for testing and processing.
DAVE EDWARDS, CHIEF ENGINEER FOR THE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY OFFICE AT MARSHALL, POSES FOR “I CHART THE PATH” SERIES PHOTO
iss050e011332 (11/22/2016) --- A view of the Aquapad Sampling kit in a blue cargo transfer bag (CTB). Aquapad aims to improve the speed and efficiency of water potability tests onboard the ISS, by using a device that consists of a simple absorbent cotton, which is injected with 1 milliliter of water, and a tablet computer application,
This map shows the frequency of carbon dioxide frost's presence at sunrise on Mars, as a percentage of days year-round. Carbon dioxide ice more often covers the ground at night in some mid-latitude regions than in polar regions, where it is generally absent for much of summer and fall. Color coding is based on data from the Mars Climate Sounder instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. A color-key bar below the map shows how colors correspond to frequencies. Yellow indicates high frequencies, identifying areas where carbon dioxide ice is present on the ground at night during most of the year. Blue identifies areas where it is rarely present; red is intermediate. Areas without color coding are regions where carbon dioxide frost is not detected at any time of year. The areas with highest frequency of overnight carbon dioxide frost correspond to regions with surfaces of loose dust, which do not retain heat well, compared to rockier areas. Those areas also have some of the highest mid-afternoon temperatures on the planet. The dust surface heats up and cools off rapidly. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20758
Test of Unmanned Aircraft Systems Traffic Management (UTM) technical capability Level 2 (TCL2) at Reno-Stead Airport, Nevada. During the test, five drones simultaneously crossed paths, separated by altitude. Two drones flew beyond visual line-of-sight and three flew within line-of-sight of their operators. Engineers Priya Venkatesan and Joey Mercer review flight paths using the UAS traffic management research platform at flight operations mission control at NASA’s UTM TCL2 test.
The THEMIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. This image from NASA 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of Capri Mensa. Orbit Number: 39326 Latitude: -14.169 Longitude: 312.852 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2010-10-26 09:01 http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20769
On April 6, 2016, engineers at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, kicked off a series of nine drop tests of a representative Orion crew capsule with crash test dummies inside to understand what the spacecraft and astronauts may experience when landing in the Pacific Ocean after deep-space missions. The high-fidelity capsule, coupled with the heat shield from Orion's first flight in space, was hoisted approximately 16 feet above the water and vertically dropped into Langley’s 20-foot-deep Hydro Impact Basin. The crash test dummies were instrumented to provide data and secured inside the capsule to help provide information engineers need to ensure astronauts will be protected from injury during splashdown. Each test in the series simulates different scenarios for Orion’s parachute-assisted landings, wind conditions, velocities and wave heights the spacecraft may experience when touching down in the ocean.
ISS47e141893 (06/02/2016) --- This Earth observation image of the southern Mediterranean area was taken by the crew of Expedition 47 aboard the International Space Station. The image looks from the coastline of Greece (bottom left) across the Ionian sea to the bottom "heel" of Italy. The tip of the toe reaches toward Sicily.
Encapsulated inside its payload fairing, the Cygnus spacecraft for the upcoming Orbital ATK Commercial Resupply Services-6 is prepared for lifting to be mated atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket in the Vertical Integration Facility at Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The Cygnus is scheduled to lift off atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on March 22 to deliver hardware and supplies to the International Space Station.
A service member and his family check out a test version of the Orion crew module on display at Naval Base San Diego in California, before Underway Recovery Test 5 (URT-5). NASA, Orion manufacturer Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Navy will head out to sea with the Orion test vehicle aboard the USS San Diego to demonstrate and evaluate the recovery processes, procedures, hardware and personnel necessary for recovery of Orion on its return from a deep space mission. Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to destinations not yet explored by humans, including an asteroid and NASA Journey to Mars. It will have emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. Orion is scheduled to launch atop NASA’s Space Launch System rocket in 2018. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/orion.
Artemis I Orion departs Michoud Assembly Facility for Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Feb. 1, 2016. The vessel was loaded onto NASA's Super Guppy cargo aircraft. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.
Inside a laboratory in the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, research scientists prepare the plant pillows for the Veg-03 experiment that will be delivered to the International Space Station aboard the eighth SpaceX Dragon commercial resupply mission. Matt Romeyn, a NASA pathways intern, measures out the calcined clay, or space dirt, for one of the plant pillows. To his right is Dr. Gioia Massa, NASA payload scientist for Veggie. The Veg-03 plant pillows will contain ‘Tokyo Bekana’ cabbage seeds and lettuce seeds for NASA’s third Veggie plant growth system experiment. The experiment will continue NASA’s deep space plant growth research to benefit the Earth and the agency’s journey to Mars.
Computers, monitors, vacuum cleaners and other electronics have been donated by employees at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida in conjunction with America Recycles Day. America Recycles Day is a nationally recognized initiative dedicated to promoting recycling in the United States. Kennedy partnered with several organizations in order to donate as many of the items as possible to those who could use them the most in the Space Coast community. Space center personnel brought in electronic waste, gently used household goods, clothing and more.
View of noctilucent clouds over Earth.
Black skimmers take a break from flying on a riverbank at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in Florida. NASA’s Kennedy Space Center shares boundaries with the refuge, which is home to more than 330 native and migratory bird species, along with 25 mammal, 117 fish, and 65 amphibian and reptile species.
This VIS image of the south polar cap shows a surface with hundreds of circular depressions. This texture similar in appearance to swiss cheese. Orbit Number: 64535 Latitude: -86.8715 Longitude: 354.786 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2016-07-01 14:50 http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20974
MICHELLE TILLOTSON, AN ENGINEER AT NASA’S MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER, SHOWS KALYN HOPKINS A STUDENT AT THE MIAMI VALLEY SCHOOL, DAYTON OHIO, NEW EQUIPMENT THAT WILL BE USED TO TEST THE PROPELLANT TANKS FOR THE SLS
Carefully packaged cargo waits on pallets inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. In the background, technicians prepare to begin loading the cargo into the Orbital ATK Cygnus pressurized module during late stowage operations. The spacecraft is scheduled for the upcoming Orbital ATK Commercial Resupply Services-6 mission to deliver hardware and supplies to the International Space Station. The Cygnus is scheduled to lift off atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on March 22.
In the Press Site auditorium at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, members of the media participate in a news conference with key individuals from the upcoming motion picture "Hidden Figures." From the left are: Ted Melfi (partially visible), writer and director of “Hidden Figures”; Octavia Spencer, who portrays Dorothy Vaughan; Taraji P. Henson, who portrays Katherine Johnson in the film; Janelle Monáe, who portrays Mary Jackson; Pharrell Williams, musician and producer of “Hidden Figures"; and Bill Barry, NASA's chief historian. The movie is based on the book of the same title, by Margot Lee Shetterly. It chronicles the lives of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson, three African-American women who worked for NASA as human "computers.” Their mathematical calculations were crucial to the success of Project Mercury missions including John Glenn’s orbital flight aboard Friendship 7 in 1962. The film is due in theaters in January 2017.
In the Press Site auditorium at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, members of the media participate in a news conference with key individuals involved in the upcoming motion picture "Hidden Figures." From the left are: Janelle Monáe, who portrays Mary Jackson; Pharrell Williams, musician and producer of “Hidden Figures;" and Bill Barry, NASA's chief historian. The movie is based on the book of the same title, by Margot Lee Shetterly. It chronicles the lives of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson, three African-American women who worked for NASA as human "computers.” Their mathematical calculations were crucial to the success of Project Mercury missions including John Glenn’s orbital flight aboard Friendship 7 in 1962. The film is due in theaters in January 2017.
Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the hatch is closed for the upcoming flight of a Cygnus cargo vessel. The spacecraft is scheduled for the upcoming Orbital ATK Commercial Resupply Services-6 mission to deliver hardware and supplies to the International Space Station. The Cygnus is scheduled to lift off atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on March 22.
NASA astronaut Eric Boe wears Boeing's new spacesuit designed to be worn by astronauts flying on the CST-100 Starliner. The suit is lighter and more flexible than previous spacesuits but retains the ability to pressurize in an emergency. Astronauts will wear the suit throughout the launch and ascent into orbit as well as on the way back to Earth. Starliners will launch atop Atlas V rockets from United Launch Alliance on missions including flights to the International Space Station for NASA's Commercial Crew Program. NASA's commercial crew astronauts Boe and Suni Williams tried on the suits at Boeing’s Commercial Crew and Cargo Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Boe, Williams, Bob Behnken, and Doug Hurley were selected by NASA in July 2015 to train for commercial crew test flights aboard the Starliner and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft. The flight assignments have not been set, so all four of the astronauts are rehearsing heavily for flights aboard both vehicles. Photo credit: Boeing
Technicians with Orbital ATK prepare the micro satellites for installation on the deployment module for NASA’s Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) in Building 1555 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. CYGNSS is being prepared at Vandenberg, and then will be transported to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard the Orbital ATK Pegasus XL rocket which will be attached to the Orbital ATK L-1011 carrier aircraft. CYGNSS will launch on the Pegasus XL rocket from the Skid Strip at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. CYGNSS will make frequent and accurate measurements of ocean surface winds throughout the life cycle of tropical storms and hurricanes. The data that CYGNSS provides will enable scientists to probe key air-sea interaction processes that take place near the core of storms, which are rapidly changing and play a critical role in the beginning and intensification of hurricanes.
TIFFANY LOCKETT OVERSEES THE HALF SCALE (36 SQUARE METERS) ENGINEERING DEVELOPMENT UNIT (EDU) SOLAR SAIL DEPLOYMENT DEMONSTRATION IN PREPARATION FOR FULL SCALE EDU (86 SQUARE METERS) DEPLOYMENT IN APRIL, 2016
At the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, ISS Expedition 48-49 prime crewmember Kate Rubins of NASA (left) shares a lighthearted moment June 24 with backup crewmember Peggy Whitson of NASA before departing for their launch site at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Rubins, Anatoly Ivanishin of Roscosmos and Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency will launch July 7 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on the Soyuz MS-01 spacecraft for a planned four-month mission on the International Space Station. NASA/Stephanie Stoll
Enclosed in its payload fairing, NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-R) departs from the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville, Florida, near NASA's Kennedy Space Center. GOES-R will be transported to the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The satellite will launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket in November. GOES-R is the first satellite in a series of next-generation NOAA GOES Satellites.
The THEMIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. This image from NASA 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of Capri Mensa.
Delegates from the Embassy of Spain visited Goddard on Sept 29, 2016. Center Director Chris Scolese gave a brief overview of the Center and the guests then toured B29 James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) in clean room, and B28 Hyperwall.
In the Mission Director's Center at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana, right, congratulates, Omar Baez, a senior launch director in NASA's Launch Services Program, after the successful launch of eight Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System, or CYGNSS, spacecraft. The satellites will make frequent and accurate measurements of ocean surface winds throughout the life cycle of tropical storms and hurricanes. The data that CYGNSS provides will enable scientists to probe key air-sea interaction processes that take place near the core of storms, which are rapidly changing and play a crucial role in the beginning and intensification of hurricanes.
This view from NASA's Dawn spacecraft shows cratered terrain at 59 degrees north latitude, 89 degrees east longitude on Ceres, just east of the large crater named Omonga. Dawn took this image on June 1, 2016, from its low-altitude mapping orbit, at a distance of about 240 miles (385 kilometers) above the surface. The image resolution is 120 feet (35 meters) per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20929
Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin tries out Microsoft HoloLens mixed reality headset during a preview of the new Destination: Mars experience at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Destination: Mars gives guests an opportunity to “visit” several sites on Mars using real imagery from NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover. Based on OnSight, a tool created by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, the experience brings guests together with a holographic version of Aldrin as they are guided to Mars using the headset. Photo credit: NASA/Charles Babir
This VIS image shows two circular features. The flat floored feature at the top of the image is the summit caldera of Elysium Mons and was formed by volcanic activity. The bowl-shaped feature next to the caldera is an impact crater. Orbit Number: 65587 Latitude: 24.3248 Longitude: 146.842 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2016-09-26 07:14 http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21159
The THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image. Today's false color image shows part of the plains of Terra Sabaea. Orbit Number: 49034 Latitude: -25.4878 Longitude: 44.1368 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-01-02 12:26 http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21200
STS083-S-001 008
Inside Building 1555 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians and engineers perform final wing installations on the Orbital ATK Pegasus XL rocket which will launch eight NASA Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System, or CYGNSS, spacecraft. When preparations are completed at Vandenberg, the rocket, with CYGNSS in its payload fairing, will be attached to the Orbital ATK L-1011 carrier aircraft and transported to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. On Dec. 12, 2016, the carrier aircraft is scheduled to take off from the Skid Strip at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and CYGNSS will launch on the Pegasus XL rocket with the L-1011 flying off shore. CYGNSS will make frequent and accurate measurements of ocean surface winds throughout the life cycle of tropical storms and hurricanes. The data that CYGNSS provides will enable scientists to probe key air-sea interaction processes that take place near the core of storms, which are rapidly changing and play a critical role in the beginning and intensification of hurricanes.
Models of the Orion spacecraft and Launch Abort System are on display for viewing at Naval Base San Diego in California. Service members, base employees and their families had the opportunity to view a test version of the Orion crew module (in view in the background) before Underway Recovery Test 5 (URT-5). NASA, Orion manufacturer Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Navy will head out to sea with the Orion test vehicle aboard the USS San Diego to demonstrate and evaluate the recovery processes, procedures, hardware and personnel necessary for recovery of Orion on its return from a deep space mission. Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to destinations not yet explored by humans, including an asteroid and NASA Journey to Mars. It will have emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. Orion is scheduled to launch atop NASA’s Space Launch System rocket in 2018. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/orion.
The shipping container carrying the Orion heat shield for Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1) was offloaded from NASA’s Super Guppy aircraft at the Shuttle Landing Facility, managed and operated by Space Florida, at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The heat shield will be transported to the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay for processing. The heat shield arrived from Lockheed Martin’s manufacturing facility near Denver. The Orion spacecraft will launch atop NASA’s Space Launch System rocket on EM-1, an uncrewed test flight, in 2018.
BUILDING 4205 GALLERY, EXTERIOR AND INTERIOR VIEWS
This artist depiction shows the close encounter between comet Siding Sprng and Mars in 2014. The comet powerful magnetic field temporarily merged with, and overwhelmed, the planet weak magnetic field.
iss047e012491 (03/21/2016) --- NASA astronaut Tim Kopra stows hardware from the OASIS experiment aboard the International Space Station. OASIS, which stands for Observation and Analysis of Smectic Islands In Space, studies the unique behavior of liquid crystals in microgravity.
This dual view of Jupiter was taken on August 23, when NASA's Juno spacecraft was 2.8 million miles (4.4 million kilometers) from the gas giant planet on the inbound leg of its initial 53.5-day capture orbit. The image on the left is a color composite taken with Junocam's visible red, green, and blue filters. The image on the right was also taken by JunoCam, but uses the camera's infrared filter, which is sensitive to the abundance of methane in the atmosphere. Bright features like the planet's Great Red Spot are higher in the atmosphere, and so have less of their light absorbed by the methane. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20884
Extravehicular crewmember 1 (EV1) Jeff Williams pauses for a photo after installing a Hemispherical (Hemi) Reflector Cover on Pressurized Mating Adapter 2 (PMA-2) during Extravehicular Activity 36 (EVA 36).
Jenn Gustetic, NASA's Small Business Innovation Research Program executive, talks with Rob Mueller, senior technologist and co-founder of Kennedy Space Center's Swamp Works. Gustetic met team members and viewed many of the pioneering technologies and innovations in development at Kennedy. Swamp Works is a hands-on, lean development environment for innovation following the philosophies pioneered in Kelly Johnson's Skunk Works and Werner von Braun's development shops. The Swamp Works establishes rapid, innovative and cost-effective exploration mission solutions through a highly collaborative, "no walls" approach, leveraging partnerships across NASA, industry and academia.
At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, an Orbital ATK Pegasus XL rocket is seen during payload fairing installation in Building 1555. On board Pegasus are eight NASA Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System, or CYGNSS, spacecraft. When preparations are competed at Vandenberg, the L-1011/Pegasus XL combination will be flown to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. On Dec. 12, 2016, the carrier aircraft is scheduled to take off from the Skid Strip at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and CYGNSS will launch on the Pegasus XL rocket with the L-1011 flying off shore. CYGNSS satellites will make frequent and accurate measurements of ocean surface winds throughout the life cycle of tropical storms and hurricanes. The data that CYGNSS provides will help scientists to probe key air-sea interaction processes that take place near the core of storms, which are rapidly changing and play a crucial role in the beginning and intensification of hurricanes.
A damaged construction trailer and several pieces of associated debris, aftermath of Hurricane Matthew, are seen near the Mobile Launcher in the Launch Complex 39 area at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Assessments and repairs are in progress at various structures and facilities across the spaceport, part of the ongoing recovery from Hurricane Matthew, which passed to the east of Kennedy on Oct. 6 and 7, 2016. The center received some isolated roof damage, damaged support buildings, a few downed power lines, and limited water intrusion. Beach erosion also occurred, although the storm surge was less than expected.
This image from NASA's Dawn spacecraft shows Kondos Crater on Ceres. The image is centered at 19 degrees south latitude, 18 degrees east longitude. Dawn took this image on June 10, 2016, from its low-altitude mapping orbit, at a distance of about 240 miles (385 kilometers) above the surface. The image resolution is 120 feet (35 meters) per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20961
ISS047e021586 03/26/2016) --- Cygnus capture March 26, 2016. Expedition 47 robotic arm operator NASA astronaut Tim Kopra commanded the International Space Station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm to capture the Cygnus spacecraft .
Expedition 50 crew members ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet, left, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos, center, and NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson report to mission managers for their final qualification exams, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016, at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC) in Star City, Russia. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
On the same day it arrived, the Atlas V Centaur stage is moved into the Atlas Spaceflight Operations Center near Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-R) will launch aboard the Atlas V rocket in November. GOES-R will be the first satellite in a series of next-generation NOAA GOES Satellites.
AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS OF MSFC-4670 TTB
ISS048e056981 (0813/2016) --- Sparkling aurora colors of magenta and green color the sky's while the International Space Station orbits above the planet every 90 minutes. SpaceX’s Dragon resupply vehicle is seen docked to the Earth-facing port of the Harmony module.
At Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 41, a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with a single-engine Centaur upper stage stands ready to boost an Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft on a resupply mission to the International Space Station. Science payloads include the second generation of a portable onboard printer to demonstrate three-dimensional printing, an instrument for first space-based observations of the chemical composition of meteors entering Earth’s atmosphere and an experiment to study how fires burn in microgravity.
iss049e032063 (Oct. 8, 2016) --- Earth's atmospheric glow, the stars of the Milky Way and an experiment facility at the tip of Japan's Kibo lab module are seen in this night time photograph taken during Expedition 49.
ISS046e048360 (02/25/2016) --- NASA astronaut Tim Kopra prepares to participate in the Airway Monitoring experiment. With dust particles present in the International Space Station atmosphere, Airway Monitoring studies the occurrence and indicators of airway inflammation in crewmembers, using ultra-sensitive gas analyzers to analyze exhaled air. This helps to highlight any health impacts and to maintain crewmember well-being on future human spaceflight missions, especially longer-duration missions to the Moon and Mars for example, where crewmembers will have to be more self-sufficient in highlighting and avoiding such conditions.
Senior executives from the Renault-Nissan Alliance visited Ames meet with Ames management. Here they are gathered for a Autonomous Drive demo presentation by Terry Fong, Ames Research Center.
TODD SCHNEIDER ADJUSTS THE LIGHT HITTING A SAMPLE INSIDE THE HIGH INTENSITY SOLAR ENVIRONMENT TEST SYSTEM CHAMBER.
In the Integration Facility at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft (left) its moved toward its encapsulation into the upper stage of its Soyuz booster Nov. 9. Expedition 50-51 crewmembers Peggy Whitson of NASA, Oleg Novitskiy of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) and Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency will launch on the Soyuz Nov. 18, Baikonur time, for a six-month mission on the International Space Station. NASA/Alexander Vysotsky
A heavy load transport truck from Tillett Heavy Hauling in Titusville, Florida, arrives at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying the first half of the B-level work platforms, B south, for the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. The platform will be delivered to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) staging area in the west parking lot. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to VAB High Bay 3 to support processing of the SLS and Orion spacecraft. A total of 10 levels of new platforms, 20 platform halves altogether, will surround the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft and provide access for testing and processing.
Expedition 49 flight engineer Shane Kimbrough is helped into his Sokol launch and entry suit in preparation for conducting the first check dress rehearsal activities, Saturday, Oct. 8, 2016 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Kimbrough, Sergey Ryzhikov, and Andrey Borisenko of Roscosmos will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Oct. 19. Photo Credit: (NASA/Victor Zelentsov)