Kevin Grossman, project lead for the Gaseous Lunar Oxygen from Regolith Electrolysis (GaLORE) project at NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Swamp Works, checks the hardware for GaLORE on July 21, 2020, inside a laboratory at the center’s Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building. Grossman is leading an Early Career Initiative project that is investing in turning lunar regolith into oxygen that could be used for life support for sustainable human lunar exploration on long-duration missions to Mars. GaLORE was selected as an Early Career Initiative project by NASA’s Space Technology Mission directorate.
Hubble Opperations Support Room, June 16, 2020. Credit: NASA/Goddard/Rebecca Roth
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket soars upward after lifting off from historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 30, 2020, carrying NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley to the International Space Station in a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule for the agency’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission. Liftoff occurred at 3:22 p.m. EDT. Behnken and Hurley are the first astronauts to launch from U.S. soil to the space station since the end of the Space Shuttle Program in 2011. Part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, this will be SpaceX’s final flight test, paving the way for the agency to certify the crew transportation system for regular, crewed flights to the orbiting laboratory.
A view of radishes growing in the Advanced Plant Habitat (APH) ground unit inside the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Dec. 14, 2020. The radishes are a ground control crop for the Plant Habitat-02 (PH-02) experiment. The experiment also involves growing two similar radish crops inside the International Space Station’s APH. NASA astronaut Kate Rubins harvested the first crop on Nov. 30, and the second harvest aboard the orbiting laboratory is planned for Dec. 30. Once samples return to Earth, researchers will compare those grown in space to the radishes grown here on Earth to better understand how microgravity affects plant growth.
Members of the United States Naval Academy Glee Club address the crowd during a special performance for Kennedy Space Center employees at the Florida spaceport on March 10, 2020. As part of the celebration, Kennedy Director Bob Cabana discussed the deep historical ties between NASA and the U.S. Navy. The highly acclaimed Glee Club has achieved prominence as one of America’s premier choral ensembles, performing throughout the nation each year.
The move team loads the launch vehicle stage adapter, part of the agency’s new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, on NASA’s Pegasus barge at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, July 17. The launch vehicle stage adapter, which connects the rocket’s 212-foot-tall core stage to the rocket’s upper stage, is being shipped to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for Artemis I launch preparations. This is the final piece of Artemis I SLS rocket hardware built at Marshall to be delivered to Kennedy. Only the SLS core stage, currently in final testing at Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, remains to be shipped to Kennedy on Pegasus. NASA is working to land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024. SLS, along with Orion, the human landing system, and the Gateway in orbit around the Moon are NASA’s backbone for a new generation of deep space exploration.
The United Launch Alliance Atlas V payload fairing, containing the Solar Orbiter spacecraft, is being secured on top of the company’s Atlas V rocket inside the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Jan. 31, 2020. Solar Orbiter is an international cooperative mission between ESA (European Space Agency) and NASA. The mission aims to study the Sun, its outer atmosphere and solar wind. The spacecraft will provide the first images of the Sun’s poles. NASA’s Launch Services Program based at Kennedy is managing the launch. The spacecraft has been developed by Airbus Defence and Space. Solar Orbiter will launch in February 2020 aboard the Atlas V rocket.
Expedition 64 NASA astronaut Kate Rubins is seen as she waits to have her Russian Sokol suit pressure checked as she and fellow crewmates Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergey Ryzhikov of Roscosmos prepare for their Soyuz launch to the International Space Station Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The trio launched at 1:45 a.m. EDT to begin a six-month mission aboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/GCTC/Andrey Shelepin)
In the Operations and Checkout Building (O&C) at Kennedy Space Center, three spacecraft adapter jettison (SAJ) fairings are prepared for installation and will be moved into place by technicians with Lockheed Martin, lead contractor for Orion on Oct. 12, 2020. They will be secured around the spacecraft, encapsulating the European Service Module to protect it from the harsh environment as the spacecraft is propelled out of Earth’s atmosphere atop the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket during NASA’s Artemis I mission. The next time the solar array wings will be visible will be when Orion is in space. Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon.
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine (center), accompanied by Jacobs employees, views Artemis I booster hardware inside the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 27, 2020. Manufactured by Northrop Grumman in Utah, the boosters for the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket are now undergoing prelaunch processing at Kennedy. During launch, the twin boosters will provide more than 75 percent of the total SLS thrust. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket soars into the sky after lifting off from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 11:17 a.m. EST on Dec. 6, 2020. The rocket is carrying the uncrewed cargo Dragon spacecraft on its journey to the International Space Station for NASA and SpaceX’s 21st Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-21) mission. Dragon will deliver more than 6,400 pounds of science investigations and cargo to the orbiting laboratory. The mission marks the first launch for SpaceX under NASA’s CRS-2 contract.
A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket carrying a Cygnus resupply spacecraft is seen on the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s Pad-0A, Thursday, October 1, 2020, at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia as the Harvest Moon sets. Northrop Grumman’s 14th contracted cargo resupply mission with NASA to the International Space Station will deliver nearly 8,000 pounds of science and research, crew supplies and vehicle hardware to the orbital laboratory and its crew. The CRS-14 Cygnus spacecraft is named after the first female astronaut of Indian descent, Kalpana Chawla, and is scheduled to launch at 9:38 p.m., Thursday, October 1, 2020 EDT. Photo Credit: (NASA/Patrick Black)
This artist's concept depicts the 140-mile-wide (226-kilometer-wide) asteroid Psyche, which lies in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Psyche is the focal point of NASA's mission of the same name. The Psyche spacecraft is set to launch in August 2022 and arrive at the asteroid in 2026, where it will orbit for 21 months and investigate its composition. Scientists think that Psyche, unlike most other asteroids that are rocky or icy bodies, is made up of mostly iron and nickel — similar to the Earth's core. Exploring the asteroid could give valuable insight into how our own planet and others formed. The Psyche team will use a magnetometer to measure the asteroid's magnetic field. A multispectral imager will capture images of the surface, as well as data about the Psyche's composition and topography. Spectrometers will analyze the neutrons and gamma rays coming from the surface to reveal the elements that make up the asteroid itself. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA23876
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine answers social media questions ahead of the launch of NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover, Wednesday, July 29, 2020, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Perseverance rover is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. Launch is scheduled for Thursday, July 30. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft onboard is seen on the launch pad at Launch Complex 39A as preparations continue for the Crew-1 mission, Friday, Nov. 13, 2020, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission is the first crew rotational mission of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker, and astronaut Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) are scheduled to launch at 7:49 p.m. EST on Saturday, Nov. 14, from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
The first flight core stage for NASA’s new Space Launch System rocket arrived at Stennis Space Center on Jan. 12 for a series of tests prior to its maiden Artemis I flight. The core stage was transported from Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans to the B-2 Test Stand dock at Stennis aboard NASA’s Pegasus barge. Soon after arrival, the stage was rolled off of Pegasus onto the B-2 Test Stand tarmac. After the stage is lifted and installed on the B-2 stand, it will undergo a series of “Green Run” systems test that represent the first integrated testing of its sophisticated systems.
Two new Airbus H135 (T3) helicopters arrive at the Launch and Landing Facility runway at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sept. 30, 2020. The H135 helicopters will replace the Bell Huey 2 security aircraft in service now, maintained by Kennedy’s Flight Operations team. These new helicopters provide a number of technological and safety advantages over the Hueys, such as more lifting power, greater stability in the air, and expanded medical capabilities. The team expects to fully transition to flying the two H135s later this year. A third is expected to arrive in early 2021, and with its arrival, will complete the fleet’s upgrade.
NASA astronaut Christina Koch is carried to a medical tent shortly after she, ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov landed in their Soyuz MS-13 spacecraft near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020. Koch returned to Earth after logging 328 days in space --- the longest spaceflight in history by a woman --- as a member of Expeditions 59-60-61 on the International Space Station. Skvortsov and Parmitano returned after 201 days in space where they served as Expedition 60-61 crew members onboard the station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover onboard launches from Space Launch Complex 41, Thursday, July 30, 2020, at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The Perseverance rover is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Two locals on horseback arrive at the Soyuz MS-13 spacecraft shortly after it landed in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan with Expedition 61 crew members Christina Koch of NASA, Alexander Skvortsov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, and Luca Parmitano of ESA (European Space Agency) Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020. Koch returned to Earth after logging 328 days in space --- the longest spaceflight in history by a woman --- as a member of Expeditions 59-60-61 on the International Space Station. Skvortsov and Parmitano returned after 201 days in space where they served as Expedition 60-61 crew members onboard the station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket carrying a Cygnus resupply spacecraft is seen early in the morning as the Moon sets on Pad-0A, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020, at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Northrop Grumman’s 13th contracted cargo resupply mission with NASA to the International Space Station will deliver more than 7,500 pounds of science and research, crew supplies and vehicle hardware to the orbital laboratory and its crew. The CRS-13 Cygnus spacecraft is named after the first African American astronaut, Major Robert Henry Lawrence Jr.. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins, center, Shannon Walker left, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Soichi Noguchi, right, wearing SpaceX spacesuits, are seen as they prepare to depart the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building along with fellow crewmate NASA astronaut Victor Glover for Launch Complex 39A to board the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft for the Crew-1 mission launch, Sunday, Nov. 15, 2020, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission is the first crew rotation mission of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. Hopkins, Glover, Walker, and Noguchi are scheduled to launch at 7:27 p.m. EST from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover onboard is seen illuminated by spotlights on the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41, Tuesday, July 28, 2020, at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The Perseverance rover is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. Launch is scheduled for Thursday, July 30. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
U.S. Representative Steven Palazzo (R-Miss.), left, speaks with NASA astronaut Raja Chari following the State of NASA address, Monday, Feb. 10, 2020, at Aerojet Rocketdyne’s facility at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
On Thursday, March 19 and Friday, March 20, SpaceX teams in Firing Room 4 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida and the company's Mission Control in Hawthorne, California, along with NASA flight controllers in Mission Control Houston, executed a full simulation of launch and docking of the Crew Dragon spacecraft, with NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley participating in SpaceX's flight simulator.
Inside the crew suit-up room in the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on Nov. 15, 2020, NASA astronaut Victor Glover, pilot, is suited up in a SpaceX spacesuit in preparation for NASA SpaceX’s Crew-1 mission. Crew-1 is the first regular crew mission of a U.S. commercial spacecraft with astronauts to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The SpaceX Crew Dragon Resilience capsule will launch atop the company’s Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A to the space station for a six-month science mission.
Paul Patton, left, senior manager, front end innovation and regulatory for Delta Faucet, and Garry Marty, principal product engineer for Delta Faucet, address NASA Social participants during a What’s on Board science briefing at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 5, 2020. The briefing provided a closer look at some of the payloads launching on SpaceX’s 20th Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-20) mission to the International Space Station. The company’s Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 11:50 p.m. EST on March 6, 2020.
The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission arrived at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A on Thursday, Nov. 5, after making the trek from its processing facility at nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Crew Dragon will launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The Crew-1 flight will carry Crew Dragon Commander Michael Hopkins, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialist Shannon Walker, all of NASA, along with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Mission Specialist Soichi Noguchi to the space station for a six-month science mission.
Space Launch Complex 41 is seen illuminated by spotlights, Wednesday, July 29, 2020, ahead of the launch of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover onboard from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The Perseverance rover is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. Launch is scheduled for Thursday, July 30. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Senior managers from Orion, NASA, and Lockheed Martin view the Artemis I spacecraft during a visit to the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Nov. 5, 2020. From left are Scott Wilson, manager, Orion Production Office; Kathy Lueders, associate administrator of NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate; Jules Schneider, director of Assembly, Test, and Launch Operations for Lockheed Martin; and Jim Skaggs, senior manager of Kennedy Operations for Lockheed Martin. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft as an integrated system prior to crewed flights to the Moon. Under the Artemis program, NASA is planning to land the first woman and the next man on the lunar surface by 2024.
The Soyuz MS-13 spacecraft is seen as it lands in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan with Expedition 61 crew members Christina Koch of NASA, Alexander Skvortsov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, and Luca Parmitano of ESA (European Space Agency) Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020. Koch returned to Earth after logging 328 days in space --- the longest spaceflight in history by a woman --- as a member of Expeditions 59-60-61 on the International Space Station. Skvortsov and Parmitano returned after 201 days in space where they served as Expedition 60-61 crew members onboard the station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
Monica Manning, Assistant Administrator for Procurement at NASA, introduces Retired U.S. Air Force Honorary Brigadier General Charles McGee and NASA astronaut Alvin Drew during a Black History Month program titled “Trailblazers, The Story of a Tuskegee Airman,” Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020, at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. McGee, a pilot with the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II, was a career officer in the Air Force also serving during the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Over his 30 years of service he flew 409 combat missions. Of the 355 Tuskegee pilots who flew in combat, McGee is one of only nine surviving. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
iss063e070781 (Aug. 14, 2020) --- The high-saline Lake Abert, surrounded by arid land in Oregon, is pictured from the International Space Station as it orbited above the western United States.
The Mars Helicopter team gathers for a group photo at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California on Dec. 3, 2018. Holding a full-size model of the helicopter, named Ingenuity, is MiMi Aung, the project manager at JPL. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22649
Vince Nichols, Lockheed Martin Floor Operations, inspects the Artemis I Orion spacecraft in preparation for installation of the spacecraft adapter (SA) cone inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Aug. 6, 2020. This is one of the final major hardware operations the spacecraft will undergo during closeout processing prior to being integrated with the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket in preparation for the first Artemis mission. The spacecraft adapter cone connects the bottom portion of Orion’s service module to the top part of the rocket known as the interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS). Orion will fly on the agency’s Artemis I mission – the first in a series of increasingly complex missions to the Moon that will ultimately lead to the exploration of Mars.
The United Launch Alliance Atlas V payload fairing, containing the Solar Orbiter spacecraft, is moved into the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Jan. 31, 2020. The payload fairing will be lowered and mated to the Atlas V rocket. Solar Orbiter is an international cooperative mission between ESA (European Space Agency) and NASA. The mission aims to study the Sun, its outer atmosphere and solar wind. The spacecraft will provide the first images of the Sun’s poles. NASA’s Launch Services Program based at Kennedy is managing the launch. The spacecraft has been developed by Airbus Defence and Space. Solar Orbiter will launch in February 2020 aboard the Atlas V rocket.
Expedition 64 NASA astronaut Kate Rubins, left, and Russian cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov, center, and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, right, of Roscosmos are seen as they depart Building 254 to head to their launch onboard the Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The trio launched at 1:45 a.m. EDT to begin a six-month mission aboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/GCTC/Andrey Shelepin)
Phil Meade, at right, associate director, Spaceport Integration and Services, participates in a panel discussion during a Community Leaders Update hosted by NASA Kennedy Space Center on Feb. 18, 2020, at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. At left is Jeremy Parsons, deputy manager, Exploration Ground Systems. Center Director Bob Cabana moderated a panel discussion featuring senior leaders from Exploration Ground Systems, Spaceport Integration and Services, Exploration Research and Technology Programs, Gateway Logistics Element, and Center Planning and Development. Attendees included community leaders, business executives, partners, educators and government leaders. After the presentation, guests had the opportunity to ask questions and visit displays from the programs and some of the commercial partners.
These images show how teams at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans moved the core stage, complete with all four RS-25 engines, for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket to Building 110 for final shipping preparations on Jan. 1. The SLS core stage includes state-of-the-art avionics, propulsion systems and two colossal propellant tanks that collectively hold 733,000 gallons of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen to power its four RS-25 engines. The completed stage, which will provide more than 2 million pounds of thrust to help power the first Artemis mission to the Moon, will be shipped via the agency’s Pegasus barge from Michoud to NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, later this month. Once at Stennis, the Artemis rocket stage will be loaded into the B-2 Test Stand for the core stage Green Run test series. The comprehensive test campaign will progressively bring the entire core stage, including its avionics and engines, to life for the first time to verify the stage is fit for flight ahead of the launch of Artemis I.
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine (right), accompanied by Jacobs employees, views Artemis I booster hardware inside the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 27, 2020. Manufactured by Northrop Grumman in Utah, the boosters for the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket are now undergoing prelaunch processing at Kennedy. During launch, the twin boosters will provide more than 75 percent of the total SLS thrust. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 11:50 p.m. EST on March 6, 2020, carrying the uncrewed cargo Dragon spacecraft on its journey to the International Space Station for NASA and SpaceX’s 20th Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-20) mission. Dragon will deliver more than 5,600 pounds of science investigations and cargo to the orbiting laboratory.
On Jan. 30, 2020, crews at Stennis Space Center successfully conducted modal testing of the first core stage of NASA’s new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. Data from the modal test will be used to verify structural vibration modes and verify flight control parameters. The test is part of a Green Run series of testing that represents the first top-to-bottom integrated testing of the stage’s systems prior to its maiden Artemis I test mission.
Telemetry testing begins on the X-57 Maxwell, NASA’s first all-electric X-plane, as the operations crew at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center records the results. Telemetry testing is a critical phase in X-57’s functional test series. In addition to confirming the ability of the X-57 aircraft to transmit speed, altitude, direction, and location to teams on the ground, telemetry testing also confirms the ability to transmit mission-critical-data, such as voltage, power consumption, and structural integrity. X-57’s goal is to help set certification standards for emerging electric aircraft markets.
Expedition 64 backup crew member, NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei, is seen at the conclusion of a press conference, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020 at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC) in Star City, Russia. Photo Credit: (NASA/GCTC/Andrey Shelepin)
iss063e107419 (Oct. 14, 2020) --- The Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft, with Expedition 64 crew members Kate Rubins of NASA and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, docked to the Rassvet module as the International Space Station was orbiting above the Mediterranean Sea.
Joint Information Center (JIC), Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and Radiation Control Center (RADCC) members prepare for the launch of NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter on July 30, 2020, at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. JIC members include representatives on the local, regional and national level. Mars 2020 launched on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Liftoff was at 7:50 a.m. EDT. The rover is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. The rover will search for habitable conditions in the ancient past and signs of past microbial life on Mars. The Launch Services Program at Kennedy is responsible for launch management.
NASA Communications’ Jennifer Wolfinger moderates a What’s on Board science briefing at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 5, 2020. During the briefing, NASA Social participants had the opportunity to hear from principal investigators for payloads launching on SpaceX’s 20th Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-20) mission. CRS-20 is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 on March 6, 2020. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and cargo Dragon spacecraft are targeting an instantaneous liftoff at 11:50 p.m. EST.
jsc2020e000651 (Jan. 10, 2020) --- The 2017 Class of Astronauts poses for a portrait with NASA officals and Texas Senators at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. In the front row (from left) are, NASA astronauts Jonny Kim, Jessica Watkins, Kayla Barron, Jasmin Moghbeli, Loral O'Hara, Zena Cardman and Raja Chari and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen. In the back row (from left) are, Chief of the Astronuat Office Patrick Forrester, Johnson Space Center Director Mark Geyer, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronauts Joshua Kutryk and Jennifer Sidey-Gibbon, NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Bob Hines and Warren Hoburg, Johnson Space Center Deputy Director Vanessa Wyche and NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman. This is the first class of astronauts to graduate under the Artemis program and are now eligible for assignments to the International Space Station, Artemis missions to the Moon, and ultimately, missions to Mars.
On Jan. 30, 2020, crews at Stennis Space Center successfully conducted modal testing of the first core stage of NASA’s new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. Data from the modal test will be used to verify structural vibration modes and verify flight control parameters. The test is part of a Green Run series of testing that represents the first top-to-bottom integrated testing of the stage’s systems prior to its maiden Artemis I test mission.
A worker painted vertiports and helipads at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center Oct. 6-14, 2020. The Advanced Air Mobility project's National Campaign will use these areas for future flight testing.
NASA's Mars InSight lander recently moved its robotic arm closer to the heat probe's digging device, called the "mole," in preparation to push on its top, or back cap. The InSight team hopes that pushing on this location will help the mole it bury itself and enable the heat probe to take Mars' temperature. Animation available at https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA23622
Expedition 64 NASA astronaut Kate Rubins signs her name to a wall mural bearing the picture of a Soyuz launch at the Baikonur Cosmodrome Museum, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2020, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Rubins and Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of Roscosmos are scheduled to launch to the International Space Station aboard the Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft on October 14. Photo Credit: (NASA/GCTC/Andrey Shelepin)
A Bell OH-58C Kiowa helicopter provided by Flight Research Inc. in Mojave, California, flies at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California the first week of December 2020. The Advanced Air Mobility National Campaign project used the helicopter as a surrogate urban air mobility vehicle to develop a data baseline for future flight testing. Â
Machining of the tunnel, aft bulkhead, and barrel for the Artemis III Orion pressure vessel takes place at Ingersoll Machine Tool, Inc. in Rockford, Illinois on Sept. 28, 2020.
The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, carrying the Solar Orbiter, lifts off Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 11:03 p.m. EST, on Feb. 9, 2020. Solar Orbiter is an international cooperative mission between ESA (European Space Agency) and NASA. The mission aims to study the Sun, its outer atmosphere and solar wind. The spacecraft will provide the first images of the Sun’s poles. The spacecraft was developed by Airbus Defence and Space. NASA’s Launch Services Program based at Kennedy managed the launch.
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine (left) and Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana watch as the Gulfstream jet, carrying NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley, who will fly on the agency’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission to the International Space Station, lands at the Launch and Landing Facility runway at the Florida spaceport on May 20, 2020. Under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, Behnken and Hurley will be the first astronauts to launch to the orbiting laboratory from U.S. soil since the end of the Space Shuttle Program in 2011. Liftoff of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft is scheduled for 4:33 p.m. on May 27 from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A.
Inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, in preparation for installation on the Artemis I spacecraft, technicians have extended one of the Artemis I solar array wings for inspection on Sept. 10, 2020, to confirm that it unfurled properly and all of the mechanisms functioned as expected. The solar array is one of four panels that will generate 11 kilowatts of power and span about 63 feet. The array is a component of Orion’s service module, which is provided by the European Space Agency and built by Airbus Defence and Space to supply Orion’s power, propulsion, air and water. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon in 2024.
jsc2020e016849 - At the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Expedition 63 crewmembers Ivan Vagner (left) and Anatoly Ivanishin (center) of Roscosmos and Chris Cassidy of NASA (right) pose for pictures March 25 in front of their Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft as part of pre-launch training activities. They will launch April 9 on the Soyuz from Baikonur for a six-and-a-half month mission on the International Space Station...Andrey Shelepin/Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center.
Day In The Life of Artemis Employees
Expedition 64 crew member NASA astronaut Kate Rubins, is seen during Soyuz qualification exams Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020 at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC) in Star City, Russia, in advance of her scheduled launch October 14 from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/GCTC/Andrey Shelepin)
The U.S.-European Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich ocean-monitoring satellite is being encapsulated in the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket’s payload fairing on Nov. 3, 2020, inside SpaceX’s Payload Processing Facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) in California. Sentinel-6 is scheduled to launch on Nov. 21, 2020, at 12:17 p.m. EST (9:17 a.m. PST), from Space Launch Complex 4E at VAFB. The Launch Services Program at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida is responsible for launch management.
On Jan. 21-22, 2020, crews at Stennis Space Center lifted and installed the first core stage of NASA’s new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket onto the B-2 Test Stand. In upcoming months, a top-to-bottom, integrated series of Green Run tests will be conducted on the stage and its sophisticated systems. Following testing, the stage will be used to help launch the maiden Artemis I test mission of SLS and the Orion spacecraft. Through the Artemis program, NASA will send humans, including the first woman and next man, to the Moon to establish a sustainable presence.
Michael Hess, acting associate director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center monitors the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission with NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Soichi Noguchi onboard, Sunday, Nov. 15, 2020, in firing room four of the Launch Control Center at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission is the first crew rotation mission of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. Hopkins, Glover, Walker, and Noguchi launched at 7:27 p.m. EST, from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
Marshall Space Flight Center's Black History Month program featured a panel discussion including Leslie Pollard, President of Oakwood University and Quinton Ross, President of Alabama State University.
Expedition 64 Russian cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of Roscosmos, top, NASA astronaut Kate Rubins, middle, and Russian cosmonaut Sergey Ryzhikov, bottom, wave farewell prior to boarding the Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft for launch, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The trio launched at 1:45 a.m. EDT to begin a two-orbit, three-hour flight to reach the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/GCTC/Andrey Shelepin)
Engineers monitor data during vibration testing of a cruise motor controller for the X-57 Maxwell, NASA's first all-electric X-plane. Attached to a table at NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center's environmental lab, the cruise motor controller is exposed to specific levels of vibration, allowing NASA to examine the structural integrity of the hardware. Engineers, meanwhile, monitored data, including waveforms of electrical current, and recorded readings.
During sunrise on Oct. 20, 2020, the mobile launcher for the Artemis I mission, atop crawler-transporter 2, arrives at the ramp leading up to Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The nearly 400-foot-tall mobile launcher will remain at the pad for two weeks, while engineers with Exploration Ground Systems and Jacobs will perform several tasks, including a timing test to validate the launch team’s countdown timeline, and a thorough, top-to-bottom wash down of the mobile launcher to remove any debris remaining from construction and installation of the umbilical arms. Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon in 2024.
NASA astronaut Alvin Drew speaks with retired U.S. Air Force Honorary Brigadier General Charles McGee during a Black History Month program titled “Trailblazers, The Story of a Tuskegee Airman,” Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020, at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. McGee, a pilot with the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II, was a career officer in the Air Force also serving during the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Over his 30 years of service he flew 409 combat missions. Of the 355 Tuskegee pilots who flew in combat, McGee is one of only nine surviving. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
iss062e081047 (3/5/2020) --- A view of the Transparent Alloys Hardware Setup in the Microgravity Sciences Glovebox (MSG) Work Volume (WV) in the U.S. Destiny Laboratory aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
iss062e103145 (March 20, 2020) --- The Orange River in South Africa is pictured as the International Space Station orbited 264 miles above the African continent.
Jody Singer, director of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, joins local government officials and others as the Marshall move team prepares to transport the Artemis I launch vehicle stage adapter for the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. Huntsville-based Teledyne Brown Engineering built the launch vehicle stage adapter at a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility at Marshall. Teledyne officials joined Singer to see the adapter one last time before it heads to the barge. This is the last piece of Marshall-built SLS rocket hardware set for delivery to Kennedy in preparation of the Artemis I mission to the Moon. A move team led by Marshall’s Center Operations will transport the adapter from the manufacturing facility to NASA’s Pegasus barge. The barge will take the adapter to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for assembly and launch. Other parts of the Artemis I SLS rocket that were manufactured in Alabama include the Orion stage adapter built by Marshall teams and the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage, which was built by Boeing and United Launch Alliance in Decatur, Alabama and will provide the power to send Orion to the Moon.
Technicians ready two NASA Space Launch System (SLS) solid rocket boosters for mating to the rocket’s two aft skirts on June 19, 2020, inside Kennedy Space Center’s Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility. Together, the twin boosters provide more than 75 percent of the total SLS thrust at launch. Manufactured by Northrop Grumman in Promontory, Utah, the boosters arrived at Kennedy via train. The cross-country journey was an important milestone for the agency’s Artemis I launch. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system prior to crewed missions to the Moon. Once the boosters are mated with the aft skirts, they will be moved to the Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking on the mobile launcher.
Comet NEOWISE is seen before sunrise over Washington, Sunday, July 12, 2020. The comet was discovered by NASA’s Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or NEOWISE, on March 27. Since then, the comet — called comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE and nicknamed comet NEOWISE — has been spotted by several NASA spacecraft, including Parker Solar Probe, NASA’s Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory, the ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, and astronauts aboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
This image highlights the liquid oxygen tank, which will be used on the core stage of NASA’ Space Launch System rocket for Artemis II, the first crewed mission of NASA’s Artemis program, at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility. The SLS core stage is made up of five unique elements: the forward skirt, liquid oxygen tank, intertank, liquid hydrogen tank, and the engine section. The forward skirt houses flight computers, cameras, and avionics systems. The liquid oxygen tank holds 196,000 gallons of liquid oxygen cooled to minus 297 degrees Fahrenheit. The LOX hardware sits between the core stage’s forward skirt and the intertank. Along with the liquid hydrogen tank, it will provide fuel to the four RS-25 engines at the bottom of the core stage to produce more than two million pounds of thrust to launch NASA’s Artemis missions to the Moon. Together with its four RS-25 engines, the rocket’s massive 212-foot-tall core stage — the largest stage NASA has ever built — and its twin solid rocket boosters will produce 8.8 million pounds of thrust to send NASA’s Orion spacecraft, astronauts and supplies beyond Earth’s orbit to the Moon and, ultimately, Mars. Offering more payload mass, volume capability and energy to speed missions through space, the SLS rocket, along with NASA’s Gateway in lunar orbit, the Human Landing System, and Orion spacecraft, is part of NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration and the Artemis lunar program. No other rocket can send astronauts in Orion around the Moon in a single mission.
Vertiports and helipads were painted Oct. 6-14, 2020 at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center to support future flight testing for the Advanced Air Mobility project’s National Campaign.
Technicians unpack and inspect a Nitrogen/Oxygen Recharge System (NORS) tank inside the Space Station Processing Facility high bay at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 16, 2020. The NORS tanks and their support fixtures are designed to connect to the International Space Station’s existing air supply network to refill the previous generation of tanks installed during construction of the space station. These reusable tanks measure 3 feet long and 21 inches in diameter, and weigh about 200 pounds when filled. Once onboard, the tanks will be used to fill the oxygen and nitrogen tanks that supply the needed gases to the space station’s airlock for spacewalks. They could also be used to replenish the atmosphere inside the station. The NORS tanks will launch to the station later in the year on a commercial resupply mission.
Carly Paige, an integrative nutrition health coach and chef, speaks to Kennedy Space Center employees inside the Florida spaceport’s Training Auditorium on March 5, 2020, during the center’s annual Safety and Health Days. Taking place March 2 through March 6, Safety and Health Days provides Kennedy employees with a variety of presentations to attend – all of which focus on how to maintain a safe and healthy workforce. Paige’s presentation included information on simple swaps that can be made to incorporate healthier habits on a daily basis.
The Crew Dragon spacecraft that will be used for the Crew-1 mission for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program undergoes processing inside the clean room at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California. The Crew-1 mission to the International Space Station is targeted for later in 2020 with NASA Astronauts Victor Glover, Mike Hopkins, Shannon Walker and JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi.
In High Bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane lowers Space Launch System (SLS) solid rocket booster pathfinder segments onto a platform during a training exercise on Jan. 8, 2020. A team of engineers with Exploration Ground Systems and crane operators and technicians with contractor Jacobs are practicing lifting, moving and stacking maneuvers, using important ground support equipment to train employees and certify all the equipment works properly. The booster pathfinders are inert, full-scale replicas of the actual booster hardware that will be attached to the SLS rocket for Artemis missions. The five-segment, 17-story-tall twin boosters will provide 3.6 million pounds of thrust each at liftoff to help launch Orion on Artemis I, its first uncrewed mission beyond the Moon.
An illustration of NASA's Perseverance rover landing safely on Mars. Hundreds of critical events must execute perfectly and exactly on time for the rover to land safely on Feb. 18, 2021. Entry, Descent, and Landing, or "EDL," begins when the spacecraft reaches the top of the Martian atmosphere, travelling nearly 12,500 mph (20,000 kph). EDL ends about seven minutes after atmospheric entry, with Perseverance stationary on the Martian surface. At about 6,900 feet (2,100 meters) above the surface, the rover separates from the backshell, and fires up the descent stage engines. As the descent stage levels out and slows to its final descent speed of about 1.7 mph (2.7 kph), it initiates the "skycrane" maneuver. About 12 seconds before touchdown, roughly 66 feet (20 meters) above the surface, the descent stage lowers the rover on a set of cables about 21 feet (6.4 meters) long. The rover unstows its mobility system, locking its legs and wheels into landing position. As soon as the rover senses that its wheels have touched the ground, it cuts the cables connecting it to the descent stage. This frees the descent stage to fly off to make its own uncontrolled landing on the surface, a safe distance away from Perseverance. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24319
This image highlights the liquid oxygen tank, which will be used on the core stage of NASA’ Space Launch System rocket for Artemis II, the first crewed mission of NASA’s Artemis program, at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility. The SLS core stage is made up of five unique elements: the forward skirt, liquid oxygen tank, intertank, liquid hydrogen tank, and the engine section. The forward skirt houses flight computers, cameras, and avionics systems. The liquid oxygen tank holds 196,000 gallons of liquid oxygen cooled to minus 297 degrees Fahrenheit. The LOX hardware sits between the core stage’s forward skirt and the intertank. Along with the liquid hydrogen tank, it will provide fuel to the four RS-25 engines at the bottom of the core stage to produce more than two million pounds of thrust to launch NASA’s Artemis missions to the Moon. Together with its four RS-25 engines, the rocket’s massive 212-foot-tall core stage — the largest stage NASA has ever built — and its twin solid rocket boosters will produce 8.8 million pounds of thrust to send NASA’s Orion spacecraft, astronauts and supplies beyond Earth’s orbit to the Moon and, ultimately, Mars. Offering more payload mass, volume capability and energy to speed missions through space, the SLS rocket, along with NASA’s Gateway in lunar orbit, the Human Landing System, and Orion spacecraft, is part of NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration and the Artemis lunar program. No other rocket can send astronauts in Orion around the Moon in a single mission.
Notice anything different about the wings on this airliner? This conceptual truss-braced wing narrowbody is an aircraft with a 170ft span folding wing. By utilizing trusses, the aircraft can have longer, thinner wings with greater aspect ratios. This, in turn, translates into less drag and 5-10% less fuel burned. The Transonic Truss-Braced Wing aircraft originated from a joint effort by NASA and Boeing to develop subsonic commercial transport concepts – meeting NASA-defined metrics in terms of reduced noise, emissions, and fuel consumption. The design is currently undergoing wind tunnel testing and other studies by NASA researchers.
Hans Koenigsmann, vice president for build and flight reliability at SpaceX, looks at a monitor showing a live feed of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft on the launch pad during the countdown for a launch attempt of NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission with NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley onboard, Wednesday, May 27, 2020, in firing room four of the Launch Control Center at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission is the first launch with astronauts of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. The test flight serves as an end-to-end demonstration of SpaceX’s crew transportation system. Today’s launch of Behnken and Hurley was scrubbed due to weather and is now scheduled for 3:22 p.m. EDT on Saturday, May 30, from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. A new era of human spaceflight is set to begin as American astronauts once again launch on an American rocket from American soil to low-Earth orbit for the first time since the conclusion of the Space Shuttle Program in 2011. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Danny McKnight, a U.S. Army retired colonel, speaks to Kennedy Space Center employees inside the Florida spaceport’s Operations Support Building II on March 3, 2020, during the center’s annual Safety and Health Days. Taking place March 2 through March 6, Safety and Health Days provides Kennedy employees with a variety of presentations to attend – all of which focus on how to maintain a safe and healthy workforce. McKnight’s presentation included information on the commitment and leadership required to be successful when operating in difficult conditions.
Machining of the tunnel, aft bulkhead, and barrel for the Artemis III Orion pressure vessel takes place at Ingersoll Machine Tool, Inc. in Rockford, Illinois on Sept. 28, 2020.
In the Operations and Checkout Building (O&C) at Kennedy Space Center, three spacecraft adapter jettison (SAJ) fairings are prepared for installation and will be moved into place by technicians with Lockheed Martin, lead contractor for Orion on Oct. 12, 2020. They will be secured around the spacecraft, encapsulating the European Service Module to protect it from the harsh environment as the spacecraft is propelled out of Earth’s atmosphere atop the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket during NASA’s Artemis I mission. The next time the solar array wings will be visible will be when Orion is in space. Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon.
Shown is an overhead view of three spacecraft adapter jettison fairing panels fitted onto Orion’s European Service Module (ESM) on Oct. 13, 2020, inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building (O&C) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The panels were inspected and moved into place for installation by technicians with Lockheed Martin. Recently, teams from across the globe installed the four solar array wings, which are housed inside the protective covering of the fairings. Once secured, they will encapsulate the ESM to protect it from harsh environments such as heat, wind, and acoustics as the spacecraft is propelled out of Earth’s atmosphere atop the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket during NASA’s Artemis I mission.
Barbara Brown, center, chief technologist, Exploration Research and Technology Programs, participates in a panel discussion during a Community Leaders Update hosted by Kennedy Space Center on Feb. 18, 2020, at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. At left is Jenny Lyons, deputy manager, Gateway Logistics Element. At right is Jeremy Parsons, deputy manager, Exploration Ground Systems. The panel discussion was moderated by Center Director Bob Cabana. Attendees included community leaders, business executives, partners, educators and government leaders. After the presentation, guests had the opportunity to ask questions and visit displays from the programs and some of the commercial partners.
On Thursday, March 19 and Friday, March 20, SpaceX teams in Firing Room 4 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida and the company's Mission Control in Hawthorne, California, along with NASA flight controllers in Mission Control Houston, executed a full simulation of launch and docking of the Crew Dragon spacecraft, with NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley participating in SpaceX's flight simulator.
Expedition 64 Russian cosmonaut Sergey Ryzhikov of Roscosmos is seen while having his Sokol suit pressure checked during the Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft fit check, Monday, Sept. 28, 2020, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Ryzhikov, NASA astronaut Kate Rubins, and Russian cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of Roscosmos are preparing for launch to the International Space Station in their Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on October 14, Baikonur time. Photo Credit: (NASA/GCTC/Andrey Shelepin)
iss064e006454 (Nov. 27, 2020) --- JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Astronaut) astronaut and Expedition 64 Flight Engineer Soichi Noguchi checks out radish plants growing for the Plant Habitat-02 experiment that seeks to optimize plant growth in the unique environment of space and evaluate nutrition and taste of the plants.
This VIS image is located between the uplands of Aeolis Mensae and Aeolis Planum. This region of the Martian surface is highly dissected by wind action. The surface materials are poorly cemented and easily eroded. It has been suggested that the surface is comprised of volcanic ash deposits, sourced from the Tharsis and Apollinaris volcanoes. Orbit Number: 81417 Latitude: -4.34556 Longitude: 145.846 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2020-04-22 04:36 https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA23959
Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the agency’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover is being prepared for encapsulation in the United Launch Alliance Atlas V payload fairing on June 18, 2020. The Mars Perseverance rover is scheduled to launch on July 20, 2020, atop the Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The rover is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. The rover’s seven instruments will search for habitable conditions in the ancient past and signs of past microbial life on Mars. The Launch Services Program at Kennedy is responsible for launch management.
Members of the news media listen as officials from NASA and SpaceX participate in a briefing at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida following the company’s uncrewed In-Flight Abort Test on Jan. 19, 2020. During the flight test, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft lifted off from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A and began a planned launch-abort sequence demonstrating the spacecraft’s escape capabilities. The Crew Dragon splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean as expected. The In-Flight Abort Test is a critical milestone in preparation for crewed flights to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.
Artemis Departure Media Event
NASA's Dawn spacecraft captured pictures in visible and infrared wavelengths, which were combined to create this false-color view of a region in 57-mile-wide (92-kilometer-wide) Occator Crater on the dwarf planet Ceres (in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter). Here, recently exposed brine, or salty liquids, in the center of the crater were pushed up from a deep reservoir below Ceres' crust. In this view, they appear reddish. In the foreground, is Cerealia Facula ("facula" means bright area), a 9-mile-wide (15-kilometer-wide) region with a composition dominated by salts. The central dome, Cerealia Tholus, is about 1.9 miles (3 kilometers) across at its base and 1,100 feet (340 meters) tall. The dome is inside a central depression about 3,000 feet (900 meters) deep. The area depicted in this scene is about 1.3 miles (2.1 kilometers) wide in the foreground, about 7 miles (11 kilometers) wide across the dome, and 35 miles (56 kilometers) wide in the background, where the crater rim rises against the black sky. The distance from the near point (at the bottom) to the far point (at the top) is about 32 miles (52 kilometers). This mosaic is made from multiple images Dawn captured during its second extended mission in 2018 from an altitude of about 22 miles (35 kilometers). Those were combined with a topographic map based on images obtained during Dawn's prime mission and first extended mission in 2016, from an altitude of about 240 miles (385 kilometers). The resolution varies from about 11 feet (3.5 meters) per pixel in the bright regions to about 115 feet (35 meters) per pixel in the background. The color data that is overlain on the topographic data was obtained during the prime mission in 2015 when the spacecraft was at an altitude of 915 miles (1470 kilometers). It has a resolution of 450 feet (140 meters) per pixel. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24021
NASA Kennedy Space Center employees learn more about safety from informational tables set up inside the Florida spaceport’s Operations Support Building II on March 3, 2020, during the center’s annual Safety and Health Days. Taking place March 2 through March 6, Safety and Health Days provides Kennedy employees with a variety of presentations to attend – all of which focus on how to maintain a safe and healthy workforce.
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine welcomes President Donald Trump after he arrived at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Launch and Landing Facility on Air Force One ahead of SpaceX’s Demo-2 mission, Saturday, May 30, 2020, in Florida. NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission is the first launch with astronauts of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. The test flight serves as an end-to-end demonstration of SpaceX’s crew transportation system. Behnken and Hurley are scheduled to launch at 3:22 p.m. EDT on Saturday, May 30, from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. A new era of human spaceflight is set to begin as American astronauts once again launch on an American rocket from American soil to low-Earth orbit for the first time since the conclusion of the Space Shuttle Program in 2011. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
iss061e136770 (Jan. 20, 2020) --- NASA astronaut Jessica Meir is pictured during a spacewalk to finalize upgrading power systems on the International Space Station's Port-6 truss structure. Meir had her photograph taken by fellow NASA astronaut Christina Koch as both spacewalkers were working 266 miles above the Pacific Ocean off the coast of New Zealand.
Two new Airbus H135 (T3) helicopters arrive at the Launch and Landing Facility runway at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sept. 30, 2020. The H135 helicopters will replace the Bell Huey 2 security aircraft in service now, maintained by Kennedy’s Flight Operations team. These new helicopters provide a number of technological and safety advantages over the Hueys, such as more lifting power, greater stability in the air, and expanded medical capabilities. The team expects to fully transition to flying the two H135s later this year. A third is expected to arrive in early 2021, and with its arrival, will complete the fleet’s upgrade.