NASA Gallery

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- A new control tower is nearing completion at the KSC Shuttle Landing Facility. It will replace the old tower in use since 1987. The old tower stands only 20 feet above the runway surface, too low to see the launch pads to the east. During nighttime landing operations, those inside the tower have been hindered by the eight-billion candlepower xenon lights that illuminate the runway. The new control tower is built atop an existing mound, rising nearly 100 feet over the midpoint of the runway. The height gives controllers a spectacular 360-degree view of NASA-KSC and northern Brevard County. The new facility will also replace the SLF Operations Building. The operations building is home to the Military Radar Unit that monitors NASA-KSC airspace 24 hours a day, as well as runway light controls, navigational aids, weather and wind speed instrumentation, and gate controls. In the new tower, the computer displays will be fully modernized to Federal Aviation Administration standards with touch-screen technology. Construction on the new facility began in February 2003 and is nearly ready for occupancy. Only some final inspections and approvals remain. A support building and Public Affairs viewing deck, to be used for observing future landing operations, will be added and are already in work.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- A new control tower is nearing completion at the KSC Shuttle Landing Facility. It will...

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Two control towers are seen at the edge of the KSC Shuttle Landing Facility, the old one in front and the nearly completed new tower in back. The old tower stands only 20 feet above the runway surface, too low to see the launch pads to the east. During nighttime landing operations, those inside the tower have been hindered by the eight-billion candlepower xenon lights that illuminate the runway. The new control tower is built atop an existing mound, rising nearly 100 feet over the midpoint of the runway. The height gives controllers a spectacular 360-degree view of NASA-KSC and northern Brevard County. The new facility will also replace the SLF Operations Building. The operations building is home to the Military Radar Unit that monitors NASA-KSC airspace 24 hours a day, as well as runway light controls, navigational aids, weather and wind speed instrumentation, and gate controls. In the new tower, the computer displays will be fully modernized to Federal Aviation Administration standards with touch-screen technology. Construction on the new facility began in February 2003 and is nearly ready for occupancy. Only some final inspections and approvals remain. A support building and Public Affairs viewing deck, to be used for observing future landing operations, will be added and are already in work.

NASA Joins Four Major SLS Rocket Parts to Form Artemis II Core Stage

NASA joined the Space Launch System rocket’s core stage forward assembly with the 130-foot liquid hydrogen tank for...

NASA Joins Four Major SLS Rocket Parts to Form Artemis II Core Stage

NASA joined the Space Launch System rocket’s core stage forward assembly with the 130-foot liquid hydrogen tank for...

NASA Joins Four Major SLS Rocket Parts to Form Artemis II Core Stage

NASA joined the Space Launch System rocket’s core stage forward assembly with the 130-foot liquid hydrogen tank for...

Perseverance Rover Zooms in on Ancient Mars River

After 1,000 Martian days of exploration, NASA’s Perseverance rover is studying rocks that show several eras in the...

NASA Joins Four Major SLS Rocket Parts to Form Artemis II Core Stage

NASA joined the Space Launch System rocket’s core stage forward assembly with the 130-foot liquid hydrogen tank for...

Zebra Crossing

Botswana's Okavango Delta and the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans are two ends of a 360-mile round trip zebra migration, the...

NASA Joins Four Major SLS Rocket Parts to Form Artemis II Core Stage

NASA joined the Space Launch System rocket’s core stage forward assembly with the 130-foot liquid hydrogen tank for...

Panorama from Curiosity Sol 1000 Location Stereo

This stereo view from the Navigation Camera (Navcam) on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows a 360-degree panorama...

Opportunity Legacy Pan (Anaglyph)

This image is a shortened version of a 360-degree panorama taken by the Opportunity rover's Panoramic Camera...

NASA GRC PSL, Propulsion System Lab, control room

NASA GRC PSL, Propulsion System Lab, control room with operations personnel

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The Cupola, another module built in Italy for the United States segment of the International...

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The Cupola, another module built in Italy for the United States segment of the International...

SPHEREx's Perspective From Orbit (Artist's Concept)

NASA's SPHEREx mission will create the first all-sky spectroscopic survey in the near-infrared, detecting hundreds...

Apollo 17,Manilius F,Aratus A

AS17-153-23572 (15 Dec. 1972) --- An oblique view of the Sulpicius Gallus region on the southwestern edge of the Sea...

Venus - Lineated Plains in Lakshmi Region

This mosaic shows an area of the Lakshmi region that is located 30 degrees north latitude and 333.3 degrees east...

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, astronaut Charles...

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, astronaut Charles...

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On January 4, 2004, the Mars exploration rover named Spirit touched down on the red planet, 106 million miles from...

Saturn Apollo Program

This is a view from sequential photographs of the Apollo 14 liftoff taken by a remote camera atop the 360-foot...

Preparing WATSON for Borehole Descent

During 2019 field tests near Greenland's Summit Station, a high-elevation remote observing station, the WATSON...

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The Cupola, another module built in Italy for the United States segment of the International...

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, astronaut Charles...