NASA Gallery

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The Return To Flight Task Group (RTFTG) holds its first public meeting at the Debus Center, KSC Visitor Complex. The group is co-chaired by former Shuttle commander Richard O. Covey and retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas P. Stafford, who was an Apollo commander. The RTFTG was at KSC to conduct organizational activities, tour Space Shuttle facilities and receive briefings on Shuttle-related topics. The task group was chartered by NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe to perform an independent assessment of NASA’s implementation of the final recommendations of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The Return To Flight Task Group (RTFTG) holds its first public meeting at the Debus...

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Dynamac employees (from left) Larry Burns, Debbie Wells and Neil Yorio carry boxes of hardware into the Space Life Sciences Lab (SLSL), formerly known as the Space Experiment Research and Processing Laboratory (SERPL). They are transferring equipment from Hangar L. The new lab is a state-of-the-art facility being built for ISS biotechnology research. Developed as a partnership between NASA-KSC and the State of Florida, NASA’s life sciences contractor will be the primary tenant of the facility, leasing space to conduct flight experiment processing and NASA-sponsored research. About 20 percent of the facility will be available for use by Florida’s university researchers through the Florida Space Research Institute.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata (left) releases a tray extended from inside the Pressurized Module, or PM, that he was working with. Part of the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM), the PM provides a shirt-sleeve environment in which astronauts on the International Space Station can conduct microgravity experiments. There are a total of 23 racks, including 10 experiment racks, inside the PM providing a power supply, communications, air conditioning, hardware cooling, water control and experiment support functions. The JEM/PM is in the Space Station Processing Facility.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata (left) releases a tray extended from inside the...

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility, Bill Prosser (left) and Eric Madaras, NASA-Langley Research Center, and Jim McGee (right), The Boeing Company, Huntington Beach, Calif., conduct impulse tests on the right wing leading edge (WLE) of Space Shuttle Endeavour. The tests monitor how sound impulses propagate through the WLE area. The data collected will be analyzed to explore the possibility of adding new instrumentation to the wing that could automatically detect debris or micrometeroid impacts on the Shuttle while in flight. The study is part of the initiative ongoing at KSC and around the agency to return the orbiter fleet to flight status.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility, Bill Prosser (left) and Eric Madaras, NASA-Langley...

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Ivan Rodriguez, with Bionetics, and Michelle Crouch and Larry Burns, with Dynamac, carry boxes of equipment into the Space Life Sciences Lab (SLSL), formerly known as the Space Experiment Research and Processing Laboratory (SERPL). They are transferring equipment from Hangar L. The new lab is a state-of-the-art facility being built for ISS biotechnology research. Developed as a partnership between NASA-KSC and the State of Florida, NASA’s life sciences contractor will be the primary tenant of the facility, leasing space to conduct flight experiment processing and NASA-sponsored research. About 20 percent of the facility will be available for use by Florida’s university researchers through the Florida Space Research Institute.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - STS-114 Mission Specialist Andrew Thomas works on equipment in the Space Station Processing Facility. He and other crew members are at KSC for equipment familiarization. STS-114 is classified as Logistics Flight 1 to the International Space Station, delivering new supplies and replacing one of the orbital outpost’s Control Moment Gyroscopes (CMGs). STS-114 will also carry a Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module and the External Stowage Platform-2. The crew is slated to conduct at least three spacewalks: They will demonstrate repair techniques of the Shuttle’s Thermal Protection System, replace the failed CMG with one delivered by the Shuttle, and install the External Stowage Platform.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Research team members work with acoustic cable during underwater acoustic research being conducted in the Launch Complex 39 turn basin. Several government agencies, including NASA, NOAA, the Navy, the Coast Guard, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission are involved in the testing. The research involves demonstrations of passive and active sensor technologies, with applications in fields ranging from marine biological research to homeland security. The work is also serving as a pilot project to assess the cooperation between the agencies involved. Equipment under development includes a passive acoustic monitor developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and mobile robotic sensors from the Navy’s Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility, Bill Prosser (left) and Eric Madaras, NASA-Langley Research Center, conduct impulse tests on the right wing leading edge (WLE) of Space Shuttle Endeavour. The tests monitor how sound impulses propagate through the WLE area. The data collected will be analyzed to explore the possibility of adding new instrumentation to the wing that could automatically detect debris or micrometeroid impacts on the Shuttle while in flight. The study is part of the initiative ongoing at KSC and around the agency to return the orbiter fleet to flight status.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility, Bill Prosser (left) and Eric Madaras, NASA-Langley...

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The JEM Pressurized Module is seen in the hold of the ship that carried it from Japan. The National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) built the laboratory at the Tsukuba Space Center near Tokyo. The Pressurized Module is the first element of the JEM, Japan’s primary contribution to the space station, to be delivered to KSC. It will enhance the unique research capabilities of the orbiting complex by providing an additional shirt-sleeve environment for astronauts to conduct science experiments. The JEM also includes two logistics modules, an exposed pallet for space environment experiments and a robotic manipulator system that are still under construction in Japan. The various JEM components will be assembled in space over the course of three space shuttle missions.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Researchers are positioned on one of the watercraft being utilized to conduct underwater acoustic research in the Launch Complex 39 turn basin. Several government agencies, including NASA, NOAA, the Navy, the Coast Guard, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission are involved in the testing. The research involves demonstrations of passive and active sensor technologies, with applications in fields ranging from marine biological research to homeland security. The work is also serving as a pilot project to assess the cooperation between the agencies involved. Equipment under development includes a passive acoustic monitor developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and mobile robotic sensors from the Navy’s Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit.

2022-H1_V_EuropaClipper-4

NASA's Europa Clipper will conduct detailed reconnaissance of Jupiter's moon Europa and investigate whether the icy...

Astronaut Jessica Watkins assists astronauts Josh Kutryk and Luke Delaney as they practice suiting up in spacesuits

jsc2026e037773 (May 5, 2026) --- NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins (left) assists CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut...

WATSON Takes a Closer Look

NASA's Perseverance Mars rover used the WATSON camera on the end of its robotic arm to conduct a focus test on May...

NASA SMAPVEX 15 Field Campaign Measures Soil Moisture Over Arizona

NASA's SMAP (Soil Moisture Active Passive) satellite observatory conducted a field experiment as part of its soil...

SPHEREx Detector Filters

NASA's SPHEREx mission will use these filters to conduct spectroscopy, a technique that lets scientists measure...

NEO Surveyor’s Spacecraft Bus on the ‘Shaker Table’

The bus structure for NASA’s Near-Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor is installed on a “shaker table” at BAE Systems Space...

Astronaut Pilots X-59 Simulator at Armstrong Flight Research Center

NASA's 2017 astronaut candidate Kayla Barron practices flying in an X-59 QueSST simulator at Armstrong Flight...

Astronauts Pilot X-59 Simulator at Armstrong Flight Research Center

NASA’s 2017 astronaut candidates (L to R) Jonny Kim and Raja Chari practice flying in an X-59 QueSST simulator at...

How a NASA Science Flight is No Ordinary Journey

A group of scientists and pilots conducted a series of science flights over Western Colorado for a new five-year...

Mars Rover Step Toward Possible Resumption of Drilling

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover conducted a test on Oct. 17, 2017, as part of the rover team's development of a new way...

Space Radar Image of North Sea, Germany

This is an X-band image of an oil slick experiment conducted in the North Sea, Germany. The image is centered at...

Capillary Flow Experiment

ISS040-E-015536 (19 June 2014) --- European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst, Expedition 40 flight engineer,...

KSC-06pd0950

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - A Beluga aircraft taxis on the runway at the Shuttle Landing Facility on NASA's Kennedy...

KSC-07-S-00108

Joined by several of her crewmates, STS-120 Commander Pam Melroy speaks after a successful landing aboard space...