NASA Gallery

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Three male and one female hooded mergansers swim in the quicksilver water of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, which shares a boundary with Kennedy Space Center. Usually found from Alaska and Canada south to Nebraska, Oregon and Tennessee, hooded mergansers winter south to Mexico and the Gulf Coast, including KSC. The open water of the refuge provides wintering areas for 23 species of migratory waterfowl, as well as a year-round home for great blue herons, great egrets, wood storks, cormorants, brown pelicans and other species of marsh and shore birds. The 92,000-acre refuge is also habitat for more than 310 species of birds, 25 mammals, 117 fishes and 65 amphibians and reptiles.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Three male and one female hooded mergansers swim in the quicksilver water of the...

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- A group of white pelicans spend a few moments relaxing in the water near the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center. Found from British Columbia south to western Ontario, California and the Texas coast, white pelicans winter from Florida south to Panama. They prefer marshy lakes and coastal regions, and winter chiefly in coastal lagoons. White pelicans are one of 310 species of birds that inhabit the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, which shares a boundary with KSC. The marshes and open water of the refuge also provide wintering areas for 23 species of migratory waterfowl, as well as a year-round home for great blue herons, great egrets, wood storks, cormorants, brown pelicans and other species of marsh and shore birds.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- A group of roseate spoonbills share their watery hunting ground with a lone white ibis near KSC. Spoonbills prefer to inhabit mangroves, ranging from the coasts of southern Florida, Louisiana and Texas, to the West Indies, Mexico, Central and South America. They feed on shrimps and fish in shallow waters. Spoonbills are one of 310 species of birds that inhabit the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, which shares a boundary with KSC. The marshes and open water of the refuge also provide wintering areas for 23 species of migratory waterfowl, as well as a year-round home for great blue herons, great egrets, wood storks, cormorants, brown pelicans and other species of marsh and shore birds.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The Freedom Star is berthed at the Turn Basin near the Vehicle Assembly Building. The ship has recently returned to KSC after refurbishment at Fort George Island, Fla., including new paint. Freedom Star is one of the solid rocket booster (SRB) retrieval ships built to recover the SRB casings released over the Atlantic Ocean after launch of a Space Shuttle. In addition to the SRBs, the ship recovers the drogue and main parachutes that slow the boosters’ speed before splashdown. The ships also tow the external tanks built at the Michoud Space Systems Assembly Facility near New Orleans to Port Canaveral, Fla. Freedom Star was brought to KSC today for a visit by NATO Parliamentarians.

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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- An alligator lurks in the murky, mossy waters of the Merritt Island National Wildlife...

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – This is the radome beneath which is the NASA Debris Radar. It is located at a remote site on...

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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - At the mouth of Banana Creek on Kennedy Space Center, a manatee rests in the shallows....

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – A raccoon wades in one of the waterways at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Kennedy...

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STS098-713a-019 (16 February 2001) --- The International Space Station is backdropped over clouds, water and land in...

KSC Protectice Services - Working Dogs

K-9 Spike stands alert and ready for the next training exercise with his Handler Officer John McGee at Kennedy Space...

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Two manatees swim leisurely in waters on Kennedy Space Center. They gather in Florida's warm water rivers and inland...

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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- A large alligator on the bank of a creek in NASA's Kennedy Space Center rests its...

Pegasus ICON -- L-1011 at Hotpad VAFB

Northrop Grumman's L-1011 Stargazer aircraft is at the hot pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on May 26,...

Lava Flow Near the Base of Olympus Mons

This image from NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows a lava channel, which lies just to the east of the largest...

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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - An alligator spotted near the Launch Pad 39 area at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center raises...

Presentation on Improved Tracking Cameras

In the Image Analysis Facility in the Vehicle Assembly Building, Armando Oliu (second from right), lead of the KSC...

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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- A large alligator on the bank of a creek in NASA's Kennedy Space Center seems to...

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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - A moss-covered alligator stretches out on the water’s edge at a bank on the west side...

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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - These bald eagles scan the landscape of Kennedy Space Center from the top of a utility...

Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Mission

The Ebisu Shrine, the first shrine in a traditional San-ja Mairi, or Three Shrine Pilgrimage, is seen just after...

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – A roseate spoonbill soars overhead against a deep blue sky covering NASA's Kennedy Space...

Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Mission

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) team members bow at the Ebisu Shrine, the first shrine in a traditional...

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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- White pelicans gather in the shallow water of a lake near Kennedy Space Center. The...

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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- A large alligator attacks and eats a smaller one in a natural display of cannibalism....