NASA Gallery

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Adm. Harold Gehman, center, chairman of the Columbia Investigation Accident Board, talks to U.S. Representative Dave Weldon (right) during the CAIB’s visit to the KSC RLV Hangar. Left of Gehman is U.S. Representative Tom Feeney. Gehman and the board visited the Hangar as part of the ongoing investigation. Recovery efforts as of May 5 included 82,500 pieces of debris weighing 84,800 pounds, almost 40 percent of the total dry weight of the shuttle. About 25,000 personnel took part, utilizing almost 1.5 million total man-hours in the recovery effort and involving more than 130 federal, state and local agencies. The operation was also supported by more than 270 organizations that included businesses and volunteer groups.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Adm. Harold Gehman, center, chairman of the Columbia Investigation Accident Board,...

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the RLV Hangar, Adm. Harold Gehman, center, chairman of the Columbia Investigation Accident Board, gestures toward a large piece of Columbia debris. He and other board members are visiting the Hangar as part of the ongoing investigation. At right is U.S. Representative Dave Weldon; behind him is U.S. Representative Tom Feeney. Recovery efforts as of May 5 included 82,500 pieces of debris weighing 84,800 pounds, almost 40 percent of the total dry weight of the shuttle. About 25,000 personnel took part, utilizing almost 1.5 million total man-hours in the recovery effort and involving more than 130 federal, state and local agencies. The operation was also supported by more than 270 organizations that included businesses and volunteer groups.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Dan Phillips (left) and Donald Nielen, with United Space Alliance, watch a monitor as Jim Landy, NDE specialist with USA, prepares to examine a Reinforced Carbon Carbon panel (on the table, center) using flash thermography. A relatively new procedure at KSC, thermography uses high intensity light to heat areas of the panels. The panels are then immediately scanned with an infrared camera. As the panels cool, any internal flaws are revealed. The gray carbon composite RCC panels are attached to the leading edge of the wing of the orbiters. They have sufficient strength to withstand the aerodynamic forces experienced during launch and reentry, which can reach as high as 800 pounds per square foot. The operating range of RCC is from minus 250º F to about 3,000º F, the temperature produced by friction with the atmosphere during reentry. The panels will be installed on the orbiter Discovery, designated for the first Return to Flight mission, STS-114.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Shipped in an air-conditioned transportation van from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft, the first Mercury orbiter, arrives at the Astrotech Space Operations processing facilities near KSC. MESSENGER - short for MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging - will be offloaded and taken into a high bay clean room. After the spacecraft is removed from its shipping container, employees of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, builders of the spacecraft, will perform an initial state-of-health check. Then processing for launch can begin, including checkout of the power systems, communications systems and control systems. The thermal blankets will also be attached for flight. MESSENGER will be launched May 11 on a six-year mission aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket. Liftoff is targeted for 2:26 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, May 11.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - At the Astrotech Space Operations processing facilities near KSC, a lift helps offload NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft shipped from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. MESSENGER - short for MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging - will be taken into a high bay clean room and employees of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, builders of the spacecraft, will perform an initial state-of-health check. Then processing for launch can begin, including checkout of the power systems, communications systems and control systems. The thermal blankets will also be attached for flight. MESSENGER will be launched May 11 on a six-year mission aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket. Liftoff is targeted for 2:26 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, May 11.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The STS-114 crew stands in front of the operations desk in the Orbiter Processing Facility. At far right is astronaut John Young, who flew on the first flight of Space Shuttle Columbia with Robert Crippen. Young is associate director, Technical, at Johnson Space Center. From left are Young’s pilot; STS-114 Commander Eileen Collins; Mission Specialists Andrew Thomas, Soichi Noguchi and Stephen Robinson; Pilot James Kelly; and Mission Specialist Charles Camarda. Noguchi represents the Japanese Aerospace and Exploration Agency. The STS-114 crew is spending time becoming familiar with Shuttle and mission equipment. The mission is Logistics Flight 1, which is scheduled to deliver supplies and equipment plus the external stowage platform to the International Space Station.

Kennedy Space Center Director Update

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Community leaders, business executives, educators, and state and local government leaders...

Kennedy Space Center Director Update

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Community leaders, business executives, educators, and state and local government leaders...

Women Launching Women

Employees from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida attend a panel discussion featuring women in leadership roles...

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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Center Director Bill Parsons responds to a question from the media in the NASA News...

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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Center Director Bill Parsons talks to the media in the NASA News Center Auditorium. He...

SpaceX Crew-2 Dress Rehearsal

Andrew Feustel, deputy chief of the Astronaut Office, left, Stephen Koerner, director of the Flight Operations...

MISSION CONTROL CENTER (MCC) - CELEBRATION - CONCLUSION - APOLLO 11 MISSION - MSC

S69-40023 (24 July 1969) --- Overall view of the Mission Operations Control Room (MOCR) in the Mission Control...

Langley Research Center SPLASH team examines the Orion Ground Te

The Structural Passive Landing Attenuation for Survivability of Human Crew (SPLASH) project team from NASA’s Langley...

Orion Weight and Center of Gravity Test

An Orion weight and center of gravity test with the Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) crew module takes place at the...

Employee Flight with Administrator Isaacman's F-5 Aircraft

NASA employee Greg Gaddis, spaceport senior operations manager at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, participates in an...

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51G-S-219 (June 1985) --- Public Affairs Office (PAO) commentator Janet K. Ross is pictured at her console in the...

Wernher von Braun

U.S. Representative Armistead Seldon (D.-Al) inspects the food preparation area of the Saturn I workshop mockup...

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Charles Bolden, NASA administrator, center, is shown the Orion capsule that will make an...

Astronaut Michael Collins inspects camera during prelaunch activity

S66-42763 (18 July 1966) --- Astronaut Michael Collins (left), Gemini-10 prime crew pilot, inspects a camera during...

Orion Weight and Center of Gravity Test

An Orion weight and center of gravity test with the Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) crew module takes place at the...

SKYLAB III - TELEVISION (RENDEZVOUS)

S73-31570 (July 1973) --- Overall view of the Mission Operations Control Room (MOCR) in the Mission Control Center...

INFLIGHT - APOLLO 7 (MCC)

S68-50682 (October 1968) --- Public Affairs Office (PAO) commentator Douglas K. Ward is pictured at his console in...

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51G-S-213 (June 1985) --- Public Affairs Office (PAO) commentator Janet K. Ross is pictured at her console in the...