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Mist gathers around KSC as the sun rises, a common occurrence thanks to our proximity to the ocean. It doesn't last long, burning away in 20-30 minutes
Researchers with the University of North Dakota test the NDX-1 spacesuit inside the SwampWorks regolith bin at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The university team is analyzing the prototype suit’s ability to protect astronauts while allowing them the flexibility to dig samples and perform other tasks in regolith, a fine, powdery soil similar to that found on Mars.
Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis
Artifacts representing Kalpana Chawla, who served as a mission specialist on space shuttle mission STS-107, are displayed in a new, permanent memorial, "Forever Remembered," opening June 27 in the Space Shuttle Atlantis exhibit at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. NASA and astronaut families collaborated on the memorial designed to honor the crews lost on missions STS-51L and STS-107, pay tribute to shuttle vehicles Challenger and Columbia, and emphasize the importance of learning from the past. Encompassing nearly 2,000 square feet, the memorial contains the largest collection of memorabilia and personal items of both flight crews. It also includes recovered hardware from both Challenger and Columbia, never before displayed for the public. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
Retract and release testing begins on the aft skirt electrical umbilical (ASEU), the small, gray cone-shaped structure on the ground, at the Launch Equipment Test Facility (LETF) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Power lines have been connected from the ASEU to the LETF simulated flight vehicle interface to test its design and functionality. The ASEU will connect to the mobile launcher and provide electrical power and data connections to the Space Launch System boosters. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program at Kennedy is overseeing the tests. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis
Sen. Bill Nelson, left, and former Vice President Al Gore greet singer Jimmy Buffett, right, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida prior to the planned liftoff of NOAA’s Deep Space Climate Observatory mission, or DSCOVR. DSCOVR will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The mission is a partnership between NOAA, NASA and the U.S. Air Force. DSCOVR will maintain the nation's real-time solar wind monitoring capabilities which are critical to the accuracy and lead time of NOAA's space weather alerts and forecasts. To learn more about DSCOVR, visit www.nesdis.noaa.gov/DSCOVR. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
Cyclists pedal away from the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), continuing on Kennedy Space Center’s annual Tour de KSC. The bicycle tour took place March 30, giving Kennedy employees and guests the opportunity to choose from three different routes that ranged from seven to 33 miles along some of the Florida spaceport’s most notable facilities such as the VAB, the Shuttle Landing Facility and historic Launch Pad 39A, among others. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky
The Centaur stage of the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket for NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale mission (MMS) is lifted from the transporter that delivered it to the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Operations have begun to mate the Centaur stage to the Atlas first stage already in place in the tower. Launch is set for March 12. To learn more about MMS, visit www.nasa.gov/mms. Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston
A Florida East Coast (FEC) Railway GP40-2, a regular FEC freight service locomotive, pulls the last two NASA Railroad locomotives from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The two locomotives, EMD SW 1500s, will be delivered to new homes on short line railroads. Locomotive no. 1 will be used by the Natchitoches Parish Port in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Locomotive no. 3 will be used by the Madison Railroad in Madison, Indiana, for regular freight service and passenger excursion train service. Locomotive no. 2 has already been delivered to the Gold Coast Railroad Museum in Miami, Florida for restoration and eventual use. All three locomotives were originally acquired by NASA in 1983 from the Toledo, Peoria and Western Railroad. They were used primarily to carry the solid rocket booster segment cars and shuttle flight hardware on the NASA Railroad for the Space Shuttle Program. Photo credit: NASA/Frankie Martin
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The launch gantry is rolled back to reveal NASA's Orion spacecraft mounted atop a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 37. Orion is NASA's new spacecraft built to carry humans, designed to allow us to journey to destinations never before visited by humans, including an asteroid and Mars. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
from the KSC observatory. Eclipses may be a regular occurrence here on Kerbin but that doesn't make them any less beautiful to behold, especially at sunrise/sunset
Ground support technicians work on crawler-transporter 2 (CT-2) in High Bay 2 inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program at Kennedy is overseeing the upgrades to the 50-year-old CT-2. Visible are new gear assemblies and jacking, equalizing and leveling (JEL) hydraulic cylinders, and other components have been upgraded to ensure the crawler's ability to handle the load of NASA's Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft on the mobile launcher as it travels to the launch pad. For more information, visit: www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/ground/crawler-transporter. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – Preparations are underway to attach NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive, or SMAP, spacecraft to the Delta II payload attach structure in the Astrotech payload processing facility on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The structure will secure the spacecraft to the rocket's second stage. SMAP will launch on a Delta II 7320 configuration vehicle featuring a United Launch Alliance first stage booster powered by an Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-27A main engine and three Alliant Techsystems, or ATK, strap-on solid rocket motors. Once on station in Earth orbit, SMAP will provide global measurements of soil moisture and its freeze/thaw state. These measurements will be used to enhance understanding of processes that link the water, energy and carbon cycles, and to extend the capabilities of weather and climate prediction models. SMAP data also will be used to quantify net carbon flux in boreal landscapes and to develop improved flood prediction and drought monitoring capabilities. Launch from Space Launch Complex 2 is targeted for Jan. 29, 2015. To learn more about SMAP, visit www.nasa.gov/smap. Photo credit: NASA/Chris Wiant, U.S. Air Force Photo Squadron
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The launch gantry is rolled back to reveal NASA's Orion spacecraft mounted atop a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 37. Orion is NASA's new spacecraft built to carry humans, designed to allow us to journey to destinations never before visited by humans, including an asteroid and Mars. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
While sitting on a swivel stool, a Sebastian River High School student holds a spinning bicycle wheel. Acting as a gyroscope, tilting the wheel will cause the student to move to the left or right. A rocket's guidance system can steer a launch vehicle in a similar manner. Photo credit: Cory Huston
Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians use a special tool to help transfer supplies and hardware into the Orbital ATK Cygnus pressurized module during late stowage operations. The Cygnus spacecraft will carry more than 7,000 pounds of cargo on the next resupply flight to the International Space Station. Cygnus is undergoing prelaunch processing at Kennedy before launch atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket scheduled for December 3 from Space Launch Complex 41 at nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis
NASA’s crawler-transporter 2, also called CT-2, moves slowly along the crawlerway back to the crawler park site after a test run to Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Upgrades to the crawler include 88 new roller bearings, 22 on each "truck" section, and a new jacking, equalizing and leveling system. Fondly referred to as the "workhorses" of the space program, both crawlers, CT-1 and CT-2, have served the agency's space programs for 50 years. In the background is the new mobile launcher. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program at Kennedy has made steady progress on upgrades and modifications to CT-2 to be ready to support NASA's Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft, and CT-1 to support a variety of other launch vehicles as the center transforms to a multi-user spaceport. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis
A crane lifts the Cygnus spacecraft, fitted inside a payload fairing, into the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 so the spacecraft can bolted to the top of the waiting United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. Built by Orbital ATK, the Cygnus is a cargo-only spacecraft that will take about 7,300 pounds of experiments, equipment and supplies to the International Space Station. The version launching on OA-4, the fourth operational cargo resupply flight for Orbital ATK, is an enhanced Cygnus that is capable of carrying 25 percent more mass than its predecessor. Photo credit: United Launch Alliance
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A technicians monitors the progress as NASA’s crawler-transporter 2, also called CT-2, moves slowly along the crawlerway back to the crawler park site after a test run to Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Upgrades to the crawler include 88 new roller bearings, 22 on each "truck" section, and a new jacking, equalizing and leveling system. Fondly referred to as the "workhorses" of the space program, both crawlers, CT-1 and CT-2, have served the agency's space programs for 50 years. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program at Kennedy has made steady progress on upgrades and modifications to CT-2 to be ready to support NASA's Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft, and CT-1 to support a variety of other launch vehicles as the center transforms to a multi-user spaceport. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis
Engineers and technicians work with International Docking Adapter 2 for loading it aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft for the CRS-9 mission. The adapter was loaded into the unpressurized trunk area of the Dragon spacecraft. Photo credit: SpaceX
Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the 175-ton crane was lifted by crane, turned and installed back to its original position, Level 16, across the transfer aisle. The crane's 45-year-old controls were upgraded to improve reliability, precision and safety. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program managed the upgrades and modifications to the crane so that it can support lifting needs for NASA's Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
Inside the Launch Abort System Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers remove the overhead crane and help secure the Orion spacecraft that flew on Exploration Flight Test-1 in 2014 onto the crew module transportation fixture. Orion is being prepared for transport to Orion prime contractor Lockheed Martin's facility in Denver, where it will undergo direct field acoustic testing. This is a technique used for acoustic testing of aerospace structures by subjecting them to sound waves created by an array of acoustic drivers. For the test, several electro-dynamic speakers will be arranged around Orion to provide a uniform, well-controlled, direct sound field test at the surface of the spacecraft. Orion will next launch atop NASA's Space Launch System rocket on Exploration Mission-1. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
Inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Orion crew module adapter simulator that will be used for Exploration Mission-1 testing has been lowered by crane onto a transport platform. The adapter is being prepared for shipment to the agency's Glenn Research Center's Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio. NASA is gearing up to test a structural representation of the ESA (European Space Agency)-provided service module for Orion. The test article will be subjected to mechanical and acoustic vibration, pyro-shock, and other tests at Plum Brook Station’s Space Power Facility, where the liftoff environment the service module will endure can be tested. The adapter, which connects the crew module to the service module will be mated with the ESA service module prior to testing. ESA’s service module will be delivered in October. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Preparations to launch NOAA’s Deep Space Climate Observatory spacecraft, or DSCOVR, near completion in the Building 1 high bay of the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville, Florida, near Kennedy Space Center. DSCOVR is a partnership between NOAA, NASA and the U.S. Air Force. DSCOVR will maintain the nation's real-time solar wind monitoring capabilities which are critical to the accuracy and lead time of NOAA's space weather alerts and forecasts. Launch is targeted for no earlier than Feb. 8 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 v 1.1 launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. To learn more about DSCOVR, visit www.nesdis.noaa.gov/DSCOVR. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- An aerial view near NASA's Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex reveals the Orion crew module, enclosed in its crew module transportation fixture and secured on a flatbed truck that is proceeding along the NASA Causeway to the entrance gate to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Orion made the 2,700 mile overland trip from Naval Base San Diego in California. The spacecraft was recovered from the Pacific Ocean after completing a two-orbit, four-and-a-half hour mission Dec. 5 to test systems critical to crew safety, including the launch abort system, the heat shield and the parachute system. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program led the recovery, offload and transportation efforts. For more information, visit www.nasa.gov/orion. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
Engineers encapsulate the Orbital ATK enhanced Cygnus spacecraft in a protective payload fairing inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The fairing will provide an aerodynamic cover for the spacecraft as it rides atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket into orbit on a mission to carry supplies and equipment to the International Space Station. Photo credit: United Launch Alliance
A 325-ton crane has lifted the first half of the K-level work platforms up and out of High Bay 4 inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The platform is being moved over the transfer aisle that runs down the center of the VAB and will be lowered into High Bay 3. It will be secured into position on tower E, about 86 feet above the floor. The K work platforms will provide access to NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) core stage and solid rocket boosters during processing and stacking operations on the mobile launcher. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to High Bay 3 to support processing of the SLS and Orion spacecraft. A total of 10 levels of new platforms, 20 platform halves altogether, will surround the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft and provide access for testing and processing. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky
During a media event, a photographer tours the control room areas inside NASA’s crawler-transporter 2, also called CT-2, as it slowly moves along the crawlerway on a test run to Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Fondly referred to as the "workhorses" of the space program, both crawlers, CT-1 and CT-2, have served the agency's space programs for 50 years. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program at Kennedy has made steady progress on upgrades and modifications to CT-2 to be ready to support NASA's Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft, and CT-1 to support a variety of other launch vehicles. Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston
We don't really understand why a taller building needs less external supports than a smaller one, but whatever works!
KSC INFO: A modified Saturn V rocket, topped by the Skylab space station, lifted off at p.m. EDT May 14,1973, from the Kennedy Space Center's Pad-39a. Launched into earth orbit, it will be visited by three astronaut crews during an eight-month period. 4X5 TRANSPARENCY PHOTO, 108-NSC-73PC-239 UNCL and 73-HC-439, US GOVERNMENT PUBLICATION, SCAN AND REMASTERED by Dan Beaumont , ACQUISITION: Skylab News Center, May 15, 1973. www.youtube.com/user/MrDanBeaumont?feature=watch
NASA's Guppy aircraft begins to taxi out of the tarmac area at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Orion heat shield ground test article, secured in a shipping container, has been loaded into the Guppy for transportation to Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company near Denver, Colorado. For more information, visit www.nasa.gov/orion. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – This helicopter view of Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida shows the United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket as it stands ready to boost NASA's Orion spacecraft on a 4.5-hour mission. The liftoff was postponed because of an issue related to fill and drain valves on the Delta IV Heavy rocket that teams could not troubleshoot by the time the launch window expired. For more information, visit www.nasa.gov/orion Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
KSC-2009-3093 (05/11/2009) --- CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – A camera near Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida captures the liftoff of space shuttle Atlantis on the STS-125 mission to service NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Liftoff was on time at 2:01 p.m. EDT. Atlantis' 11-day flight will include five spacewalks to refurbish and upgrade the telescope with state-of-the-art science instruments that will expand Hubble's capabilities and extend its operational lifespan through at least 2014. The payload includes a Wide Field Camera 3, fine guidance sensor and the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph. Photo credit: NASA/Sandra Joseph-Kevin O'Connell
NASA’s crawler-transporter 2, also called CT2, moves along the crawlerway on a test run to Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. In the background is the Vehicle Assembly Building where crawler upgrades have been performed. Fondly referred to as the "workhorses" of the space program, both crawlers, CT1 and CT2, have served the agency's space programs for 50 years. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program at Kennedy has made steady progress on upgrades and modifications to CT2 to be ready to support NASA's Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft, and CT1 to support a variety of other launch vehicles. Photo credit: NASA/Amber Watson
The lightning masts on Launch Pad 39B tower above the palmetto scrub lining the turn basin in Launch Complex 39 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The turn basin is a refuge for manatees and other marine life during the hot summer months on the Space Coast. Photo credit: NASA/Matthew J. Porter
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Technicians wash down the crew module transportation fixture containing the Orion crew module on the back of a flatbed truck at the Multi-Operation Support Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Orion was transported 2,700 miles overland from Naval Base San Diego in California. Orion was recovered from the Pacific Ocean after completing a two-orbit, four-and-a-half hour mission Dec. 5 to test systems critical to crew safety, including the launch abort system, the heat shield and the parachute system. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program led the recovery, offload and transportation efforts. For more information, visit www.nasa.gov/orion. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Workers take photographs of NASA's Orion spacecraft during a viewing at the Launch Abort System Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Orion's back shell panels have been removed. The spacecraft completed the first flight test in December, was retrieved from the Pacific Ocean, and transported 2,700 miles overland to Kennedy from Naval Base San Diego in California. Analysis of data obtained during its two-orbit, four-and-a-half hour mission Dec. 5 will provide engineers detailed information on how the spacecraft fared. Orion will be transported to the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility for deservicing. For more information, visit www.nasa.gov/orion. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- The Orion crew module is being moved into a covered structure at the Mole Pier at Naval Base San Diego in California where it will be prepared for return to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Orion was secured on its crew module recovery cradle in the well deck of the USS Anchorage after it was recovered from the Pacific Ocean. After lifting off at 7:05 a.m. EST on Dec. 5, atop a Delta IV Heavy rocket from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, Orion completed a two-orbit, four-and-a-half hour mission to test systems critical to crew safety, including the launch abort system, the heat shield and the parachute system. NASA, the U.S. Navy and Lockheed Martin coordinated efforts to recover Orion after splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program led the recovery efforts. For more information, visit www.nasa.gov/orion Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston
At Naval Base San Diego in California, NASA's Orion spacecraft is being offloaded from the well deck of the USS Anchorage. Orion has been secured in its crew module recovery cradle and will be prepared for return to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. After lifting off at 7:05 a.m. EST on Dec. 5 atop a Delta IV Heavy rocket from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, Orion completed a two-orbit, four-and-a-half hour mission to test systems critical to crew safety, including the launch abort system, the heat shield and the parachute system. NASA, the U.S. Navy and Lockheed Martin coordinated efforts to recover Orion after splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program led the recovery efforts. For more information, visit www.nasa.gov/orion Photo credit: NASA/Amber Philman
Barbara L. Brown, director of Exploration Research and Technology Programs at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, poses for a portrait inside the spaceport’s Space Station Processing Facility High Bay on Aug. 5, 2022. Brown leads processing, assembly, integration, and test of payloads and flight science experiments bound for the International Space Station. Additionally, Brown serves as Kennedy’s lead for the formulation of concepts to support uncrewed operations on the Moon and Mars, directing research, development, testing, and demonstration of flight systems and technologies to advance exploration and space systems. The programs and projects under her purview span NASA’s Exploration Systems, Science, Space Operations, and Space Technology mission directorates. Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston
SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- The Orion crew module is being moved into a covered structure at the Mole Pier at Naval Base San Diego in California where it will be prepared for return to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Orion was secured on its crew module recovery cradle in the well deck of the USS Anchorage after it was recovered from the Pacific Ocean. After lifting off at 7:05 a.m. EST on Dec. 5, atop a Delta IV Heavy rocket from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, Orion completed a two-orbit, four-and-a-half hour mission to test systems critical to crew safety, including the launch abort system, the heat shield and the parachute system. NASA, the U.S. Navy and Lockheed Martin coordinated efforts to recover Orion after splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program led the recovery efforts. For more information, visit www.nasa.gov/orion Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston
At Naval Base San Diego in California, NASA's Orion spacecraft is being offloaded from the well deck of the USS Anchorage. Orion has been secured in its crew module recovery cradle and will be prepared for return to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. After lifting off at 7:05 a.m. EST on Dec. 5 atop a Delta IV Heavy rocket from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, Orion completed a two-orbit, four-and-a-half hour mission to test systems critical to crew safety, including the launch abort system, the heat shield and the parachute system. NASA, the U.S. Navy and Lockheed Martin coordinated efforts to recover Orion after splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program led the recovery efforts. For more information, visit www.nasa.gov/orion Photo credit: NASA/Amber Philman
Astronaut John Glenn is helped by suit technician Joe Schmitt in completing the suiting up operation before leaving for the launch pad.
Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/
Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- NASA's Orion spacecraft floats in the Pacific Ocean after splashdown from its first flight test in Earth orbit. In the background is the USNS Salvor. This U.S. Navy salvage ship was there as a backup in case it was needed. NASA, the U.S. Navy and Lockheed Martin are coordinating efforts to recover Orion and secure the spacecraft in the well deck of the USS Anchorage. Orion completed a two-orbit, four-and-a-half hour mission, to test systems critical to crew safety, including the launch abort system, the heat shield and the parachute system. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is leading the recovery efforts. For more information, visit www.nasa.gov/orion Photo credit: NASA/Tony Gray
SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- The Orion crew module is recovered after splashdown in the Pacific Ocean about 600 miles off the coast of San Diego, California. NASA, the U.S. Navy and Lockheed Martin coordinated efforts to recover Orion and secure the spacecraft inside the well deck of the USS Anchorage. After lifting off at 7:05 a.m. EST atop a Delta IV Heavy rocket from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, NASA's Orion spacecraft completed a two-orbit, four-and-a-half hour mission to test systems critical to crew safety, including the launch abort system, the heat shield and the parachute system. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is leading the recovery efforts. For more information, visit www.nasa.gov/orion Photo credit: Courtesy of U.S. Navy
Cape Canaveral, Fla. -- A Delta IV Heavy rocket soars after liftoff from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida carrying NASA's Orion spacecraft on an unpiloted flight test to Earth orbit. Liftoff was at 7:05 a.m. EST. During the two-orbit, four-and-a-half hour mission, engineers will evaluate the systems critical to crew safety, the launch abort system, the heat shield and the parachute system. Photo credit: NASA/George Roberts