Workers begin inflating a scientific balloon preparing to launch carrying NASA’s Payload for Ultrahigh Energy Observations (PUEO) mission. The mission lifted off from Antarctica at 5:56 a.m. NZST, Saturday, Dec. 20 (11:56 a.m., Friday, Dec. 19 in U.S. Eastern Time).

The PUEO mission is designed to detect radio signals created when highly energetic particles called neutrinos from space hit the ice. The PUEO payload will collect data that give us insight into events like the creation of black holes and neutron star mergers. Alongside the PUEO mission are two other balloons carrying calibration equipment sending test signals to help scientists make sure the payload equipment is working correctly when it tries to detect real signals from space.

Credit: NASA/Scott Battaion

Track the balloons in realtime: www.csbf.nasa.gov/map/balloon8/flight737N.htm

NASA image use policy.

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.

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Dr. Ken Church, left, CEO of nScrypt, and Dr. Gene Boland, chief scientist with Techshot, Inc. talk to NASA Social participants about the BioFabrication Facility during a What’s On Board science briefing at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 23, 2019.

The briefing was held for SpaceX’s 18th Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-18) mission to the International Space Station. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and uncrewed Dragon spacecraft are scheduled to launch July 24, 2019, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

NASA image use policy.

On June 28, Goddard hosted a Media/VIP/Employee Day to explain the Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM) payload onboard STS-135. The joint effort between NASA and the Canadian Space Agency is designed to demonstrate and test the tools, technologies, and techniques needed to robotically refuel satellites in space. Reporters were also provided an in depth look into how Goddard has provided the communications network for voice, data and video support throughout the shuttle program.

With the replica of the robotic station arm, operators will be able to develop and refine techniques to be used on orbit during the Robotic Refueling Mission.

Credit: NASA/GSFC/Pat Izzo

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.

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NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine talks via satellite with Andrea Mosie, Apollo sample laboratory manager, and NASA astronaut Stan Love from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston during a event where it was announced that nine U.S. companies are eligible to bid on NASA delivery services to the lunar surface through Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) contracts, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The companies will be able to bid on delivering science and technology payloads for NASA, including payload integration and operations, launching from Earth and landing on the surface of the Moon. NASA expects to be one of many customers that will use these commercial landing services. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians and engineers remove a solar array panel from the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security--Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Removal will allow thorough tests of the release of the deployment mechanism prior to flight. Targeted for liftoff Sept. 8, 2016, aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, OSIRIS-Rex will be the first U.S. mission to sample an asteroid, retrieve at least two ounces of surface material and return it to Earth for study. The asteroid, Bennu, may hold clues to the origin of the solar system and the source of water and organic molecules found on Earth.

Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

NASA image use policy.

A Nova Labs Robotics "BrainStorm Troopers" team member from Reston, Virginia asks a question during an Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) announcement, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Nine companies will be able to bid on delivering science and technology payloads for NASA, including payload integration and operations, launching from Earth and landing on the surface of the Moon. NASA expects to be one of many customers that will use these commercial landing services. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Nuclear payload and final stage of an SS-20 Saber intermediate range nuclear ballistic missile, made and deployed by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). On display in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

Known in the USSR as the RSD-10 Pioneer, the SS-20 was its NATO designation. It was deployed by the Soviet Union from 1976 to 1988. It was withdrawn from service under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty of 1988.

The Soviet Union had previously deployed the liquid-fueled SS-4 Sandal (R-12 Dvina) in 1958 and the SS-5 Skean (R-14 Chusovaya) in 1961. But it took hours to fuel these rockets with their highly toxic, highly unstable fuels. A solid-fuel rocket, which could launch on a moment's notice, was needed.

That's because Soviet generals wanted a first-strike capability. But rocket designers wanted a first-strike, second-strike, third-strike, theater tacitcal, and a host of other weapons. Essentially, this gave them more work, and varied kinds of work to do. Essentially, the decision to build and the deploy the SS-20 was taken out of the hands of the generals and put into the hands of contractors -- a classic example of the military-industrial complex at work.

Work began on the SS-20 in 1966. test flights occured in 1974 and it was deployed on March 11, 1976. A single missile could be launched from a steel tube atop a mobile truck. There were 48 launch vehicles, and 405 SS-20s capable of being launched.

The SS-20 was 54 feet high and 6.2 feet in diameter. Its first and second stages were based on the SS-16 Sinner (RT-21 Temp 2S), and made of fiberglass. Initially, it had a range of 0.37 to 3.1 miles, but the maximum range was extended to 4.7 miles over time. When first deployed, it carried a single nuclear warhead. It later could take two warheads. After 1980, it could take three warheads -- each with three "multiple, independent re-entry vehicles" nuclear weapons. Its accuracy was 1,800 feet at first, but this was improved to 500 feet after 1980.

The Warsaw Pact countries had a tremendous conventional advantage over NATO forces. The USSR assume that NATO would "go nuclear" immediately to destroy these conventional forces. The SS-20 gave the Soviet Union the ability to "go nuclear" immediately as well, and destroy NATO bases with almost no warning. NATO decided to deploy the Pershing II nuclear missile and the Tomahawk cruise missile in Western Europe in attempt to counter the SS-20.

This clearly meant a massive arms race in fast-launching, theater, "surgical strike" nuclear weapons. With neither side willing to engage in such a horrifically expensive and hair-trigger arms race, both sides agreed in 1988 to withdraw and destroy their theater nuclear weapons.

STS042-06-031 (30 Jan 1992) - - - STS-42 Payload Specialist Roberta L. Bondar gets into the Microgravity Vestibular Investigations (MVI) rotator chair to begin an experiment. The chair is mounted in the center aisle of the International Microgravity Laboratory 1 (IML-1) Spacelab (SL) module. Just above Bondar's head is the helmet assembly which is outfitted with accelerometers to measure head movements and visors that fit over each eye independently to provide visual stimuli. The chair system has three movement patterns: "sinusoidal" or traveling predictably back and forth over the same distance at a constant speed; "pseudorandom" or moving back and forth over varying distances; and "stepped" or varying speeds beginning and stopping suddenly.

Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the hatch is closed for the upcoming flight of a Cygnus cargo vessel. The spacecraft is scheduled for the upcoming Orbital ATK Commercial Resupply Services-6 mission to deliver hardware and supplies to the International Space Station. The Cygnus is scheduled to lift off atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on March 22.

Photo credit: NASA/Dimitrios Gerondidakis

NASA image use policy.

NASA's ROLSES Payload Flat Sat performed at Intuitive Machines' Houston Headquarters.

www.intuitivemachines.com

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On November 12th 2015 GETTY IMAGES unveiled plans for a new stills upload platform called ESP (Enterprise Submission Platform), to replace the existing 'Moment portal', and on November 13th I was invited to Beta test the new system prior to it being rolled out to the general public in December. (ESP went live on Tuesday December 15th 2015)

***** Selected for sale in the GETTY IMAGES COLLECTION on February 16th 2016

CREATIVE RF gty.im/507555326 MOMENT OPEN COLLECTION**

This photograph became my 1,733rd frame to be selected for sale in the Getty Images collection and I am very grateful to them for this wonderful opportunity.

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This photograph was taken in the magic of The Golden Hour around Sunrise, (Sunrise was at precisely 07:39am), at an altitude of Fifteen metres, at 06:59am on Thursday January 28th 2016 off Botany Road and Marine Drive, on the sandy shoreline of Botany Bay in Broadstairs, Kent, England.

I set off at 05:00am on a clear morning, the moon and the stars out to dazzle in temperatures around five degrees, on a pleanst hour and half long journey to enjoy a lovely sunrise. The seven bays in Broadstairs consist of: (From south to north) Dumpton Gap, Louisa Bay, Viking Bay, Stone Bay, Joss Bay, Kingsgate Bay and Botany Bay.

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Nikon D800 21mm 1/1.3s f/2.8 iso100 RAW (14Bit) Nikon back focus button enabled. AF-C Continuous point focus with 3-D tracking. Manual exposure. Matrix metering. Auto white balance.

Nikkor AF-S 14-24mm f/2.8G ED IF. Jessops 77mm UV filter. Nikon MB-D12 battery grip. Two Nikon EN-EL batteries. Nikon DK-17M Magnifying Eyepiece. Nikon DK-19 soft rubber eyecup. Manfrotto MT057C3 057 Carbon Fiber Tripod 3 Sections (Payload 18kgs). Manfrotto MH057M0-RC4 057 Magnesium Ball Head with RC4 Quick Release (Payload 15kgs). Manfrotto quick release plate 410PL-14.Jessops Tripod bag. Optech Tripod Strap.Digi-Chip 64GB Class 10 UHS-1 SDXC. Lowepro Transporter camera strap. Lowepro Vertex 200 AW camera bag. Nikon MC-DC2 remote shutter release. Nikon GP-1 GPS unit.

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LATITUDE: N 51d 23m 19.75s

LONGITUDE: E 1d 26m 11.95s

ALTITUDE: 15.0m

RAW (TIFF) FILE SIZE: 103.00MB

PROCESSED (JPeg) SIZE: 10.50MB

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PROCESSING POWER:

Nikon D800 Firmware versions A 1.10 B 1.10 L 2.009 (Lens distortion control version 2)

HP 110-352na Desktop PC with AMD Quad-Core A6-5200 APU processor. AMD Radeon HD8400 graphics. 8 GB DDR3 Memory with 1TB SATA storage. 64-bit Windows 10. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. WD My Passport Ultra 1tb USB3 Portable hard drive. Nikon ViewNX2 Version 2.10.3 64bit. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit

STS042-201-009 (22-30 Jan 1992) --- Canadian Roberta L. Bondar, payload specialist representing the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), works at the International Microgravity Laboratory's (IML-1) biorack while astronaut Stephen S. Oswald, pilot, changes a film magazine on the IMAX camera. The two were joined by five fellow crew members for eight-days of scientific research aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery in Earth-orbit. Most of their on-duty time was spent in this IML-1 Science Module, positioned in the cargo bay and attached via a tunnel to Discovery's airlock.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine answers questions during an event where nine U.S. companies where named as eligible to bid on NASA delivery services to the lunar surface through Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) contracts, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The companies will be able to bid on delivering science and technology payloads for NASA, including payload integration and operations, launching from Earth and landing on the surface of the Moon. NASA expects to be one of many customers that will use these commercial landing services. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians perform final cargo installation in the Orbital ATK Cygnus pressurized cargo module. The Orbital ATK CRS-7 commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station is scheduled to launch atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station no earlier than March 21, 2017. Cygnus will deliver 7,600 pounds of supplies, equipment and scientific research materials to the space station. Photo credit: NASA/Bill White

NASA image use policy.

Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the agency’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is prepared for encapsulation in its payload fairing. Targeted for liftoff Sept. 8, 2016, OSIRIS-Rex will be the first U.S. mission to sample an asteroid, retrieve at least two ounces of surface material and return it to Earth for study. The asteroid, Bennu, may hold clues to the origin of the solar system and the source of water and organic molecules found on Earth.

Photo credit: NASA/Glenn Benson

NASA image use policy.

Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians and engineers prepare to remove solar array panels from the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security--Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Removal will allow thorough tests of the release of the deployment mechanism prior to flight. Targeted for liftoff Sept. 8, 2016, aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, OSIRIS-Rex will be the first U.S. mission to sample an asteroid, retrieve at least two ounces of surface material and return it to Earth for study. The asteroid, Bennu, may hold clues to the origin of the solar system and the source of water and organic molecules found on Earth.

Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

NASA image use policy.

Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians and engineers prepare to remove solar array panels from the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security--Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Removal will allow thorough tests of the release of the deployment mechanism prior to flight. Targeted for liftoff Sept. 8, 2016, aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, OSIRIS-Rex will be the first U.S. mission to sample an asteroid, retrieve at least two ounces of surface material and return it to Earth for study. The asteroid, Bennu, may hold clues to the origin of the solar system and the source of water and organic molecules found on Earth.

Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

NASA image use policy.

Technicians and engineers inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida clean and inspect the Solar Array Sun Shield (SASS) on the agency’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope on Tuesday, July 14, 2026. The SASS is made up of six solar array panels, with the two center panels fixed while the four outer ones are deployed once in orbit. The Roman team will orient the SASS toward the Sun to provide power to the entire observatory and shade the telescope and instruments beneath. NASA designed this flagship mission to help astronomers explore dark matter, dark energy, and exoplanets. Photo credit: NASA/Sydney Rohde (Rocz)

NASA image use policy.

Technicians and engineers inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida clean and inspect the Solar Array Sun Shield (SASS) on the agency’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope on Tuesday, July 14, 2026. The SASS is made up of six solar array panels, with the two center panels fixed while the four outer ones are deployed once in orbit. The Roman team will orient the SASS toward the Sun to provide power to the entire observatory and shade the telescope and instruments beneath. NASA designed this flagship mission to help astronomers explore dark matter, dark energy, and exoplanets. Photo credit: NASA/Sydney Rohde (Rocz)

NASA image use policy.

The Robotic Refueling Mission-3 (RRM3) payload is inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility on Oct. 3, 2018, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The payload will be carried to the International Space Station on SpaceX's 16th Commercial Resupply Services mission. RRM3 demonstrates the transfer of xenon gas and liquid methane in microgravity, and advances technologies for storing and manipulating these cryogenic fuels robotically. RRM3 also supports development of technology for the Restore-L mission, a robotic spacecraft equipped to service satellites in-orbit. Photo credit: NASA/Glenn Benson

NASA image use policy.

Skylab payload/booster

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 image use policy.

NASA's LRA Payload fit check performed at Intuitive Machines' Houston Spaceport.

www.intuitivemachines.com

The payload fairing containing NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-S (GOES-S), secured on a transporter, arrives at the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The payload fairing will be lifted and mated to the ULA Atlas V rocket. GOES-S is the second in a series of four advanced geostationary weather satellites. GOES-S is slated to launch aboard the ULA Atlas V on March 1. Photo credit: NASA/Bill White

NASA image use policy.

Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Orbital ATK Cygnus pressurized cargo module, enclosed in its payload fairing, is secured on a KAMAG transporter. The Orbital ATK CRS-7 commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station is scheduled to launch atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Cygnus will deliver 7,600 pounds of supplies, equipment and scientific research materials to the space station. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

NASA image use policy.

Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, engineers and technicians encapsulate the agency’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx spacecraft in its payload fairing. Targeted for liftoff at 7:05 p.m. EDT Sept. 8, 2016, OSIRIS-Rex will be the first U.S. mission to sample an asteroid, retrieve at least two ounces of surface material and return it to Earth for study. The asteroid, Bennu, may hold clues to the origin of the solar system and the source of water and organic molecules found on Earth.

Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

NASA image use policy.

Workers begin inflating a scientific balloon preparing to launch carrying NASA’s Payload for Ultrahigh Energy Observations (PUEO) mission. The mission lifted off from Antarctica at 5:56 a.m. NZST, Saturday, Dec. 20 (11:56 a.m., Friday, Dec. 19 in U.S. Eastern Time).

The PUEO mission is designed to detect radio signals created when highly energetic particles called neutrinos from space hit the ice. The PUEO payload will collect data that give us insight into events like the creation of black holes and neutron star mergers. Alongside the PUEO mission are two other balloons carrying calibration equipment sending test signals to help scientists make sure the payload equipment is working correctly when it tries to detect real signals from space.

Credit: NASA/Scott Battaion

Track the balloons in realtime: www.csbf.nasa.gov/map/balloon8/flight737N.htm

NASA image use policy.

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.

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Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians assist as the SpaceX payload fairing containing the agency's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is lowered by crane onto a transporter. The fairing will be moved to Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. TESS is scheduled to launch on the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 6:32 p.m. EDT on April 16. The satellite is the next step in NASA's search for planets outside our solar system, known as exoplanets. TESS is a NASA Astrophysics Explorer mission led and operated by MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Dr. George Ricker of MIT’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research serves as principal investigator for the mission. Additional partners include Orbital ATK, NASA’s Ames Research Center, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and the Space Telescope Science Institute. More than a dozen universities, research institutes and observatories worldwide are participants in the mission. NASA’s Launch Services Program is responsible for launch management. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

NASA image use policy.

On June 28, Goddard hosted a Media/VIP/Employee Day to explain the Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM) payload onboard STS-135. The joint effort between NASA and the Canadian Space Agency is designed to demonstrate and test the tools, technologies, and techniques needed to robotically refuel satellites in space. Reporters were also provided an in depth look into how Goddard has provided the communications network for voice, data and video support throughout the shuttle program.

In this photo Frank Cepollina, Project Manager, Satellite Servicing Capabilities Office, points out the features of a replica of the Robotic Refuel Mission module nicknamed ‘Rossi’.

Credit: NASA/GSFC/Pat Izzo

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.

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NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine talks with Dave Lavery, Program Executive for Solar System Exploration, and Dishaa Bhat, 14, from Mary Henderson Middle School in Falls Church, Virginia, during a event where it was announced that nine U.S. companies are eligible to bid on NASA delivery services to the lunar surface through Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) contracts, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The companies will be able to bid on delivering science and technology payloads for NASA, including payload integration and operations, launching from Earth and landing on the surface of the Moon. NASA expects to be one of many customers that will use these commercial landing services. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

NASA's LRA Payload fit check performed at Intuitive Machines' Houston Spaceport.

www.intuitivemachines.com

On June 28, Goddard hosted a Media/VIP/Employee Day to explain the Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM) payload onboard STS-135. The joint effort between NASA and the Canadian Space Agency is designed to demonstrate and test the tools, technologies, and techniques needed to robotically refuel satellites in space. Reporters were also provided an in depth look into how Goddard has provided the communications network for voice, data and video support throughout the shuttle program.

In this photo Benjamin Reed, Deputy Project Manager, Satellite Servicing Capabilities Office, explains how the Robotic Refueling Mission module will operate when positioned on the International Space Station.

Credit: NASA/GSFC/Pat Izzo

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.

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S85-44834 (20 Nov. 1985) --- This flying human chain represents prime and backup payload specialists for two upcoming STS missions. The group, representing trainees for STS-61C later this year and STS-51L early next year, shared some 40 parabolas in NASA's KC-135, "Zero-G" aircraft on Nov. 20, 1985. Left to right are Gerard Magilton, RCA backup payload specialist for STS-61C; Sharon Christa McAuliffe, payload specialist/teacher citizen observer for STS-51L; U.S. Representative Bill Nelson (D., Florida), scheduled for 61C; Barbara R. Morgan, backup to McAuliffe; and Robert J. Cenker, RCA payload specialist for 61C. The photo was taken by Otis Imboden. Photo credit: NASA

Encapsulated inside its payload fairing, the Cygnus spacecraft for the upcoming Orbital ATK Commercial Resupply Services-6 mission moves past the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Mounted atop a KAMAG transporter, Cygnus is being moved to Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station where it will be mounted atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. The Cygnus is scheduled to lift off atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on March 22 to deliver hardware and supplies to the International Space Station.

Photo credit: NASA/Dimitrios Gerondidakis

NASA image use policy.

A bi-sector half of the payload fairing for a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket is lifted upright for its move into the mobile service tower on Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Preparations are underway for launch of the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS-1) spacecraft in 2017. JPSS-1 is part of the next-generation environmental satellite system, a collaborative program between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA. To learn more about JPSS-1, visit www.jpss.noaa.gov. Photo credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin

NASA image use policy.

Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians and engineers prepare to test the release of the solar array deployment mechanism on the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security--Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Targeted for liftoff Sept. 8, 2016, aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, OSIRIS-Rex will be the first U.S. mission to sample an asteroid, retrieve at least two ounces of surface material and return it to Earth for study. The asteroid, Bennu, may hold clues to the origin of the solar system and the source of water and organic molecules found on Earth.

Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

NASA image use policy.

NASA's MSOLO Payload fit check performed at Intuitive Machines' Houston, Texas Headquarters.

www.intuitivemachines.com

The Rockwell (now part of Boeing) B-1 Lancer is a four-engine, variable-sweep wing strategic bomber used by the United States Air Force. First envisioned in the 1960s as a supersonic bomber with sufficient range and payload to replace the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, it developed primarily into a low-level penetrator with long range and supersonic speed capability.

The bomber's development was delayed multiple times over its history, as the theory of strategic balance changed from flexible response to mutually assured destruction and back again. The initial B-1A version was developed in the early 1970s, but its production was canceled and only four prototypes were built. In 1980, the B-1 resurfaced as the B-1B version with the focus on low-level penetration bombing. The B-1B entered service with the United States Air Force (USAF) in 1986.

The B-1B began service with the USAF Strategic Air Command as a nuclear bomber. In the 1990s, it was converted to conventional bombing use. It was first used in combat during Operation Desert Fox in 1998 and during the NATO action in Kosovo the following year. The B-1B continues to support U.S. and NATO military in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Lancer is the supersonic component of the USAF's long-range bomber force, along with the subsonic B-52 and Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit. The bomber is commonly called the "Bone" (originally from "B-One"). With the retirement of the General Dynamics/Grumman EF-111A Raven in 1998 and the Grumman F-14 Tomcat in 2006, the B-1B is the U.S. military's only active variable-sweep wing aircraft.

General characteristics

* Crew: 4 (aircraft commander, copilot, offensive systems officer and defensive systems officer)

* Payload: 125,000 lb (56,600 kg) ; internal and external ordnance combined

* Length: 146 ft (44.5 m)

* Wingspan:

o Extended: 137 ft (41.8 m)

o Swept: 79 ft (24.1 m)

* Height: 34 ft (10.4 m)

* Wing area: 1,950 ft² (181.2 m²)

* Airfoil: NA69-190-2

* Empty weight: 192,000 lb (87,100 kg)

* Loaded weight: 326,000 lb (148,000 kg)

* Max takeoff weight: 477,000 lb (216,400 kg)

* Powerplant: 4× General Electric F101-GE-102 augmented turbofans

o Dry thrust: 14,600 lbf (64.9 kN) each

o Thrust with afterburner: 30,780 lbf (136.92 kN) each

* Fuel capacity, optional: 10,000 U.S. gal (38,000 L) fuel tank for 1–3 internal weapons bays each

Performance

* Maximum speed:

o At altitude: Mach 1.25 (721 knots, 830 mph, 1,340 km/h at 50,000 ft/15,000 m altitude)

o At low level: Mach 0.92 (700 mph, 1,130 km/h at 200–500 ft/60-150 m altitude)

* Range: 6,478 nmi (7,456 mi, 11,998 km)

* Combat radius: 2,993 nmi (3,445 mi, 5,543 km)

* Service ceiling: 60,000 ft (18,000 m)

* Wing loading: 167 lb/ft² (816 kg/m²)

* Thrust/weight: 0.38

Armament

* Hardpoints: six external hardpoints for 50,000 lb (22,700 kg) of ordnance (use for weapons currently restricted by START I treaty) and 3 internal bomb bays for 75,000 lb (34,000 kg) of ordnance.

* Bombs:

o 84× Mk-82 AIR inflatable retarder general purpose bombs

o 81× Mk-82 low drag general purpose bombs

o 84× Mk-62 Quickstrike sea mines

o 24× Mk-65 naval mines

o 30× CBU-87/89/CBU-97 Cluster Bomb Units (CBU)[N 1]

o 30× CBU-103/104/105 Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser

o 24× GBU-31 JDAM GPS guided bombs[N 2]

o 15× GBU-38 JDAM GPS guided bombs (Mk-82 general purpose warhead)[N 3]

o 24× Mk-84 general purpose bombs

o 12× AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon

o 96× or 144× GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb GPS guided bombs[N 4] (not fielded on B-1 yet)

o 24× AGM-158 JASSM

o 24× B61 thermonuclear variable-yield gravity bombs (no longer carried)

o 24x B83 nuclear bomb (no longer carried)

Avionics

* 1× AN/APQ-164 forward-looking offensive passive phased-array radar

* 1× AN/ALQ-161 radar warning and defensive jamming equipment

* 1× AN/ASQ-184 defensive management system

* 1× Lockheed Martin Sniper XR targeting pod (optional)

Embry Riddle Aeronautical University's EagleCam Payload Flat Sat testing performed at Intuitive Machines' Houston Headquarters.

www.intuitivemachines.com

MSG-3 is hoisted aloft towards the satellite payload adapter (II).

Copyright: 2012 EUMETSAT

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A technician inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida installs a memory card containing a total of 1,350,144 names as part of a commemorative plaque on the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope on Friday, July 17, 2026. The names, submitted by people from across the globe, including astronauts from NASA’s Artemis II and Artemis III missions, will travel with the Roman observatory to the Sun-Earth Lagrange point 2, or L2, about one million miles from Earth, where the Sun’s and Earth’s gravity balance out. Roman is named after Dr. Nancy Grace Roman, NASA’s first chief astronomer and one of the architects of the agency’s modern science program. Photo credit: NASA/Jolearra Tshiteya

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Kudeki High Flyer vehicle payload mounted on the launch rail on April 24, 2013. It is covered with a velostat bag and is being purged to help prevent moisture from causing a problem. The vehicle is a Terrier Oriole configuration.

EVEX team member Doug Rowland reported on April 24:

“We were able to mount the high flyer rocket for EVEX on the launch rail yesterday. Today we are expecting the technician to come to assist with the loading of the Trimethyl Aluminum (TMA) chemical canister. Once that is complete, we can load the low flyer rocket for EVEX as well. We will do a practice countdown today, and another tomorrow.”

Credit: NASA

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A NASA-funded sounding rocket mission will launch from an atoll in the Pacific this spring. The mission will help scientists better understand and predict the electrical storms in Earth's upper atmosphere that can negatively affect satellite communication and global positioning signals.

The mission, called EVEX, for the Equatorial Vortex Experiment, will launch into a crucial layer of charged particles surrounding our planet. Called the ionosphere, this layer serves as the medium through which high frequency radio waves – such as those sent down to the ground by global positioning system (GPS) satellites or, indeed, any satellite communicating with Earth – travel. The ionosphere begins about 60 miles above the ground and is filled with electrons and ions, alongside the more familiar extension of our electrically neutral atmosphere. Governed by Earth’s magnetic field, high-altitude winds, and incoming material and energy from the sun, the ionosphere can be calm in certain places or times of day, and quite turbulent at others.

EVEX will launch two rockets for a twelve-minute journey through the equatorial ionosphere above the South Pacific. This area of the ionosphere is known for calm days and tempestuous evenings, times when the ionosphere becomes rippled like a funhouse mirror, disturbing radio signals, and introducing GPS errors of a half mile or more. The two rockets will measure events in two separate regions of the ionosphere to see how they work together to drive the ionosphere from placid and smooth to violently disturbed. Such information could ultimately lead to the ability to accurately forecast this important aspect of space weather.

The launch window for EVEX is from April 27 to May 10. The team will decide when to fly based on conditions in the ionosphere on any given night.

Read more at www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sounding-rockets/news/evex.html

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NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.

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Embry Riddle Aeronautical University's EagleCam Payload Flat Sat testing performed at Intuitive Machines' Houston Headquarters.

www.intuitivemachines.com

Embry Riddle Aeronautical University's EagleCam Payload Flat Sat testing performed at Intuitive Machines' Houston Headquarters.

www.intuitivemachines.com

On June 28, Goddard hosted a Media/VIP/Employee Day to explain the Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM) payload onboard STS-135. The joint effort between NASA and the Canadian Space Agency is designed to demonstrate and test the tools, technologies, and techniques needed to robotically refuel satellites in space. Reporters were also provided an in depth look into how Goddard has provided the communications network for voice, data and video support throughout the shuttle program.

In this photo Justin Cassidey, Project Manager, Robotic Refueling Mission, explains where the tools for the mission will be stowed when not in use.

Credit: NASA/GSFC/Pat Izzo

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.

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S85-44835 (20 Nov. 1985) --- This flying human chain represents prime and backup payload specialists for two upcoming STS missions. The group, representing trainees for STS-61C later this year and STS-51L early next year, shared some 40 parabolas in NASA's KSC-135, "Zero-G" aircraft on Nov. 20. Left to right are Gerard Magilton, RCA backup payload specialist for STS-61C; Sharon Christa McAuliffe, payload specialist/teacher citizen observer for STS-51L; U.S. Rep. Bill Nelson (D., Florida), scheduled for 61-C; Barbara R. Morgan, backup to McAuliffe; and Robert J. Cenker, RCA payload specialist for 61-C. The photo was taken by Keith Meyers, New York Times. Photo credit: NASA

Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility the solar array panel now have been attached to NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Targeted for liftoff Sept. 8, 2016, aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, OSIRIS-Rex will be the first U.S. mission to sample an asteroid, retrieve at least two ounces of surface material and return it to Earth for study. The asteroid, Bennu, may hold clues to the origin of the solar system and the source of water and organic molecules found on Earth.

Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

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