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Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a NanoRack has been installed on a Cygnus cargo spacecraft. The Cygnus will be launched to the International Space Station, or ISS, on the upcoming Orbital ATK Commercial Resupply Services-6 mission delivering hardware and supplies to the orbiting outpost. A NanoRack is a low-cost research platform for payloads on the U.S. National Laboratory on the ISS. Based on CubeSats, the standardized minilabs allow low cost use by researchers and commercial customers, as well as elementary schools, high schools and universities.
Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky
The second half of the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta II rocket payload fairing is lifted up into the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, on June 4, 2018. NASA's Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) will launch later this year on the final Delta II rocket. ICESat-2 will measure the height of a changing Earth, one laser pulse at a time, 10,000 laser pulses a second. The satellite will carry a single instrument, the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System. ICESat-2 will help scientists investigate why, and how much our planet's frozen and icy areas, called the cryosphere, is changing in a warming climate. Photo credit: NASA/Vanessa Valentine
Dr. Kristen John, principal investigator for Hermes at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, talks to NASA Social participants during a What’s On Board science briefing at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 29, 2019. The briefing was held for SpaceX’s 17th Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-17) mission to the International Space Station. John presented on the Hermes Facility, an experimental microgravity facility that enables science experiments, microgravity exposure testing, testing of engineering components and CubeSats and any payloads that can fit in the Hermes design and operations constraints. NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory-3 (OCO-3) and Space Test Program-Houston 6 (STP-H6) are two of the experiments that also will be delivered to the space station on CRS-17. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo module are scheduled to launch no earlier than May 3, 2019, from Space Launch Complex 40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
PictionID:44808690 - Catalog:14_014204 - Title:Atlas Payload Component - Filename:14_014204.TIF - - Image from the Convair/General Dynamics Astronautics Atlas Negative Collection. The processing, cataloging and digitization of these images has been made possible by a generous National Historical Publications and Records grant from the National Archives and Records Administration---Please Tag these images so that the information can be permanently stored with the digital file.---Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. At Launch Pad 39B, the payload canister that delivered payloads launching aboard Space Shuttle Discovery's Return to Flight mission STS-114 is lowered from the Payload Changeout Room. The payloads will be installed into Discovery, scheduled to arrive at the pad later today. Discoverys payloads include the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Raffaello, the Lightweight Multi-Purpose Experiment Support Structure Carrier (LMC), and the External Stowage Platform-2 (ESP-2). Raffaello will deliver supplies to the International Space Station including food, clothing and research equipment. The LMC will carry a replacement Control Moment Gyroscope and a tile repair sample box. The ESP-2 is outfitted with replacement parts. Discoverys launch window extends from July 13 through July 31. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
The Space Test Program-Houston 6 (STP-H6) payload is being loaded into a transport truck at the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 19, 2019. The payload will be moved to the SpaceX facility where it will be stowed in the trunk of the Dragon spacecraft for delivery to the International Space Station on SpaceX’s 17th Commercial Resupply Services mission (CRS-17) for NASA. STP-H6 is an x-ray communication investigation that will be used to perform a space-based demonstration of a new technology for generating beams of modulated x-rays. This technology may be useful for providing efficient communication to deep space probes, or communicating with hypersonic vehicles where plasma sheaths prevent traditional radio communications. CRS-17 is scheduled to launch from Space Launch Complex 40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in late April. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky
The Space Test Program-Houston 6 (STP-H6) payload is being prepared for its move from the Space Station Processing Facility high bay at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 19, 2019. The payload will be moved to the SpaceX facility where it will be stowed in the trunk of the Dragon spacecraft for delivery to the International Space Station on SpaceX’s 17th Commercial Resupply Services mission (CRS-17) for NASA. STP-H6 is an x-ray communication investigation that will be used to perform a space-based demonstration of a new technology for generating beams of modulated x-rays. This technology may be useful for providing efficient communication to deep space probes, or communicating with hypersonic vehicles where plasma sheaths prevent traditional radio communications. CRS-17 is scheduled to launch from Space Launch Complex 40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in late April. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky
Dr. Kristen John, principal investigator for Hermes at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, talks to NASA Social participants during a What’s On Board science briefing at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 29, 2019. The briefing was held for SpaceX’s 17th Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-17) mission to the International Space Station. John presented on the Hermes Facility, an experimental microgravity facility that enables science experiments, microgravity exposure testing, testing of engineering components and CubeSats and any payloads that can fit in the Hermes design and operations constraints. NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory-3 (OCO-3) and Space Test Program-Houston 6 (STP-H6) are two of the experiments that also will be delivered to the space station on CRS-17. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo module are scheduled to launch no earlier than May 3, 2019, from Space Launch Complex 40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, engineers and technicians install a NanoRack on a Cygnus cargo spacecraft. The Cygnus will be launched to the International Space Station, or ISS, on the upcoming Orbital ATK Commercial Resupply Services-6 mission delivering hardware and supplies to the orbiting outpost. A NanoRack is a low-cost research platform for payloads on the U.S. National Laboratory on the ISS. Based on CubeSats, the standardized minilabs allow low cost use by researchers and commercial customers, as well as elementary schools, high schools and universities.
Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky
Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, engineers and technicians prepare to install a NanoRack on a Cygnus cargo spacecraft. The Cygnus will be launched to the International Space Station, or ISS, on the upcoming Orbital ATK Commercial Resupply Services-6 mission delivering hardware and supplies to the orbiting outpost. A NanoRack is a low-cost research platform for payloads on the U.S. National Laboratory on the ISS. Based on CubeSats, the standardized minilabs allow low cost use by researchers and commercial customers, as well as elementary schools, high schools and universities.
Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky
In Building 1555 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the payload fairing is being installed on an Orbital ATK Pegasus XL rocket. On board Pegasus are eight NASA Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System, or CYGNSS, spacecraft. When preparations are competed at Vandenberg, the L-1011/Pegasus XL combination will be flown to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. On Dec. 12, 2016, the carrier aircraft is scheduled to take off from the Skid Strip at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and CYGNSS will launch on the Pegasus XL rocket with the L-1011 flying off shore. CYGNSS satellites will make frequent and accurate measurements of ocean surface winds throughout the life cycle of tropical storms and hurricanes. The data that CYGNSS provides will help scientists to probe key air-sea interaction processes that take place near the core of storms, which are rapidly changing and play a crucial role in the beginning and intensification of hurricanes.
Photo credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – In the Astrotech payload processing facility on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians secure a transportation canister around NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive, or SMAP, spacecraft for its move to the launch pad. SMAP will launch on a United Launch Alliance 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. To learn more about SMAP, visit www.nasa.gov/smap. Photo credit: NASA/U.S. Air Force Photo Squadron
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – In the mobile service tower at Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the payload fairing for NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2, or OCO-2, satellite is being prepared for encapsulation atop a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket. Launch is scheduled for 2:56 a.m. PDT 5:56 a.m. EDT on July 1. OCO-2 is NASA’s first mission dedicated to studying atmospheric carbon dioxide, the leading human-produced greenhouse gas driving changes in Earth’s climate. OCO-2 will provide a new tool for understanding the human and natural sources of carbon dioxide emissions and the natural "sinks" that absorb carbon dioxide and help control its buildup. The observatory will measure the global geographic distribution of these sources and sinks and study their changes over time. To learn more about OCO-2, visit oco.jpl.nasa.gov Photo credit: NASA/Mark Mackley
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – The half-sections of the Delta II payload fairing roll into position to surround NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2, or OCO-2, in the mobile service tower at Space Launch Complex 2 on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The fairing will protect OCO-2 during launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket, scheduled for 5:56 a.m. EDT on July 1. OCO-2 is NASA’s first mission dedicated to studying atmospheric carbon dioxide, the leading human-produced greenhouse gas driving changes in Earth’s climate. OCO-2 will provide a new tool for understanding the human and natural sources of carbon dioxide emissions and the natural "sinks" that absorb carbon dioxide and help control its buildup. The observatory will measure the global geographic distribution of these sources and sinks and study their changes over time. To learn more about OCO-2, visit oco.jpl.nasa.gov. Photo credit: NASA/30th Space Wing, U.S. Air Force
Workers steady the upper instrumentation payload stack for the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission (MMS) as it moves toward the lower stack in the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville, Florida, near Kennedy Space Center. MMS consists of four identical spacecraft that will work together to provide the first three-dimensional view of magnetic reconnection, a fundamental process which occurs throughout the universe. Launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is targeted for March 12. To learn more about MMS, visit www.nasa.gov/mms. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann
A bi-sector half of the payload fairing for a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket glides into the clean room on level 4 of 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/Thiep Nguyen
The Space Test Program-Houston 6 (STP-H6) payload is secured inside a truck at the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 19, 2019. The payload will be moved to the SpaceX facility where it will be stowed in the trunk of the Dragon spacecraft for delivery to the International Space Station on SpaceX’s 17th Commercial Resupply Services mission (CRS-17) for NASA. STP-H6 is an x-ray communication investigation that will be used to perform a space-based demonstration of a new technology for generating beams of modulated x-rays. This technology may be useful for providing efficient communication to deep space probes, or communicating with hypersonic vehicles where plasma sheaths prevent traditional radio communications. CRS-17 is scheduled to launch from Space Launch Complex 40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in late April. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky
The Space Test Program-Houston 6 (STP-H6) payload is being moved out of the Space Station Processing Facility high bay at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 19, 2019. The payload will be moved to the SpaceX facility where it will be stowed in the trunk of the Dragon spacecraft for delivery to the International Space Station on SpaceX’s 17th Commercial Resupply Services mission (CRS-17) for NASA. STP-H6 is an x-ray communication investigation that will be used to perform a space-based demonstration of a new technology for generating beams of modulated x-rays. This technology may be useful for providing efficient communication to deep space probes, or communicating with hypersonic vehicles where plasma sheaths prevent traditional radio communications. CRS-17 is scheduled to launch from Space Launch Complex 40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in late April. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky
The payload fairing containing NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-S (GOES-S), secured on a transporter, passes by the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on its way to 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
Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, engineers and technicians install a NanoRack on a Cygnus cargo spacecraft. The Cygnus will be launched to the International Space Station, or ISS, on the upcoming Orbital ATK Commercial Resupply Services-6 mission delivering hardware and supplies to the orbiting outpost. A NanoRack is a low-cost research platform for payloads on the U.S. National Laboratory on the ISS. Based on CubeSats, the standardized minilabs allow low cost use by researchers and commercial customers, as well as elementary schools, high schools and universities.
Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky
Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, engineers and technicians prepare to install a NanoRack on a Cygnus cargo spacecraft. The Cygnus will be launched to the International Space Station, or ISS, on the upcoming Orbital ATK Commercial Resupply Services-6 mission delivering hardware and supplies to the orbiting outpost. A NanoRack is a low-cost research platform for payloads on the U.S. National Laboratory on the ISS. Based on CubeSats, the standardized minilabs allow low cost use by researchers and commercial customers, as well as elementary schools, high schools and universities.
Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky
A technician helps hold the payload fairing housing a pair of moon-bound probes, including the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite. The fairing was hoisted to the top of an Atlas V rocket that will launch the spacecraft towards the moon.
Image credit: NASA
Learn more about the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) :
www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/main/index.html
Learn more about the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS):
www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LCROSS/main/index.html
Follow the "New Moon Missions" blog from NASA:
Ariane 5 and ATV Edoardo Amaldi on the launch pad, on 21 March 2012, in Kourou, French Guiana.
Weighing in at 19 714 kg, including 6596 kg of fuel, air, oxygen, scientific equipment, spare parts and crew supplies, ATV-3 is the heaviest payload ever lofted by Ariane 5. Including the launcher itself, 777 tonnes will be pushed off the pad.
For further information, please visit:
www.esa.int/SPECIALS/ATV/index.html
Credits : ESA - S. Corvaja, 2012
The Space Test Program-Houston 6 (STP-H6) payload is moved to a transport truck at the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 19, 2019. The payload will be moved to the SpaceX facility where it will be stowed in the trunk of the Dragon spacecraft for delivery to the International Space Station on SpaceX’s 17th Commercial Resupply Services mission (CRS-17) for NASA. STP-H6 is an x-ray communication investigation that will be used to perform a space-based demonstration of a new technology for generating beams of modulated x-rays. This technology may be useful for providing efficient communication to deep space probes, or communicating with hypersonic vehicles where plasma sheaths prevent traditional radio communications. CRS-17 is scheduled to launch from Space Launch Complex 40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in late April. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky
Though the A-4 Skyhawk was by no means outdated by 1962, the US Navy began work on a replacement with better range and heavier payload. The designs submitted would be necessarily heavier than the A-4, but this was not seen as much of a problem, nor was a lack of speed: the Navy was willing to trade subsonic performance for increased range and more bombs. Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV) submitted a design based loosely on its successful F-8 Crusader fighter, which was enough to beat out three other designs, and it was ordered into production as the A-7A Corsair II, named for the successful Chance-Vought fighter of World War II.
Though the A-7 was based on the F-8, the two shared very little other than basic configuration: the A-7 was stubby and wide, and definitely subsonic as intended, though it initially used the same powerplant as the F-111 Aardvark. Turn performance was excellent, if acceleration was indifferent, but the centerpiece of the Corsair II was its integrated bomb delivery system. This included the APQ-116 radar, a heads-up display, traveling map display below the radarscope, and a digital computer. Ease of maintenance was also emphasized. With no problems encountered in flight testing, the A-7A entered fleet service in 1967.
It was immediately committed to fighting in Vietnam. Though A-7s would only see action in the tail end of Operation Rolling Thunder, they were to be used extensively in South Vietnam, due to their accuracy: A-7s were capable of putting ordnance within sixty feet of friendly troops, making it well-liked. The Navy liked the USAF's A-7D variant, and subsequently adopted it, with changes for naval operations, as the A-7E. This was to be the definitive model of the Corsair II, and surviving A-7As and A-7Bs were converted to E standard.
It was a mixed batch of A-7 models that finished the war in Vietnam: A-7Bs were mostly used in the suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD) Wild Weasel role, and increasingly Corsair IIs were armed with precision weapons such as the AGM-62 Walleye, which proved capable enough to destroy the infamous Thanh Hoa Bridge—albeit temporarily—in 1972. The workhorse A-7 also struck targets in the Hanoi area extensively, making it second only to the B-52 in amount of ordnance dropped on the North Vietnamese capital. Navy A-7s from USS Coral Sea participated in the last combat missions of the Vietnam War, the Mayaguez rescue mission in May 1975. 98 Navy A-7s were shot down during the conflict.
Following the end of the Vietnam War, the A-7 replaced the A-4 in Navy light attack squadrons, standardizing on the A-7E. Aside from minor upgrades, this would remain the type used by Navy units for the duration of the Corsair II’s career. A-7s would go on to participate in every military operation undertaken by the United States in the 1980s—attacks on Lebanon and the invasion of Grenada in 1983, operations against Libya in 1985, during the “Tanker War” in the Persian Gulf in 1987, and finally in the First Gulf War in 1991. In these operations, the A-7 was able to use its pinpoint bombing ability to good use; in Libya and the Persian Gulf, Corsair IIs attacked and sank numerous Libyan and Iranian patrol boats with unguided bombs. It also was the Navy’s Wild Weasel of choice during the 1980s, using the Vietnam-era Shrike before upgrading to the far superior HARM.
In Operation Desert Storm, two A-7 squadrons from John F. Kennedy were used both to attack fixed targets with “iron” bombs and Walleyes in “tank plinking”—knocking out Iraqi tanks with precision weapons. Despite there being less than 30 A-7s in theater, these aircraft were able supplements to the USAF’s A-10s and F-111s.
The First Gulf War was the A-7’s swan song. The last squadrons gave up their Corsair IIs for F/A-18 Hornets by May 1991, ending nearly thirty years of operations. Some ex-Navy A-7s were passed on to Greece, Portugal, and Thailand, and some still remain in service with Thailand and Greece. Of the 1569 A-7s built, about half were Navy types, and today 20 former US Navy A-7s are on display as gate guards and museum pieces.
Bureau Number 154407 was originally built as an A-7B, and entered service with VA-113 ("Stingers") aboard the USS Ranger (CV-61), where it flew combat over Vietnam. In 1975, it was transferred to VA-174 ("Hellrazors"), the Fleet Replacement Squadron for Atlantic Fleet A-7s at NAS Cecil Field, Florida.
A year later, 154407 was taken out of service, converted to a two-seat TA-7C, and reassigned to the Naval Air Warfare Center at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland. Besides acting as a testbed, 154407 was also used to test tactical nuclear weapons delivery tactics. As the Navy's A-7 squadrons wound down or reequipped with F-18s, 154407 was flown to Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, as a parts source for the New Mexico ANG's A-7Ds, and then was donated to the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History in 1992.
By 2016, it was starting to deteriorate, so the museum launched a crowdfunding campaign to restore several of its aircraft, including 154407. As such, it was repainted to look as it appeared while with NAWC at Patuxent River--the overall gray scheme favored by the US Navy since the 1980s, with international orange panels to reflect its status as a test aircraft.
At the time I visited in 2020, the museum was closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, so I had to shoot through the fence. 154407 turned out all right, aside from the bit of fence I got in the lower left corner. EDIT: I finally got to the museum in 2021 and got a better picture.
The Sentinel-3 Payload Data Ground Segment (PDGS) team had the traditional pre-launch meeting at ESA's centre for Earth observation (ESRIN) on 4 February, after which the team gathered for a photo.
Credits: ESA
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 hoisted for positioning on a dolly for further processing. 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/Kim Shiflett
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Multi-Payload Processing Facility, NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer is prepared for mating with the Pegasus XL launch vehicle. The GALEX, set to launch April 2 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, will carry into space an orbiting telescope that will observe a million galaxies across 10 billion years of cosmic history to help astronomers determine when the stars and elements we see today had their origins. The spacecraft will sweep the skies for 28 months using state-of-the-art ultraviolet detectors to single out galaxies dominated by young, hot, short-lived stars that give off a great deal of energy at that wavelength. These galaxies are actively creating stars, and therefore provide a window into the history and causes of star formation in galaxies. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, engineers and technicians prepare to install a NanoRack on a Cygnus cargo spacecraft. The Cygnus will be launched to the International Space Station, or ISS, on the upcoming Orbital ATK Commercial Resupply Services-6 mission delivering hardware and supplies to the orbiting outpost. A NanoRack is a low-cost research platform for payloads on the U.S. National Laboratory on the ISS. Based on CubeSats, the standardized minilabs allow low cost use by researchers and commercial customers, as well as elementary schools, high schools and universities.
Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky
The Multi-Payload Processing Facility (MPPF) is seen during an aerial survey of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on September 12, 2017. The survey was performed to identify structures and facilities that may have sustained damage from Hurricane Irma as the storm passed Kennedy on September 10, 2017. NASA closed the center ahead of the storm’s onset and only a small team of specialists known as the Rideout Team was on the center as the storm approached and passed. Photo credit: NASA/Bill White
The United Launch Alliance (ULA) payload fairing for NASA's upcoming Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, or InSight, mission to land on Mars has just arrived at the Astrotech facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. InSight is the first mission to explore the Red Planet's deep interior. It will investigate processes that shaped the rocky planets of the inner solar system including Earth. Liftoff atop a ULA Atlas V rocket is scheduled for May 5, 2018.
Photo credit: USAF 30th Space Wing/Rodney Speed
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
The United Launch Alliance (ULA) payload fairing for NASA's upcoming Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, or InSight, mission to land on Mars has just arrived at the Astrotech facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. InSight is the first mission to explore the Red Planet's deep interior. It will investigate processes that shaped the rocky planets of the inner solar system including Earth. Liftoff atop a ULA Atlas V rocket is scheduled for May 5, 2018.
Photo credit: USAF 30th Space Wing/Rodney Speed
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – In the Astrotech payload processing facility on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians enclose a transportation canister containing NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive, or SMAP, spacecraft in an environmentally protective wrap for its move to the launch pad. SMAP will launch on a United Launch Alliance 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. To learn more about SMAP, visit www.nasa.gov/smap. Photo credit: NASA/U.S. Air Force Photo Squadron
OMG, Week 47?! Really?! Five more weeks, and it's been a year?!
Well, I got this idea on Friday to make chocolate pancakes with peanut butter in the middle. I was watching a Reese's commercial when it clicked (kind of a "duh" moment, really). I made a test batch Saturday, which worked out well, so I just repeated the recipe (scaled down for 1 serving instead of 4) today.
Batter:
(dry)
A little shy of 1/3 C all-purpose flour
Around 2 T cocoa powder
Pinch of salt
Around 2 T sugar
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
(wet)
1 large egg
1/3 C buttermilk, room temperature
Other things you'll need:
Peanut butter
Syrup
Maybe some fresh fruit to slice and put on top
Maybe some whipped cream or butter to add for a little added flavor
Put heat to the frying pan, griddle, skillet, or whatever else you'll be using to cook these babies. A large, flat surface is needed, the larger and flatter the better (you'll need room to insert the flipping agent after all, it goes in better flat than at an angle). Go ahead and put remove the lid from the peanut butter and place the jar near the cooking surface. Close enough that it will get the radiant heat, but far enough away that the jar won't melt. Our goal is to have the peanut butter warm up in the jar so it'll be easier to work with later. This is also a good time to set out the syrup for the same reason (warm syrup is better).
Combine the dry ingredients. You can sift them together, or you can just use a fork to mix them like I did. They should end up reasonably consistent, but perfection is not required with pancakes.
Add the wet ingredients right on top of the dry. Since there's only two, and you can have measured out the buttermilk before this step (so it could get to room temperature while the rest of the quart stays cool in the fridge) to make it go quicker. Remember, your leaveners start working as soon as they get wet. So, while rushing isn't necessary, don't dawdle, either.
Mix for about 10-12 seconds. A spatula works well. It should be roughly consistent. Just count to 10 slowly in your head. Once you're at 10, just walk away. It's okay if there's lumps, or bits of the "dry team" on the sides of the bowl, or etc. It'll all work out fine. Now, let it sit for a couple minutes.
Remember that 1/3 cup measure you used to measure the flour and the buttermilk (trust me, it's easier if you use that one instrument for both)? Grab it and use it to "ladel" your batter onto the cooking surface. Fill it at least half full, but not quite 2/3rds full. Pour the scoop's contents onto a part of the cook surface. Ideally, this will make three pancakes, so plan your space accordingly. Once you're done laying out your set, spoon out some peanut butter into the middle of each of your pancakes, right on top of the batter. At this point, you can cover the peanut butter with a little more batter, or you can just let it go (your pan may end up a little dirtier this way, and make sure you serve the appropriate side up -- if you want the surprise, the original bottom needs to be on top; otherwise, your eaters will see what's coming). If your peanut butter is warm and liquidy enough, you can work it around more than just a big dollop in the middle, but make sure you leave some edge space, as this is where you'll look for the set bubbles to know it's time to flip (that is, bubble forms, bubble pops, hole from bubble remains). Once this happens, go ahead and flip the pancake, trying to deliver it back to the cook surface as flat as possible. Again, perfection is not required. The other side will cook in about half the time, give or take.
Serve on a plate, top with syrup and/or your own topping selection. I prefer to eat my way around the edge, leaving the middle for last, so you get that big peanut butter payload.
The Robotic Refueling Mission-3 (RRM3) payload is being prepared to be moved from the Fuel Transfer Building to the SpaceX facility on Oct. 30, 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/Cory Houston
Inside the Multi-Payload Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the Orion service platform will be used for offline processing and fueling of the Orion spacecraft and service module stack before launch. Modifications now are complete with validations and testing underway.
Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky
Enclosed in its payload fairing, NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-R) departs from the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville, Florida, near NASA's Kennedy Space Center. GOES-R will be transported to the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The satellite will launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket in November. GOES-R is the first satellite in a series of next-generation NOAA GOES Satellites. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky
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 positioned on a dolly for further processing. 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/Kim Shiflett
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – Preparations are underway to complete the encapsulation of NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2, or OCO-2, into the Delta II payload fairing in the mobile service tower at Space Launch Complex 2 on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The fairing will protect OCO-2 during launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket, scheduled for 5:56 a.m. EDT on July 1. OCO-2 is NASA’s first mission dedicated to studying atmospheric carbon dioxide, the leading human-produced greenhouse gas driving changes in Earth’s climate. OCO-2 will provide a new tool for understanding the human and natural sources of carbon dioxide emissions and the natural "sinks" that absorb carbon dioxide and help control its buildup. The observatory will measure the global geographic distribution of these sources and sinks and study their changes over time. To learn more about OCO-2, visit oco.jpl.nasa.gov. Photo credit: NASA/30th Space Wing, U.S. Air Force
EDGE Group (United Arab Emirates), REACH-M UCAV, MALE , presented at Dubai Airshow 2023, 24 hours endurance, in the 1500 kg TOW category with 250 kg payload
Enclosed in its payload fairing, NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-R) is mated to the United Launch Alliance Atlas V Centaur upper stage in the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The satellite will launch aboard the Atlas V rocket in November. GOES-R is the first satellite in a series of next-generation NOAA GOES Satellites. Photo credit: NASA/Daniel Casper
Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, cargo has arrived for late loading 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 targeted for March 24, 2017. Cygnus will deliver 7,600 pounds of supplies, equipment and scientific research materials to the space station. Photo credit: NASA/Glenn Benson
Bi-sector halves of the payload fairing for a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket arrive at 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
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2, or OCO-2, is viewed for the last time in the mobile service tower at Space Launch Complex 2 on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California before the Delta II payload fairing encloses it completely for launch. The fairing will protect OCO-2 during launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket, scheduled for 5:56 a.m. EDT on July 1. OCO-2 is NASA’s first mission dedicated to studying atmospheric carbon dioxide, the leading human-produced greenhouse gas driving changes in Earth’s climate. OCO-2 will provide a new tool for understanding the human and natural sources of carbon dioxide emissions and the natural "sinks" that absorb carbon dioxide and help control its buildup. The observatory will measure the global geographic distribution of these sources and sinks and study their changes over time. To learn more about OCO-2, visit oco.jpl.nasa.gov. Photo credit: NASA/30th Space Wing, U.S. Air Force
Creating a golden streak in the night sky, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission One lander soars upward after liftoff from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, as part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative. The Blue Ghost lander will carry 10 NASA science and technology instruments to the lunar surface to further understand the Moon and help prepare for future human missions. Photo credit: NASA/Frank Michaux
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