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A forklift is being used to lift the Robotic Refueling Mission-3 (RRM3) payload out of the Fuel Transfer Building on Oct. 30, 2018, to be transported to the SpaceX facility 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 Huston
The upper instrumentation payload stack for the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission (MMS) is secured atop the mission's 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
Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a powered cargo unit is ready for late stowage 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/Bill White
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – In the Astrotech payload processing facility on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, a technician ensures the transportation canister containing NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive, or SMAP, spacecraft is ready 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
Workers prepare the Robotic Refueling Mission-3 (RRM3) payload to be transferred from the Space Station Processing Facility high bay to 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
Aircraft Office teams prepare the C-130 aircraft for departure at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The aircraft will deliver the agency’s Galactic/Extragalactic ULDB Spectroscopic Terahertz Observatory (GUSTO) payload to McMurdo Station, Antarctica. The GUSTO mission will launch on a scientific balloon in December 2023.
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Workers monitor the upper instrumentation payload stack for the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission (MMS) as it is lowered toward the mission's 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
Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians assist as a crane is used to lift the Orbital ATK Cygnus pressurized cargo module, enclosed in its payload fairing, for transfer to 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
Secured on a transporter, the payload fairing containing NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-S (GOES-S) departs the Astrotech Space Operations facility in Titusville, Florida. GOES-S will be transported 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
John "JC" Carver, a payload integration engineer with NASA Kennedy Space Center's Test and Operations Support Contract, places Arabidopsis thaliana plants harvested from the Advanced Plant Habitat (APH) Flight Unit No. 1 into an Ultra-low Freezer chilled to -150 degrees Celsius.
The harvest is part of an ongoing verification test of the APH unit, which is located inside the International Space Station Environmental Simulator in Kennedy's Space Station Processing Facility. The APH undergoing testing at Kennedy is identical to one on the station and uses red, green and broad-spectrum white LED lights to grow plants in an environmentally controlled chamber. The seeds grown during the verification test will be grown on the station to help scientists understand how these plants adapt to spaceflight. Photo credit: NASA/Leif Heimbold
NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory 3, or OCO-3, payload sits in a transportation container at the Space Station Processing Facility high bay at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in preparation for its move to the SpaceX facility on March 18, 2019. The OCO-3 payload will be stowed in the trunk of SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, where it will launch aboard a Falcon 9 rocket on the company’s 17th Commercial Resupply Services mission to the International Space Station. Launch is scheduled for April 25, 2019, from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Once the payload reaches the station, it will be removed from Dragon and robotically installed on the exterior of the orbiting laboratory’s Japanese Experiment Module Exposed Facility Unit, where it will measure and map carbon dioxide from space to provide further understanding of the relationship between carbon and climate. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky
PictionID:44808825 - Title:Atlas Payload Component - Catalog:14_014215 - Filename:14_014215.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
Gulfstream G2 Payload Test flight #2, Nellis AFB, Las Vegas, Sunday March 20, 2011. I was on this flight. Pilot having WAY too much fun during takeoff, doing what I could've sworn was a 45 degree bank and a hard pull up.
Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians prepare payloads for 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
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2, or OCO-2, satellite sits atop a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket prior to encapsulation in its payload fairing at Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. 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. – In the Astrotech payload processing facility on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive, or SMAP, spacecraft, secured inside a transportation canister is lowered onto a transporter 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
PictionID:53758655 - Catalog:14_031709 - Title:Atlas Centaur 11 Details: AC-11 Nose Fairing; Cone Weight And Balance; CSTS Date: 04/29/1967 - Filename:14_031709.tif - Images 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
PictionID:53758643 - Catalog:14_031708 - Title:Atlas Centaur 11 Details: AC-11 Nose Fairing; Cone Weight And Balance; CSTS Date: 04/29/1967 - Filename:14_031708.tif - Images 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
One of four Hughes payload specialists, named (along with Greg Jarvis) as prime for a mission that kept slipping. Eventually he was named to STS-61L, a late November 1986 flight.
Jarvis, however, was killed in the Challenger accident that January, and the subsequent removal of most commercial satellites from deployment by shuttle meant Konrad lost his chance to fly.
Konrad was chosen to represent Hughes as a payload specialists on a shuttle flights then-planned for 1985 (STS-51-I/Columbia, sked for August 1985), a Hughes selection committee announced June 14, 1984.
Konrad, who had been with the company for eight years, was a project manager in Division 40’s Systems Engineering Lab.
William Butterworth, assistant program manager of SCG’s Galileo Probe effort, and Stephen Cunningham, manager, Systems Analysis were named alternates for the two flights.
The payload specialists and two alternates were selected from a pool of nearly 600 applicants.
“It was a difficult decision because there were so many excellent candidates,” Robert Roney, SCG vice president and selection committee member, said at that time, in an employee newsletter. “If this first payload specialist program is a success it will be continued on subsequent launches of Hughes communications satellites, offering additional opportunities for employees to fly on future shuttle missions.”
Hughes’ payload specialist program would have marked the first time a commercial customer will participate in the launch of a privately owned satellite. (When Jarvis flew on Challenger, that flight carried no Hughes satellites.)
The payload fairing containing NOAA’s GOES-T satellite, 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 fairing-encapsulated GOES-T spacecraft was mated with the launch vehicle on Feb. 17, 2022.
GOES-T is slated for launch on March 1, 2022.
Photo credit: United Launch Alliance
Enclosed in its payload fairing, NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-R) arrives at the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. GOES-R will be stacked atop the United Launch Alliance Atlas V Centaur upper stage. The satellite will launch atop the 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
The payload fairing containing NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-S (GOES-S) is secured on a transporter and moved out of the Astrotech Space Operations facility in Titusville, Florida. GOES-S will be transported 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
▪︎LAND ROVER SERIES II FORWARD CONTROL▪︎
The Land Rover Serie II FC (''Forward Control'') is a rather unique truck built on the basis of the legendary Land Rover off-road utility car. The initial IIA had a 2.25-litre petrol engine and LWB 109 inch chassis, with cab positioned over the engine for more load space. Export vehicles had the 2.6-litre petrol engine and ENV (heavy duty) rear axle. They also had larger tyres with deep-dish wheel rims on the rear axle. They remained still underpowered for a 1.5 long ton payload. 2,500 were manufactured from 1962 to 1966 as troop carriers for the British Army, they were superseded in 1974 by the Series IIB with a more powerful 2.25 litre diesel and other upgrades, they were retired in the 1990's.
Demand for better load-carrying capacity for the Land Rover was already a concern in the 1950's, as the regular Series I and IIA were rather cramped as that of the WWII Jeep. At the same time Ford proposed a 6-wheeled Jeep in 1942, which was only adopted in limited numbers for trials. In the British Army, the need was answered in 1962, with the launch of the Series IIA Forward Control (FC) vehicle. This new vehicle was based on the Series II Long Wheelbase (LWB), meaning a 109 inch chassis. The greatest difference was the placement of the cab, now positioned over the engine, thus creating a vehicle somewhat close to a ''cab over engine'' (COE) configuration, already known and used in WWII for its advantages in visibility. But technically it was not for many specialists. There was a true COE made by Rover though, the Leyland 15/20 based on the Standard Atlas.
This indeed resulted in a massively increased load space at the rear. The ''car'' was transformed into a truck. It also had a new rear sub-frame attached to the 109 inch chassis in order to superpose a brand new flat load space, infinitely larger than the original space between seats in the standard Land Rover Series II. The result was capable of carrying 30 cwt (1 ½ tons - long tons) on the road, and 25 cwt (1 ton - long ton) cross-country. All this seems ideal until road trials and off-road trials were performed. While quite valid on road, the FC became a ''dog'' when operating off-road and on muddy, snowy ground. It's power to weight ratio, given the overloaded chassis and new payload, several folds what the standard car can carry, completely overwhelmed the engine, which was basically was stock, shared, as most mechanical components, with the car. Complaints about the Serie IIA FC led to a new version with a beefier engine, the Series IIB.
The IIA Forward Control was not only given a modified chassis, with a new frame to support the flatbed and brand new cabin and radiator. I was also fitted with heavy duty axles and larger tyres to increase the ground clearance, something that was anticipated. Its body style was that of a ''pick-up'', as dimensions were those of a small lorry and due to the proportions of the flatbed compared to the cabin.
Unlike a standard Rover, only seating was located in the cab, open or closed. This new cab was carried on a front sub-frame, bolted onto the chassis. But for Rover, this allowed it to present to the army a design that proved economical and required only a few new parts. It could be produced rapidly with the same personnel at a dedicated new facility, but with the same logistics as the standard Range Rover.
The front and rear sub-frame was also a choice driven by economics, but was later criticized as it resulted in a much heavier vehicle compared to a purpose-built chassis integrating from the start a cab and flatbed like any standard truck. The designation in military nomenclature ''110'' recalled the chassis wheelbase. The Forward Control model indeed had more payload and was accepted for production after the prototype first ran in 1960 and performed a whole range of gruelling trials, made available as a Series IIA FC from September 1960. However many modifications led to a military production from 1962.
The Series IIA Forward Control was given as seen above the 109 inch wheelbase and managed to keep 75% of the standard 109 inch chassis components to stay attractive but this led to a number of compromises to lower the base price. It was only available with the Rover’s four-cylinder petrol engine of 2,286cc (making it under powered) and it was proven unstable, due to the combination of height and standard width axles.
Considering that the Series II's 2,286l petrol engine was retained, the result was a very underpowered vehicle. Tyres were of the 900×16 types on deep-dish wheel rims to spread the ground weight of this heavy vehicle. They were neither of the run-flat type, not fitted with a central inflation system. The 6 Cylinder, 3.063 x 3.625 inch, 2,625cc 7:1 CR was coupled with a S.U. H.D.6 carburettor on the Series IIA. On the Series IIB it was rated for 88.5 bhp @ 4500 rpm, 176 Nm @ 1750 rpm (88 bhp ''gross'', 130 lb/ft albeit LRO Magazine states published that this 6 cylinder engine was detuned to 85.285 bhp @ 4500 rpm, 173 Nm @ 1500 rpm (86 bhp net, 128 lb/ft).
The Series II Forward Control Land Rovers used a different transfer box than standard Land Rovers to compensate for the 9.00 x 16 tyres and the main gearbox ratios were the same, but the gearbox was different, with a longer main shaft used to interface to the Forward Control transfer box of the ''Easy Drive'' type, enabling to change from high to low range while moving. The Series I / Series II had the same main gearbox ratios, albeit Series IIA ratios were different early in production.
The power issue (of lack thereof) was partly addressed in 1966 with the advent of the Series IIB Forward Control. This added the 2,286l diesel engine and 2,6l 6-cylinder petrol engine as options. The 6-cylinder petrol engine was adapted from the Rover P4 and P5 cars and considered far more reliable. And for stability, the wheelbase was slightly lengthened but more importantly, the wheel tracks were widened by four inches. The head lamps were also lowered (externally the only way to tell). The side lights were relocated to a higher position as well.
These vehicles had a turning circle of 49ft for the IIA and 45ft 11in for the IIB, a ground clearance of 10 inches, the height of load bay (unladen) 41 inches. The body width (internal) was 63½ inches) and the body length was 123½ inches). Payload was two in the cabin and 30 cwt on road, 25 cwt off road (with standard 109 being rated for 15 cwt. It should be noted that some Forward Controls were fitted with a hydraulic winch, driven from the power take-off aft of the gearbox and the hydraulic fluid reservoir holds 6½ gallons.
After 2,500 Series IIA were manufactured, the Army wanted a massive improvement, and the transition in production started in 1965. The new Series IIB started production from 1966. For this, Rover engineers completely re-designed the vehicle. The underpowered aspect was solved by the adoption of the six-cylinder petrol engine of 2,625cc. However it was longer (110 inches), so this needed to move the front axle forward of one inch making for an increased wheelbase to 110 inches, hence the new designation.
This Series IIB was introduced in September 1966 and also comprised modifications such as wider and stronger axles to address the stability aspect, and a stronger transmission to cope with the new engine, which had a much greater torque. It also had front anti-roll bar and revised rear springs mounted above the axle rather than below it. The easiest way to distinguish a Series IIA externally was its high headlamps compared to a Series IIB with low headlamps. The other way to tell the 110 from the 101 apart when on their side, is to count the number of nuts holding the wheels on, from five studs to six to match the Howitzer gun that it was designed to tow, and in turn it matches the Unimog 404.
▪︎Series IIA: Original LWB variant with the standard 2.3L engine, produced 1962–66, 3,193*
▪︎Series IIB: Re-powered variant with a 6-cyl, 2.6L and longer wheelbase, produced, 1966–73, 2,303**
▪︎Series FC 101 inch, LWB chassis, for the civilian market, confidential production.
▪︎Llama: Export version, exists in prototype form only, *2-¼ petrol – 2,091 / 2¼ diesel – 5 / 2.6 6cyl petrol – 1,097.
Specifications IIA:
▪︎Length: 193 inches
▪︎Width: 75½ inches
▪︎Height: 88¼ inches
▪︎Wheelbase: 109 inches
▪︎Axles: 53½ inches (track F/R)
▪︎Weight: 1.91 tons (long tons) Kerb Weight, with water, oil, and 5 gallons of fuel
▪︎Crew: 2+12
▪︎Propulsion: Rover 1.6L
▪︎Suspension: Leaf springs
▪︎Speed: 43.49 mph (road)
▪︎Range: 186.4 miles
▪︎Armament: None (personal weapons, crews and infantry)
▪︎Production: 2,500 approximately.
Specifications IIB:
▪︎Length: 193 inches
▪︎Width: 75½ inches
▪︎Height: 88½ inches
▪︎Wheelbase: 109 inches
▪︎Axles: 57½ inches
▪︎Weight: 1.93 tons (long tons)
▪︎Crew: 2+12
▪︎Propulsion: Rover 2.8L
▪︎Suspension: Leaf springs
▪︎Speed: 43.49 mph (road)
▪︎Range: 186.4 miles
▪︎Armament: None (personal weapons, crews and infantry)
▪︎Production: 3,500 approximately.
The compromised IIA and IIB FC were never a success, albeit production was maintained for the British Army until 1974. It was to be replaced by the more sophisticated 101 Forward Control, never sold to the civilian market, only retained by the army. Most IIA's and IIB's were sold as in the 1980's as work trucks on the civilian market, and worked hard, which combined with relatively low production numbers, meant very few survived. Many survivors were conversions, such as camper vans and fire engines which had a relatively less arduous career.
The Series IIA was not popular, young, inexperienced drivers often misjudged the stability underway and this never ended well. The full payload, combined with harsh terrain meant the trucks often broke down, as a combined result of a relatively unreliable engine, which was completely overstrained in this new condition. The attrition rate was such in the 1960's a solution was asked to Rover. One solution was to better train drivers, the other to just lower the payload. The most practical was to use the vehicle as troop carriers, carrying twelve men each with their own equipment (plus the driver and co-driver). A standard Land Rover could only carry six. Even after the introduction of the IIB, the army continued to use these as troop carriers. Some took part in the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) deployments of the cold war in the 1970-80's, until replacement.
There are private collectors that parade them today, notably yearly in Land Rover gatherings across UK and abroad. They always surprises the general public, oblivious a truck was derived from the car they know so well. However, production figures are hard to come by. The number generally accepted is 2,500 for the Series IIA, and around 3,000 to 3,500 for the IIB. This was not considerable compared to more standard military trucks in service at the time.
Information sourced from – truck-encyclopedia.com/coldwar/UK/land-rover-series-II-FC...
The payload fairing containing NOAA's GOES-T satellite was lifted by crane and moved into the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The fairing was mated to the ULA Atlas V rocket on Feb. 17, 2022.
GOES-T is slated to launch on March. 1, 2022.
Photo credit: United Launch Alliance
The payload fairing containing NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-S (GOES-S) is secured on a transporter and moved out of the Astrotech Space Operations facility in Titusville, Florida. GOES-S will be transported 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
PictionID:44809007 - Catalog:14_014230 - Title:Atlas Payload Component - Filename:14_014230.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
I was surprised to see this signed photo of Dennis F. Boesen - the only unflown astronaut so far seen belonging to the van Buskirk collection.
According to Kenneth P. Bechis, another Starlab payload specialist, "SDI-related acquisition, tracking, and pointing technology are scheduled to be demonstrated in 1991 by Spacelab's 'Starlab' mission, using various onboard sensors, lasers, and ground-launched missiles with target boards and other diagnostics.
"Also undertaken will be experiments concerning the measurement and correction of optical aberrations and atmospheric effects on laser propagation; the possibility of submarine laser communications from space will be also be evaluated.
"Starlab's UV Camera Assembly will obtain passive rocket plume imagery, as well as background measurements that will examine the radiant intensities and the spectral and temporal variabilities of the earth limb."
The mission was to have lasted seven days, and pushed back, according to published sources to May 1992, the STS-50 Spacelab slot (flown with a different Spacelab.)
Air Force Program 513, first known as "SDI Starlab", was conceived in 1985. Around that time, a workforce of about one-hundred people at Kaman Aerospace in Colorado Springs began working on the Wavefront Control Experiment under a $ 40 million contract. Peak employment for the project probably lay around 1987, when Kaman opened an Electro-Optics Development Center in Tucson, Arizona, to support the program. By that time, the project was known as "Starlab".
SWAT-activities at the AMOS site began in 1986 as well, when MIT Lincoln Labs started building "a large frame dye laser to characterize the atmospheric effects on laser beam propagation."
The mission first appeared on the Space Shuttle Manifest of March 1, 1986. Listed as mission STS-72A, with a launch date of January 1988, the "SDI Spacelab" was to be launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, using a polar orbit. With Shuttle operations halted by the Challenger accident, the mission (now STS-34) slipped to June 1989 and then March 1990 (STS-38).
Since the Vandenberg launch capability was lost as a result of the Challenger accident, the polar orbit was changed to a 33.4 degree inclination flight, launched from the Kennedy Space Center. Flight support was moved to Cape Canaveral in September 1987. With completion of the Starbird launch site not expected before December 1989, the Starlab mission was rescheduled to fly on STS-41 in early 1988, with a launch date of June 1990 and later September 1990.
However, the Starlab mission was moved back further: on the January 1989 Launch Manifest, it was planned for the November 1990/STS-42 Spacelab slot. In June, this was taken up by the IML-1 Spacelab mission and Starlab was rescheduled for STS-48, with a launch in August 1991. It was next moved to STS-49, with a launch date of September 1991. In March 1990, with other Air Force Projects such as the Teal Ruby-satellite already canceled, launch was moved further back to January 1992.
In August 1990, the mission was scheduled for May 1992 (STS-50). In late September, Starlab was cancelled altogether to protect funding for the Briliant Pebbles system. The Spacelab slot was taken by the United States Microgravity Laboratory (USML)-1. On September 1, 1990, the four payload specialists associated with the mission resigned from the program.
The Starlab mission would have been flown by a crew of seven astronauts. Four military Payload Specialists were assigned to the Starlab project in July 1987. They were: Craig A. Puz, Maureen C. LaComb, Dennis L. Boesen and Kenneth P. Bechis.
Puz and LaComb, both US Air Force captains, were selected as the primary Payload Specialists, Boesen and Bechis - more scientifically oriented - acted as their back ups.
Puz and LaComb were injured in a car crash in Boston in June 1988. One year later, Puz was medically disqualified and he was replaced by Boesen. The five NASA crewmembers had not yet been assigned to the mission when it was canceled in September 1990, but would probably have been commanded by Dan Brandenstein, John Creighton, Loren Shriver or Dick Richards.
After eight months of designing, building and testing, the middle school, high school and college and university teams launched their rockets as part of NASA Student Launch on Sunday, April 8. The rockets and their payloads are designed to fly to 1-mile in altitude before deploying recovery systems that brings them safely to the ground.
Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, preparations are underway for 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
The GRIPS payload is suspended above the ground in preparation for launch on Jan. 18, 2016, in Antarctica.
GRIPS, short for Gamma-Ray Imager/Polarimeter for Solar flares, launched on Jan. 18, 2016, suspended underneath a football-field-sized scientific balloon. GRIPS studies the extremely high-energy particles released by solar flares, information that will help scientists pinpoint the processes that set off these explosive events. Since the sun doesn’t set at all for several weeks of the Antarctic summer, GRIPS will be able to observe the sun continuously during much or all of its flight, which the team hopes will last anywhere from 14 to 55 days. The 24/7 summer sunlight also provides a constant source of energy, powering the instrument the entire time.
Scientific balloons are a low-cost way to access Earth’s upper atmosphere up to the edge of space, allowing scientists to make measurements that are impossible from the ground.
Credit: NASA
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 prepare a powered cargo unit for late stowage 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/Bill White
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – Encapsulation of NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2, or OCO-2, into the Delta II payload fairing nears completion 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
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – Half of the Delta II payload fairing for NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2, or OCO-2, is positioned around the spacecraft 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
United Launch Alliance (ULA) hoists the Kuiper 2 mission payload atop the Atlas V rocket in the Vertical Integration Facility adjacent to Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The Atlas V will launch the Leo 4 mission for Amazon's broadband satellite constellation. Photo credit: United Launch Alliance
PictionID:53764522 - Catalog:14_032163 - Title:Atlas Centaur 19 Details: AC-19 Conical Nose Fairing Date: 09/23/1968 - Filename:14_032163.tif - Images 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
A BARREL team member finished up tests on the second-to-last balloon payload on Aug. 6, 2015. Rainy weather forced all testing inside on the 6th, pushing back outdoor tests and the first the balloon launch. ..The NASA-funded BARREL – which stands for Balloon Array for Radiation-belt Relativistic Electron Losses – measures electrons in the atmosphere near the poles. Such electrons rain down into the atmosphere from two giant radiation belts surrounding Earth, called the Van Allen belts. For its third campaign, BARREL is launching six balloons from the Esrange Space Center in Kiruna, Sweden. BARREL is led by Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire...Credit: NASA/Dartmouth/Kathryn Waychoff..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...Follow us on Twitter..Like us on Facebook..Find us on Instagram
From an unproductive afternoon today in local woodlands.
(Edit: well, okay - unproductive apart from this shot and maybe a couple of others, which still need some more work. Thanks for the kind comments. )
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Pacific Ocean (March 18, 2005) ñ- During a training exercise, an F/A-18 Hornet, of the ìBlack Acesî Fixed Wing Strike Fighter Squadron 41 (VFA-41), drops a Payload Delivery Unit 5 (PDU-5) Bomb filled with leaflets approximately 1 mile away from the USS Nimitz (CVN 68). Nimitz is currently conducting Joint Task Force Training Exercise (JTFEX) off the coast of southern California. U.S. Navy photo by Photographerís Mate Airman Elisabeth Ann Saccotelli
Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians have installed several Nanoracks on the exterior of 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/Cory Huston
John "JC" Carver, a payload integration engineer with NASA Kennedy Space Center's Test and Operations Support Contract, opens the door to the growth chamber of the Advanced Plant Habitat (APH) Flight Unit No. 1 for a test harvest of half of the Arabidopsis thaliana plants growing within.
The harvest is part of an ongoing verification test of the APH unit, which is located inside the International Space Station Environmental Simulator in Kennedy's Space Station Processing Facility. The APH undergoing testing at Kennedy is identical to one on the station and uses red, green and broad-spectrum white LED lights to grow plants in an environmentally controlled chamber. The seeds grown during the verification test will be grown on the station to help scientists understand how these plants adapt to spaceflight.
Photo credit: NASA/Leif Heimbold
Known as the "Raptor", the F-22 carries its payload inside the aircraft. This is totally unique among modern fighters, and is believed to enhance it's stealth capability. The Raptor is able to change the angle of its engines to improve turning performance - even at full afterburner.
The aircraft on the right is a P-38 Lightning. This was one of the last aircraft developed in WW2, it was the first American twin-engine fighter. Well ahead of its time, this airplane dominated the skies in later world war II - particularly in the Pacific.
What a difference 60 years of technology makes!
This photo was taken at the annual Offutt Air Force Base "Open House" in 2010.
More information can be found here:
Canon 7d, 100-400L
United Launch Alliance (ULA) hoists the Amazon Leo mission payload atop the Atlas V rocket in the Vertical Integration Facility adjacent to Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The Atlas V will launch the Leo 6 mission for Amazon's broadband satellite constellation. Photo credit: United Launch Alliance