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PictionID:42925578 - Title:Project FIRE Details: Pad 12; Looking down on FIRE Payload from Top of Gantry as Gantry Pulls Back Date: 09/30/1963 - Catalog:14_003055 - Filename:14_003055.TIF - - - - Image from the Convair/General Dynamics Astronautics Atlas Negative Collection---Please Tag these images so that the information can be permanently stored with the digital file.---Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum
Near Launch Pad 39-B, STS-95 Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai (second from right), representing the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA), responds to questions about the mission and training from reporters during a brief break from the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT). Other crew members also participated: (from left) Mission Specialist Scott E. Parazynski, Mission Specialist Stephen K. Robinson, who also serves as Payload Commander, Pilot Steven W. Lindsey, Mission Commander Curtis L. Brown, Mission Specialist Pedro Duque of Spain, representing the European Space Agency (ESA), (Mukai), and Payload Specialist John H. Glenn Jr., senator from Ohio. The crew were at the pad for emergency egress training after the break. The TCDT also involves mission familiarization activities and a simulated main engine cut-off exercise. The STS-95 mission, targeted for liftoff on Oct. 29, includes research payloads such as the Spartan solar-observing deployable spacecraft, the Hubble Space Telescope Orbital Systems Test Platform, the International Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker, as well as the SPACEHAB single module with experiments on space flight and the aging process. Following the TCDT, the crew will be returning to Houston for final flight preparations. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
STS-95 Payload Specialist John H. Glenn Jr. waves to a dense crowd of well-wishers from the back of a silver 1999 C-5 Corvette convertible during a parade down State Road A1A in nearby Cocoa Beach. Organizers of the parade include the Cocoa Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, the Brevard County Tourist Development Council, and the cities of Cape Canaveral and Cocoa Beach. The parade is reminiscent of those held after missions during the Mercury Program. Beach Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. In the Payload Changeout Room on Launch Pad 39B, the payloads for Return to Flight mission STS-114 are being transferred to Discoverys payload bay. Seen here is the airlock, already installed in the payload bay. Payloads being installed are a Control Moment Gyro, the Thermal Protection System Detailed Test Objective box, which is placed on the Lightweight Multi-Purpose Experiment Support Structure Carrier, External Stowage Platform 2 and Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Raffaello. Already installed in the payload bay are the airlock, the Canadarm 2, or Shuttle arm, and the Orbiter Boom Sensor System. The launch window for mission STS-114 extends from July 13 to July 31. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
STS-94 Payload Specialist Gregory T. Linteris prepares to enter the Space Shuttle Columbia at Launch Pad 39A in preparation for launch. He holds a doctorate in mechanical and aerospace engineering. Linteris has worked at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and is the Principal Investigator on a NASA microgravity combustion experiment. As a member of the Red team, Linteris will concentrate on three combustion experiments. Two of these experiments are housed in the Combustion Module. He will also be backing up crew members on the other Microgravity Science Laboratory-1 (MSL-1) investigations. He and six fellow crew members will lift off during a launch window that opens at 1:50 a.m. EDT, July 1. The launch window will open 47 minutes early to improve the opportunity to lift off before Florida summer rain showers reach the space center. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
STS094-344-001 (1-17 July 1997) --- Payload specialist Roger K. Crouch (nearer camera) confers with astronaut Michael L. Gernhardt, mission specialist, prior to performing operations at the Large Isothermal Furnace (LIF) facility. LIF facility was flown on a mission in cooperation with the National Space Development Agency (NASDA) of Japan. The Japanese furnace was part of an international group of experiment teams who are developing hardware to be installed on the International Space Station (ISS). The LIF facility will continue to study ways that heating and cooling different metals and alloys behave in a Microgravity environment.
In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility clean room, part of the flight hardware for the Hubble Space Telescope Servicing mission is on display for media representatives. This mission is designed to replace aging parts on the nine-year-old observatory and to upgrade some of its functioning systems. During the flight, the astronaut crew will replace all six of Hubble's gyroscopes, a fine guidance sensor, the observatory's main computer, and other equipment. The 10-day mission is scheduled to launch no earlier than Dec. 2 at 4:32 a.m. EST from Launch Complex 39. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, workers attach the upper canister to the lower portion to encapsulate the Mars Exploration Rover 2 (MER-2). After encapsulation, MER-2 will be transferred to Launch Complex 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. MER-2 is one of NASA's twin Mars Exploration Rovers designed to study the history of water on Mars. These robotic geologists are equipped with a robotic arm, a drilling tool, three spectrometers, and four pairs of cameras that allow them to have a human-like, 3D view of the terrain. Each rover could travel as far as 100 meters in one day to act as Mars scientists' eyes and hands, exploring an environment where humans can't yet go. MER-2 is scheduled to launch no earlier than June 8 as MER-A aboard a Delta II rocket. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
Presentations on the ExoMars payload by Daniil Rodionov (ACS, FREND) IKI Moscow, Manish Patel (NOMAD) Uni Padua, and Gabriele Cremonese, Co-PI for CASSIS, Astronomical Observatory, Padua. Images credit: ESA/R. Palmari
United Launch Alliance (ULA) hoists the U.S. Space Force's USSF-51 mission payload atop the Atlas V rocket in the Vertical Integration Facility-G (VIF-G) adjacent to Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Photo credit: United Launch Alliance
The Saturn V's size and payload capacity dwarfed all other previous rockets successfully flown at that time. With the Apollo spacecraft on top, it stood 363 feet tall, and, ignoring the fins, was 33 feet (10 m) in diameter. Fully fueled, the Saturn V weighed 6.5 million pounds (2,900,000 kg) and had a low Earth orbit payload capacity originally estimated at 261,000 pounds (118,000 kg), but was designed to send at least 90,000 pounds (41,000 kg) to the Moon.
Later upgrades increased that capacity; during the final three Apollo lunar missions it deployed about 310,000 pounds (140,000 kg). The Saturn V was 58 feet (18 m) taller than the Statue of Liberty from the ground to the torch, and 48 feet (15 m) taller than the Big Ben clock tower.
The Saturn V was principally designed by the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, although numerous major systems, including propulsion, were designed by subcontractors.
The Saturn V was primarily constructed of aluminum. It was also made of titanium, polyurethane, cork and asbestos.
The Saturn V consisted of three stages—the S-IC first stage, S-II second stage, and the S-IVB third stage—and the instrument unit. All three stages used liquid oxygen (LOX) as the oxidizer.
In the Vertical Integration Facility at Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the payload fairing enclosing SDO, is moved atop the Atlas V rocket.
Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller
Jan. 26, 2010
Workers in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility get ready to attach a second solar panel to Deep Space 1. The first flight in NASA's New Millennium Program, Deep Space 1 is designed to validate 12 new technologies for scientific space missions of the next century. Onboard experiments include an ion propulsion engine and software that tracks celestial bodies so the spacecraft can make its own navigation decisions without the intervention of ground controllers. Deep Space 1 will complete most of its mission objectives within the first two months, but will also do a flyby of a near-Earth asteroid, 1992 KD, in July 1999. Deep Space 1 will be launched aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket from Launch Pad 17A, Cape Canaveral Air Station, in October. Delta II rockets are medium capacity expendable launch vehicles derived from the Delta family of rockets built and launched since 1960. Since then there have been more than 245 Delta launches. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
A decommissioned first and second stage of a Minuteman 2 missile carrying a military research satellite blasted off 22Sept05 North of Hollywood. The 920-pound "Streak" payload will stay in orbit for a year, gathering information about the Earth's environment in low orbit. The mission's cost is classified. The arc of light at ground level is from a production at Paramount Studios.
In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, workers place one of the Stardust solar panels on a stand. The panels are being removed for testing. The spacecraft Stardust will use a unique medium called aerogel to capture comet particles flying off the nucleus of comet Wild 2 in January 2004, plus collect interstellar dust for later analysis. Stardust will be launched aboard a Boeing Delta 7426 rocket from Complex 17, Cape Canaveral Air Station, targeted for Feb. 6, 1999. The collected samples will return to Earth in a re-entry capsule to be jettisoned from Stardust as it swings by Earth in January 2006. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. - Workers in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility examine one of the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER). Processing of the rovers, cruise stage, lander and heat shield elements is ongoing. Set to launch in 2003, the MER Mission will consist of two identical rovers designed to cover roughly 110 yards each Martian day. Each rover will carry five scientific instruments that will allow it to search for evidence of liquid water that may have been present in the planet's past. The rovers will be identical to each other, but will land at different regions of Mars. The first rover has a launch window opening May 30, and the second rover a window opening June 25, 2003. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. In a clean room inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHSF) at NASAs Kennedy Space Center, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) is lifted by an overhead crane to move it to a nearby workstand for final assembly and testing. In the PHSF, the spacecraft will undergo multiple mechanical assembly operations and electrical tests to verify its readiness for launch. A test this month will verify the spacecrafts ability to communicate through NASA's Deep Space Network tracking stations. A June test will check the deployment of the spacecraft's high gain communications antenna. Another major deployment test will check out the spacecraft's large solar arrays. The MRO was built for NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. It is the next major step in Mars exploration and scheduled for launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in a window opening Aug. 10. The MRO is an important next step in fulfilling NASAs vision of space exploration and ultimately sending human explorers to Mars and beyond. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- STS-107 Payload Commander Michael Anderson gets help with his launch and entry suit from the Closeout Crew in the White Room. The environmentally controlled chamber is mated to Space Shuttle Columbia for entry into the Shuttle. Behind him is Pilot William "Willie" McCool. STS-107 is a mission devoted to research and will include more than 80 experiments that will study Earth and space science, advanced technology development, and astronaut health and safety. The payload on Space Shuttle Columbia includes FREESTAR (Fast Reaction Experiments Enabling Science, Technology, Applications and Research) and the SHI Research Double Module (SHI/RDM), known as SPACEHAB. Experiments on the module range from material sciences to life sciences. Liftoff is scheduled for 10:39 a.m. EST. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
Students from 20 states display their rockets and payloads and talk about what they did to make them fly at the NASA Student Launch Rocket Fair on Friday, April 5. Over 800 students traveled to Huntsville, Alabama, to participate in a week of activities as part of NASA Student Launch.
Image credit: NASA/Fred Deaton
Student Launch awards news release
Maximum payload of 1,020 pounds. I think these would be suitable for local mail delivery, given the limited range. But USPS cannot swing the $58k a pop.
The International Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker (IEH-3), one of the payloads for the STS-95 mission, is prepared for its move to a payload canister in the Multi-Payload Processing Facility. The mission is scheduled for liftoff on Space Shuttle Discovery on Oct. 29. IEH-3 comprises several experiments that will study the Jovian planetary system, hot stars, planetary and reflection nebulae, other stellar objects and their environments through remote observation of EUV/FUV emissions; study spacecraft interactions, Shuttle glow, thruster firings, and contamination; and measure the solar constant and identify variations in the value during a solar cycle. Other research payloads include the Hubble Space Telescope Orbital Systems Test Platform, the Spartan solar-observing deployable spacecraft, and the SPACEHAB single module with experiments on space flight and the aging process. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
Catalog #: 10_0009151
Date: 1960
Title: Convair/General Dynamics Atlas
Corporation Name: Convair/General Dynamics
Additional Information: Payload Fit Checks for Atlas Able
Tags: Convair/General Dynamics Atlas, Payload Fit Checks for Atlas Able , 1960, Convair/General Dynamics
Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive
Sgt. Thomas Michaelson, of the Minnesota National Guard’s 850th Horizontal Engineer Company in Cambridge, removes a clay dike from Second Avenue Southwest and 10th Street Southwest in Minot, Wednesday, July 20, following the flood of 2011. Truck drivers hauled the clay back to the Magic City High School campus area. (Photo by Master Sgt. Marvin Baker, Joint Force Headquarters)
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, workers appear to adjust the platform holding the second Mars Exploration Rover, MER-1. It will undergo prelaunch testing, including deployment of the lander petals, the rover's solar arrays, camera mast and camera. While at KSC, each of the rovers, their aeroshells and landers will undergo a full mission simulation. After spin balance testing, each spacecraft will be mated to a solid propellant upper stage booster that will propel the spacecraft out of Earth orbit. Approximately 10 days before launch they will be transported to the launch pad for mating with their respective Boeing Delta II rockets. The rovers will serve as robotic geologists to seek answers about the evolution of Mars, particularly for a history of water. The rovers are identical to each other, and will land at different regions of Mars. Launch of the MER-1 is scheduled for May 30. MER-2 will follow June 25. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
Workers in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility keep watch as an overhead crane lowers the Stardust spacecraft, enclosed in a protective canister, onto a transporter. Stardust is being moved to Launch Pad 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Station, for launch preparations. The spacecraft is targeted for liftoff on Feb. 6 aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket for a close encounter with the comet Wild 2 in January 2004. Using a silicon-based substance called aerogel, Stardust will capture comet particles flying off the nucleus of the comet. The spacecraft also will bring back samples of interstellar dust. These materials consist of ancient pre-solar interstellar grains and other remnants left over from the formation of the solar system. Scientists expect their analysis to provide important insights into the evolution of the sun and planets and possibly into the origin of life itself. The collected samples will return to Earth in a sample return capsule to be jettisoned as Stardust swings by Earth in January 2006. 17A, CCAS Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
The payload for the Byron nuclear power generating facility, parked in a siding, now comes back onto the stub that will take it to the plant.
In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, workers install a science panel on the spacecraft Stardust. Scheduled to be launched aboard a Boeing Delta 7426 rocket from Complex 17, Cape Canaveral Air Station, on Feb. 6, 1999, Stardust will use a unique medium called aerogel to capture comet particles flying off the nucleus of comet Wild 2 in January 2004, plus collect interstellar dust for later analysis. The collected samples will return to Earth in a re-entry capsule to be jettisoned as it swings by Earth in January 2006. PSHF Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
(L-R) West German Payload Specialist Ernst Messerchmid, October 27, 1985, and his crewmates on the Space Shuttle Challeger STS-61A mission Pilot Steven Nagel (waving), Payload Specialist Wubbo Ockels, ESA from Netherlands, Commander Henry Hartsfield, Payload Specialist Reinhard Furrer from West Germany and Guion S. Bluford, mission specialist, en route for lunch pad on October 27, 1985 before taking off on October 30. STS-61-A was the 22nd Space Shuttle mission. It was a scientific Spacelab mission funded and controlled by West Germany and carried German Spacelab D-1. It was also the last successful mission of the Space Shuttle Challenger. STS-61-A holds the record for the largest crew, eight people, aboard any single spacecraft for the entire period from launch to landing. The Space Shuttle mission carried the NASA/ESA Spacelab module with 76 experiments, and was declared a success. Payload operations were controlled from the German Space Operations Center in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany instead of the regular NASA centers. AFP PHOTO JOHATHAN UTZ (Photo credit should read JONATHAN UTZ/AFP/Getty Images)
As the last mission take to the skies, take a look back over 30 years of shuttle travel
In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, workers get ready to install the Sample Return Capsule (SRC) and -X spacecraft panel on the Stardust spacecraft . Stardust will use a unique medium called aerogel to capture comet particles flying off the nucleus of comet Wild 2 in January 2004, plus collect interstellar dust for later analysis. The collected samples will return to Earth in the SRC to be jettisoned as it swings by Earth in January 2006. Stardust is scheduled to be launched aboard a Boeing Delta 7426 rocket from Complex 17, Cape Canaveral Air Station, on Feb. 6, 1999. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
In the Payload Hazardous Service Facility, workers begin checking the Stardust spacecraft after removing its protective cover. The spacecraft will undergo installation and testing of the solar arrays, plus final installation and testing of spacecraft instruments followed by an overall spacecraft functional test. Built by Lockheed Martin Astronautics near Denver, Colo., for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and NASA, the spacecraft Stardust will use a unique medium called aerogel to capture comet particles flying off the nucleus of comet Wild 2 in January 2004, plus collect interstellar dust for later analysis. Stardust will be launched aboard a Boeing Delta 7426 rocket from Complex 17, Cape Canaveral Air Station, targeted for Feb. 6, 1999. The collected samples will return to Earth in a re-entry capsule to be jettisoned from Stardust as it swings by Earth in January 2006. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
STS-95 Payload Specialist John H. Glenn Jr. releases the slidewire basket, an emergency egress vehicle, at the 195-foot level of Launch Pad 39-B, while Mission Specialist Stephen K. Robinson watches. The STS-95 crew are at KSC to participate in a Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT) which includes mission familiarization activities, emergency egress training, and a simulated main engine cut-off exercise. Other crew members are Mission Specialist Scott E. Parazynski, Mission Specialist Pedro Duque of Spain, representing the European Space Agency (ESA), Pilot Steven W. Lindsey, Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai, representing the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA), and Mission Commander Curtis L. Brown. The STS-95 mission, targeted for liftoff on Oct. 29, includes research payloads such as the Spartan solar-observing deployable spacecraft, the Hubble Space Telescope Orbital Systems Test Platform, the International Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker, as well as the SPACEHAB single module with experiments on space flight and the aging process. Following the TCDT, the crew will be returning to Houston for final flight preparations. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
In the SpaceX Payload Processing Facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the Jason-3 satellite is prepared for encapsulation in its payload faring. Liftoff of Jason-3 atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is targeted for the opening of a 30-second launch window at 10:42:18 a.m. PST (1:42 EST) on Sunday, Jan. 17. via NASA ift.tt/1U0gpiu
STS-95 Pilot Steven W. Lindsey, Payload Specialist John H. Glenn Jr., senator from Ohio, and Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai, representing the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA), listen to the Safety Egress trainer talk about the emergency egress system from the pad. The STS-95 crew are at KSC to participate in a Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT) which includes mission familiarization activities, emergency egress training, and a simulated main engine cut-off exercise. Other crew members are Mission Specialist Scott E. Parazynski, Mission Specialist Pedro Duque of Spain, representing the European Space Agency (ESA), Mission Commander Curtis L. Brown, and Mission Specialist Stephen K. Robinson. The STS-95 mission, targeted for liftoff on Oct. 29, includes research payloads such as the Spartan solar-observing deployable spacecraft, the Hubble Space Telescope Orbital Systems Test Platform, the International Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker, as well as the SPACEHAB single module with experiments on space flight and the aging process. Following the TCDT, the crew will be returning to Houston for final flight preparations. system Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
At Launch Pad 39-B, STS-95 Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai pulls the pin that releases the gate for the slidewire basket, part of the emergency egress system on the pad, while Mission Specialist Pedro Duque of Spain watches. Mukai represents the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA), and Duque the European Space Agency (ESA). The STS-95 crew are at KSC to participate in a Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT) which includes mission familiarization activities, emergency egress training, and a simulated main engine cut-off exercise. Other STS-95 crew members are Mission Specialist Stephen K. Robinson, Mission Commander Curtis L. Brown, Pilot Steven W. Lindsey, Payload Specialists John H. Glenn Jr., senator from Ohio, and Mission Specialist Scott E. Parazynski. The STS-95 mission, targeted for liftoff on Oct. 29, includes research payloads such as the Spartan solar-observing deployable spacecraft, the Hubble Space Telescope Orbital Systems Test Platform, the International Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker, as well as the SPACEHAB single module with experiments on space flight and the aging process. Following the TCDT, the crew will be returning to Houston for final flight preparations. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
Falcon 9 - Payload fairing holding the BulgariaSat-1. Bulgaria's first orbital-class communications satellite
The International Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker (IEH-3), one of the payloads for the STS-95 mission, is moved to a payload canister in the Multi-Payload Processing Facility. The mission is scheduled for liftoff on Space Shuttle Discovery on Oct. 29. IEH- 3 comprises several experiments that will study the Jovian planetary system, hot stars, planetary and reflection nebulae, other stellar objects and their environments through remote observation of EUV/FUV emissions; study spacecraft interactions, Shuttle glow, thruster firings, and contamination; and measure the solar constant and identify variations in the value during a solar cycle. Other research payloads include the Hubble Space Telescope Orbital Systems Test Platform, the Spartan solar- observing deployable spacecraft, and the SPACEHAB single module with experiments on space flight and the aging process. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, the lander petals and attached airbags of the Mars Exploration Rover 2 (MER-2) are closed around the spacecraft during testing prior to launch. The MER Mission consists of two identical rovers set to launch in Spring 2003. Landing at different regions of Mars, they are designed to cover roughly 110 yards each Martian day over various terrain. Each rover will carry five scientific instruments that will allow it to search for evidence of liquid water that may have been present in the planet's past. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum