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STS-85 Payload Commander N. Jan Davis (left) and Mission Specialist Robert L. Curbeam, Jr., check out an emergency egress slidewire basket at the 195-foot level of Launch Pad 39A during Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT) activities for that mission. The primary payload aboard the Space Shuttle orbiter Discovery is the Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the Atmosphere-2 (CRISTA-SPAS-2). Other STS-85 payloads include the Manipulator Flight Demonstration (MFD), and Technology Applications and Science-1 (TAS-1) and International Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker-2 (IEH-2). Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
Workers prepare to close the payload bay doors of the Space Shuttle Atlantis in preparation for the planned Sept. 25 liftoff of Mission STS-86. The primary payload is the SPACEHAB Double Module, at center, which will be used mainly as a large pressurized cargo container for the three-and-a-half tons of science/logistical equipment and supplies to be exchanged between Atlantis and the Russian Space Station Mir. STS-86 will be the seventh docking of the Space Shuttle with the Mir. The 10-day flight also is scheduled to include the transfer of the sixth American to live and work aboard the Russian orbiting outpost. Liftoff of Atlantis and its seven-member crew is targeted for 10:34 p.m. EDT from Launch Pad 39A. 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 changeout room at Launch Pad 39B, technicians move the SPACEHAB Double module from the payload canister before placing it in Space Shuttle Discovery's payload bay for mission STS-96. The second flight supporting construction of the International Space Station, STS-96 is a logistics and resupply mission, carrying more than 5,000 pounds of supplies, a Russian- built crane and a U.S.-built crane, plus experiments such as STARSHINE, which was developed by and for students. Comprising the crew are Commander Kent V. Rominger, Pilot Rick Douglas Husband, and Mission Specialists Ellen Ochoa (Ph.D.), Tamara E. Jernigan (Ph.D.), Daniel Barry (M.D., Ph.D.), Julie Payette, with the Canadian Space Agency, and Valery Ivanovich Tokarev, with the Russian Space Agency. Liftoff is scheduled for May 20 at 9:32 a.m. EDT. room at Launch Pad 39B Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
The Hubble Space Telescope sitting in the payload bay of the Space Shuttle Atlantis. One space walk has been made, there are 4 more to come for repairs
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- STS-107 Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon, who represents the Israeli Space Agency, suits up for launch. 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
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- STS-107 Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon, of Israel, manipulates a piece of equipment in the Spacehab module. He and other crew members are taking part in Crew Equipment Interface Test (CEIT) activities at SPACEHAB, Cape Canaveral, Fla. As a research mission, STS-107 will carry the Spacehab Double Module in its first research flight into space and a broad collection of experiments ranging from material science to life science. The CEIT activities enable the crew to perform certain flight operations, operate experiments in a flight-like environment, evaluate stowage locations and obtain additional exposure to specific experiment operations. Other STS-107 crew members are Commander Rick Douglas Husband, Pilot William C. McCool; Payload Commander Michael P. Anderson; and Mission Specialists Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Blair Salton Clark and David M. Brown. STS-107 is scheduled for launch May 23, 2002 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 align the Rover Equipment Deck (RED) on one of the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) with the Warm Electronics Box (WEB). Processing of the rovers, plus 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
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center
1. Payload Instrument Rack (rear left)
This rack is typical of those flown on Aerobees in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It held equipment that performed “housekeeping functions." This particular one includes a battery box, electrical junction box, optical and magnetic aspect sensors, and apertures for ultraviolet photometers.
Transferred from the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
2. X-Ray Telescope (front left)
In 1962 scientists under the direction of Riccardo Giacconi of American Science and Engineering (AS&E) flew an array of x-ray detectors aboard a U.S. Air Force Aerobee 150 that recorded, for the first time, a celestial object emitting x-rays at a far greater rate than the Sun. This telescope is similar to the instrument that made that discovery. It has several special Geiger counters for measuring "soft" X-rays, surrounded by scintillation counters that responded to more energetic x-rays. The detectors are developmental and backup versions. This instrument was assembled for display by AS&E in the mid-1960s.
Gift of American Science and Engineering
3. Nose Cone Shell (rear right)
This protective cover for the Aerobee payload instrument rack provides the aerodynamic properties required for high-speed, spin-stabilized flight.
Transferred from the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
4. Heliostat (front right)
This experimental heliostat, a device for tracking the Sun, was designed for Aerobees in the early 1950s at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory and built by the Navy Bureau of Aircraft Armaments. It used a servo-driven mirror flanked by small electric eyes that would seek out and lock onto the Sun during flight. The mirror could then reflect a stable image of the Sun into the optical observing instruments carried within the spinning and pitching rocket. The device was efficient and compact and had low inertial properties, but it suffered from optical distortions. It was superseded by a design created by the University of Colorado.
Transferred from the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
United Launch Alliance (ULA) hoists the Kuiper 1 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. The Atlas V will launch the Kuiper 1 mission for Amazon's Project Kuiper broadband satellite constellation. Photo credit: United Launch Alliance
STS-95 Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai, with the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA), Pilot Steven W. Lindsey and Payload Specialist John H. Glenn Jr., senator from Ohio, share a light moment while visiting with their families on Launch Pad 39B. In the background, at right, is Mission Specialist Stephen K. Robinson. The crew were making final preparations for launch, targeted for liftoff at 2 p.m. on Oct. 29. Other crew members not shown are Mission Commander Curtis L. Brown Jr., Mission Specialist Pedro Duque of Spain, with the European Space Agency (ESA), and Mission Specialist Scott E. Parazynski. The STS-95 mission is expected to last 8 days, 21 hours and 49 minutes, returning to KSC at 11:49 a.m. EST on Nov. 7. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
STS-83 Payload Commander Janice E. Voss drives an M-113 rescue vehicle during training that is a part of the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT) exercises at KSC for Shuttle flight crews prior to their mission. KSC instructor George Hoggard rides on the front of the tracked vehicle, while other members of the STS-83 are aboard with other KSC personnel. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
The SPACEHAB Double module arrives at the payload changeout room at Launch Pad 39B before being transferred to Space Shuttle Discovery's payload bay for mission STS-96. Above it is the Integrated Cargo Carrier, which holds nonpressurized payloads such as a Russian crane, the Strela, and a U.S.-built crane. The second flight supporting construction of the International Space Station, STS-96 is a logistics and resupply mission, carrying more than 5,000 pounds of supplies, plus experiments such as STARSHINE, which was developed by and for students. The crew of seven are Commander Kent V. Rominger, Pilot Rick Douglas Husband, and Mission Specialists Ellen Ochoa (Ph.D.), Tamara E. Jernigan (Ph.D.), Daniel Barry (M.D., Ph.D.), Julie Payette, with the Canadian Space Agency, and Valery Ivanovich Tokarev, with the Russian Space Agency. Liftoff is scheduled for May 20 at 9:32 a.m. EDT. room at Launch Pad 39B Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
The Diode Laser Hygrometer developed by NASA's Langley Research Center is mounted in the Global Hawk's payload bay in preparation for an atmospheric study of humidity and chemical composition. (NASA / Tom Tschida)
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- Workers in the Payload Changeout Room check the Payload Ground Handling Mechanism that will move the U.S. Lab Destiny out of Atlantis˝ payload bay and into the PCR. After the move, Atlantis will roll back to the Vehicle Assembly Building to allow workers to conduct inspections, continuity checks and X-ray analysis on the 36 solid rocket booster cables located inside each booster˝s system tunnel. An extensive evaluation of NASA˝s SRB cable inventory revealed conductor damage in four (of about 200) cables on the shelf. Shuttle managers decided to prove the integrity of the system tunnel cables already on Atlantis. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
Loading the payload onto the rocket motor.
MAXUS 9 Launch Campaign, ESRANGE, Kiruna, Sweden
NMK Photography
Disclaimer: Comments and photos that I post on my Flickr account are my own personally and do not necessarily reflect the official positions, outreach or opinions of my employer (ESA), or its affiliates, or any other organisations depicted here. I provide these images purely with the intention of sharing with interested parties in order to contribute to promotion of ESA activities.
STS-95 Payload Specialist John H. Glenn Jr., senator from Ohio, smiles at his fellow crew members (middle) Pilot Steven W. Lindsey and (right) Mission Specialist Stephen K. Robinson while visiting Launch Pad 39B. The crew were making final preparations for launch, targeted for liftoff at 2 p.m. on Oct. 29. The other crew members (not shown) are Mission Specialist Scott E. Parazynski, Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai, with the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA), Mission Commander Curtis L. Brown Jr., and Mission Specialist Pedro Duque of Spain, with the European Space Agency (ESA). The STS-95 mission is expected to last 8 days, 21 hours and 49 minutes, returning to KSC at 11:49 a.m. EST on Nov. 7. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
In the Multi-Payload Processing Facility, Mary Reaves and Phil Smith, with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, work on the carrier and horizontal antenna mast for the STS-99 Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) while an unidentified worker watches. The SRTM consists of a specially modified radar system that will fly onboard the Space Shuttle during an 11-day mission in September 1999. This radar system will gather data that will result in the most accurate and complete topographic map of the Earth's surface that has ever been assembled. SRTM is an international project spearheaded by the National Imagery and Mapping Agency and NASA, with participation of the German Aerospace Center DLR. Its objective is to obtain the most complete high-resolution digital topographic database of the Earth. Mission Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
A payload canister for the STS-87 mission was moved into the Payload Changeout Room at Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center. The STS-87 payload includes the United States Microgravity Payload-4 (USMP-4), seen here on two Multi-Purpose Experiment Support Structures in the center of the photo, and Spartan-201, wrapped in a protective covering directly above the USMP-4 experiments. Spartan-201 is a small retrievable satellite involved in research to study the interaction between the Sun and its wind of charged particles. USMP-4 is one of a series of missions designed to conduct scientific research aboard the Shuttle in the unique microgravity environment for extended periods of time. In the past, USMP missions have provided invaluable experience in the design of instruments needed for the International Space Station (ISS) and microgravity programs to follow in the 21st century. STS-87 is scheduled for launch Nov. 19. 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. -- The U.S. Lab Destiny (left) moves away from Atlantis˝ payload bay doors (right) into the Payload Changeout Room. Destiny will remain in the PCR while Atlantis rolls back to the Vehicle Assembly Building to allow workers to conduct inspections, continuity checks and X-ray analysis on the 36 solid rocket booster cables located inside each booster˝s system tunnel. An extensive evaluation of NASA˝s SRB cable inventory revealed conductor damage in four (of about 200) cables on the shelf. Shuttle managers decided to prove the integrity of the system tunnel cables already on Atlantis. 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 Chiaki Mukai, representing the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA), handles part of the Biological Research in Canisters (BRIC) experiment which will fly on the planned nine-day mission. She and other crew members, including Mission Specialist Scott E. Parazynski, at right, are at KSC and the adjacent SPACEHAB Payload Processing Facility in Cape Canaveral to familiarize themselves with the STS-95 payloads. Standing behind the two astronauts is Steve Pyle of Boeing in Huntsville, Ala. STS-95 will feature a variety of research payloads, including the Spartan solar-observing deployable spacecraft, the Hubble Space Telescope Orbital Systems Platform, the International Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker, and experiments on space flight and the aging process. STS-95 is targeted for an Oct. 29 launch aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
Edited NASA image of the descent stage for Perseverance, being tested before flight this year. Color/processing variant.
Original caption: Engineers perform mass properties testing on the rocket-powered descent stage of NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover at Kennedy Space Center on April 12, 2020. The testing to determine the center of gravity, or the point at which weight is evenly dispersed on all sides, was performed inside the Florida spaceport’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility. The descent stage will lower the rover through the thin Martian atmosphere and onto the surface on Feb. 18, 2021. Liftoff, aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket, is targeted between July 17 and Aug. 5 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. NASA’s Launch Services Program based at Kennedy is managing the launch. The rover will seek signs of ancient life and collect rock and soil samples for possible return to Earth.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- STS-107 Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon, of Israel, trains on equipment in the training module at SPACEHAB, Cape Canaveral. Ramon and other crew members Commander Rick D. Husband, Pilot William C. McCool, Payload Commander Michael P. Anderson; and Mission Specialists Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Blair Salton Clark and David M. Brown are at SPACEHAB to take part in Crew Equipment Interface Test (CEIT) activities. The CEIT enables the crew to perform certain flight operations, operate experiments in a flight-like environment, evaluate stowage locations and obtain additional exposure to specific experiment operations. As a research mission, STS-107 will carry the SPACEHAB Double Module in its first research flight into space and a broad collection of experiments ranging from material science to life science. STS-107 is scheduled for launch May 23, 2002 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 Mars Exploration Rover-2 (MER-2) rests in the proper position on the base petal of its lander assembly. Set to launch in Spring 2003, the MER Mission will consist of two identical rovers 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. 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. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
Inside the Multi-Payload Processing Facility, the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) is revealed after the lid of its container was removed. The primary payload on mission STS-99, the SRTM consists of a specially modified radar system that will fly onboard the Space Shuttle during the 11-day mission scheduled for September 1999. This radar system will gather data that will result in the most accurate and complete topographic map of the Earth's surface that has ever been assembled. SRTM is an international project spearheaded by the National Imagery and Mapping Agency and NASA, with participation of the German Aerospace Center DLR. Its objective is to obtain the most complete high-resolution digital topographic database of the Earth. Payload Processing Facility 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 Rover Equipment Deck (RED) on one of the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) is integrated to the Warm Electronics Box (WEB) on the WEB cart. Processing of the rovers, plus 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
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center
From the late 1940s through the 1980s, Aerobee rockets carried a range of instruments through the upper atmosphere and into near space for a few minutes of observing time to study the atmosphere, the Sun, and even faint celestial objects. Techniques for stabilization and electronic miniaturization continually improved the ability to do science from Aerobees.
Displayed here are typical instruments flown in Aerobees: mass spectrometers for "weighing" and identifying gases in the atmosphere, ultraviolet photometers, cameras, magnetometers, and devices for providing light control, such as a gravity-actuated shutter. Also here is a plaque given to Charles Johnson, a charter member of the Naval Research Lab's upper atmosphere research team, and the tip of the Aerobee nosecone that carried the payload used to discover the first discrete x-ray source in the sky.
Except where noted objects transferred from the US. Naval Research Laboratory
1. Radio Frequency Mass Spectrometer
Gift of Charles Y. Johnson
2. Magnetic Aspect Sensor
3. Neutral Mass Spectrometer
4. lon Mass Spectrometer
5. Gravity-Actuated Light Path Shutter
6. Far Ultraviolet Photometer and Parts
7. Rocket-Borne Camera and Case
This 16 mm motion picture camera was one of two flown aboard an Aerobee-Hi rocket on October 5, 1954. The photomosaic assembled from pictures taken on that flight was reported to be the first high- altitude color picture of a major weather front.
8. Nosecone Tip
Gift of Riccardo and Mirella Giacconi
"In July 1967, ... MIT's X-ray astronomy program [began] with the launch of this payload module atop an Aerobee sounding rocket at White Sands Missile Range." (This shot shows only the pointed front end of the module.) At the MIT Museum.
On board the CALIPSO satellite, there is a lidar instrument, wide field camera, and Imaging infrared radiometer, all taking measurements of Earth's atmosphere.
Mockup of a space shuttle bay with satellite payload.
Kennedy Space Center
Merritt Island, Brevard County
Florida
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, workers adjust the position of the Mars Exploration Rover-2 (MER-2) as it is lowered onto the base petal of its lander assembly. Set to launch in Spring 2003, the MER Mission will consist of two identical rovers 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. 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. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
These new payload instruments will help us detect radiation from space, both in the atmosphere and in orbit, so we can begin to get a better understanding of what travel above the protective blanket of our atmosphere will be like for astronauts
During the Crew Equipment Interface Test (CEIT) in the Payload Bay of Discovery, STS-95 Mission Specialist Pedro Duque (left), of the European Space Agency, tethers a wrench held by Mission Specialist Stephen K. Robinson (right) that they will use during the mission. The CEIT gives astronauts an opportunity for a hands-on look at the payloads and equipment with which they will be working on orbit. The launch of the STS-95 mission is scheduled for Oct. 29, 1998. The mission 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. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
A payload canister, seen here half-open, containing the primary payloads for the STS-87 mission, is moved into the Payload Changeout Room at Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center. The STS-87 payload includes the United States Microgravity Payload-4 (USMP- 4), seen here on two Multi-Purpose Experiment Support Structures in the center of the photo, and Spartan-201, wrapped in a protective covering directly above the USMP-4 experiments. Spartan-201 is a small retrievable satellite involved in research to study the interaction between the Sun and its wind of charged particles. USMP-4 is one of a series of missions designed to conduct scientific research aboard the Shuttle in the unique microgravity environment for extended periods of time. In the past, USMP missions have provided invaluable experience in the design of instruments needed for the International Space Station (ISS) and microgravity programs to follow in the 21st century. STS-87 is scheduled for launch Nov. 19. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center
1. Payload Instrument Rack (rear left)
This rack is typical of those flown on Aerobees in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It held equipment that performed “housekeeping functions." This particular one includes a battery box, electrical junction box, optical and magnetic aspect sensors, and apertures for ultraviolet photometers.
Transferred from the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
2. X-Ray Telescope (front left)
In 1962 scientists under the direction of Riccardo Giacconi of American Science and Engineering (AS&E) flew an array of x-ray detectors aboard a U.S. Air Force Aerobee 150 that recorded, for the first time, a celestial object emitting x-rays at a far greater rate than the Sun. This telescope is similar to the instrument that made that discovery. It has several special Geiger counters for measuring "soft" X-rays, surrounded by scintillation counters that responded to more energetic x-rays. The detectors are developmental and backup versions. This instrument was assembled for display by AS&E in the mid-1960s.
Gift of American Science and Engineering
3. Nose Cone Shell (rear right)
This protective cover for the Aerobee payload instrument rack provides the aerodynamic properties required for high-speed, spin-stabilized flight.
Transferred from the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
4. Heliostat (front right)
This experimental heliostat, a device for tracking the Sun, was designed for Aerobees in the early 1950s at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory and built by the Navy Bureau of Aircraft Armaments. It used a servo-driven mirror flanked by small electric eyes that would seek out and lock onto the Sun during flight. The mirror could then reflect a stable image of the Sun into the optical observing instruments carried within the spinning and pitching rocket. The device was efficient and compact and had low inertial properties, but it suffered from optical distortions. It was superseded by a design created by the University of Colorado.
Transferred from the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
In the early morning, the payload canister containing the Chandra X-ray Observatory, with umbilical hoses still attached, is lifted up the Rotating Service Structure (RSS). The hoses provide a controlled environment during the transfer. The canister arrived at the pad on the payload canister transporter below it. The canister will be lifted up to the Payload Changeout Room in the RSS where it will be relieved of its cargo. After the RSS rotates to a position behind Space Shuttle Columbia (at right), the observatory will then be installed vertically in the orbiter payload bay. The world's most powerful X-ray telescope, Chandra will allow scientists from around the world to see previously invisible black holes and high-temperature gas clouds, giving the observatory the potential to rewrite the books on the structure and evolution of our universe. Chandra is the primary payload on mission STS-93, scheduled to launch no earlier than July 20 aboard Space Shuttle Columbia (right). Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
United Launch Alliance (ULA) hoists Amazon's Project Kuiper Protoflight mission payload atop the Atlas V rocket in the Vertical Integration Facility (VIF) adjacent to Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Photo credit: United Launch Alliance
A payload canister containing the primary payloads for the STS-87 mission is lifted into the Payload Changeout Room at Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center. The STS-87 payload includes the United States Microgravity Payload-4 (USMP-4) and Spartan-201. Spartan- 201 is a small retrievable satellite involved in research to study the interaction between the Sun and its wind of charged particles. USMP-4 is one of a series of missions designed to conduct scientific research aboard the Shuttle in the unique microgravity environment for extended periods of time. In the past, USMP missions have provided invaluable experience in the design of instruments needed for the International Space Station (ISS) and microgravity programs to follow in the 21st century. STS-87 is scheduled for launch Nov. 19. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center
5. Infrared Telescope
This infrared telescope was carried into the upper atmosphere by an Aerobee 150 sounding rocket in 1967. It successfully provided background infrared measurements of the sky even though its stabilization system developed problems. Created at Cornell University, the modified Cassegrain telescope was designed to be cooled to the temperature of liquid helium to minimize thermal noise. However, small leaks in the system caused the helium to escape too rapidly. So liquid nitrogen, which has a higher boiling temperature, was used instead.
Gift of Cornell University
6. Parachute Section
Payloads often had to be retrieved to be scientifically useful, and some were expensive enough to warrant trying to use them more than once. Parachute systems were developed starting in the 1940s to return payloads gently to Earth but they did not become reliable until the 1950s. This parachute section was never flown.
Transferred from the US. Naval Research Laboratory
7. De-Spin Section
Although Aerobee rockets were spin stabilized at launch, many off the instruments they carried needed a stabilized platform to take useful measurements. The de-spin section employed two yo-yo weights which were shot out of the canister and absorbed the momentum of spin thus reducing the mocker's spinning rate. This de-spin section was never flown
Transferred from the US. Naval Research Laboratory
8. Echelle Spectrograph
This casing and its optical components are from a Lyman alpha echelle (French for ‘ladder’) spectrograph. The instrument was designed to fly on Aerobee sounding rockets in the late 1950’s to produce high-resolution solar spectra in the far-ultraviolet Lyman alpha region of the spectrum
Transferred from the US. Naval Research Laboratory
At left, the payload canister for Space Shuttle Discovery is lifted from its canister movement vehicle to the top of the Rotating Service Structure on Launch Pad 39-B. Discovery (right), sitting atop the Mobile Launch Platform and next to the Fixed Service Structure, is scheduled for launch on Oct. 29, 1998, for the STS-95 mission. That mission includes the International Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker (IEH-3), 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
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
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, workers move the Mars Exploration Rover-2 (MER-2) into position over the base petal of its lander assembly. Set to launch in Spring 2003, the MER Mission will consist of two identical rovers 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. 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. Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum
In the Multi-Payload Processing Facility, Mary Reaves (left) and Phil Smith, with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, check out the carrier and horizontal antenna mast for the STS-99 Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). The SRTM consists of a specially modified radar system that will fly onboard the Space Shuttle during an 11-day mission in September 1999. This radar system will gather data that will result in the most accurate and complete topographic map of the Earth's surface that has ever been assembled. SRTM is an international project spearheaded by the National Imagery and Mapping Agency and NASA, with participation of the German Aerospace Center DLR. Its objective is to obtain the most complete high-resolution digital topographic database of the Earth. Mission Image from NASA, originally appeared on this site: science.ksc.nasa.gov/gallery/photos/ Reposted by San Diego Air and Space Museum