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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, workers check the attachments on the ground support equipment for the STS-125 Hubble Servicing Mission as it is transferred to a work stand. The GSE are carriers, or pallets, that will hold equipment in space shuttle Atlantis’ payload bay. Under the protective covering of the carrier can be seen the soft capture mechanism. The carriers will be prepared for the integration of telescope science instruments, both internal and external replacement components, as well as the flight support equipment to be used by the astronauts during the servicing mission. The three payload carriers or pallets are the Flight Support System, the Super Lightweight Interchangeable Carrier and the Orbital Replacement Unit Carrier. At the end of July, a fourth and final carrier, the Multi-Use Lightweight Equipment carrier will join the others in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility where the Hubble payload is being prepared for launch. Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston KSC-08pd2010
History of Chandra X-Ray Observatory
STS086-716-047 - STS-086 - Survey views of the Mir space station
STS103-703-033 - STS-103 - View of the HST after grapple
STS086-716-048 - STS-086 - Survey views of the Mir space station
S109E5023 - STS-109 - Hubble Space Telescope prior to grapple by STS-109 orbiter Columbia
STS065-105-102 - STS-065 - Earth observations taken during STS-65 mission
LADEE fires small engines. NASA public domain image colelction.
S112E05543 - STS-112 - Radiator on S0 truss after remote deployment
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Summary
This is an artist's concept of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory aeroshell capsule as it enters the Martian atmosphere.
The Curiosity rover and the spacecraft's descent stage are safely tucked inside the aeroshell at this point. The aeroshell includes a heat shield (on the right, facing in the direction of travel through the atmosphere) and backshell. The diameter of the aeroshell is 14.8 feet (4.5 meters), the largest ever used for a mission to Mars.
The Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft is being prepared for launch during Nov. 25 to Dec. 18, 2011. Landing on Mas is in early August 2012. In a prime mission lasting one Martian year (nearly two Earth years) researchers will use the rover's tools to study whether the landing region has had environmental conditions favorable for supporting microbial life and for preserving clues about whether life existed.