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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the suspended external tank is moved into high bay 1. The tank will be lowered toward the mobile launcher platform for mating with the solid rocket boosters, or SRBs, already installed on the platform. Work to remove and replace the feed-through connector on the external tank will be done in parallel with integrated ET/SRB testing in preparation for space shuttle Endeavour to join the stack later in January. The STS-123 mission is targeted for launch on Endeavour in mid-March. The 25th assembly flight to the International Space Station, Endeavour's payload includes the Japanese Experiment Logistics Module Pressurized Section. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett KSC-08pd0026
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Technicians hoist the Radiation Belt Storm Probes, or RBSP, spacecraft inside their payload fairing to the top of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The two spacecraft are designed to study the Van Allen radiation belts in unprecedented detail. Photo credit: NASA/Dmitri Gerondidakis KSC-2012-4376
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In high bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building, external tank No. 118 has been lowered between the twin solid rocket boosters on the mobile launcher platform. The stack is designated to fly on mission STS-115 with Atlantis. ET-118 will fly with many major safety changes, including the removal of the protuberance air load ramps. The mission will deliver the second port truss segment, the P3/P4 Truss, to attach to the first port truss segment, the P1 Truss, as well as deploy solar array set 2A and 4A. Launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis is scheduled for late August. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann KSC-06pd1517
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Engineers and technicians move NASA's MAVEN spacecraft, inside payload fairing, onto a trailer inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, or PHSF, for transport to Space Launch Complex 41 where it will be hoisted atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket that will lift it into space and on to Mars. MAVEN is short for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett KSC-2013-3873
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, a crane lifts space shuttle Discovery into the upper levels. Discovery will be lowered into high bay 3 and mated to the external tank and solid rocket boosters waiting there in preparation for launch on the upcoming STS-124 mission to the International Space Station. On the mission, the STS-124 crew will transport the Japanese Experiment Module - Pressurized Module and the Japanese Remote Manipulator System to the space station. Launch of Discovery is targeted for May 31 Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann KSC-08pd1044
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The external fuel tank for space shuttle Atlantis' STS-129 mission is being moved from the checkout cell of NASA Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building to high bay 2 for assembly with the solid rocket boosters already stacked on the mobile launch platform. The STS-129 mission is targeted to launch Nov. 12 on an 11-day supply mission to the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann KSC-2009-5182
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The external fuel tank for space shuttle Atlantis' STS-129 mission is being lowered into NASA Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building high bay 2 for assembly with the solid rocket boosters already stacked on the mobile launch platform. The STS-129 mission is targeted to launch Nov. 12 on an 11-day supply mission to the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann KSC-2009-5183
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The external fuel tank for space shuttle Atlantis' STS-129 mission is being lifted from the checkout cell of NASA Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building for transfer into high bay 2 and assembly with the solid rocket boosters already stacked on the mobile launch platform. The STS-129 mission is targeted to launch Nov. 12 on an 11-day supply mission to the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann KSC-2009-5180
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The external fuel tank for space shuttle Atlantis' STS-129 mission is being lifted from the checkout cell of NASA Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building for transfer into high bay 2 and assembly with the solid rocket boosters already stacked on the mobile launch platform. The STS-129 mission is targeted to launch Nov. 12 on an 11-day supply mission to the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann KSC-2009-5179
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The external fuel tank for space shuttle Atlantis' STS-129 mission is being lowered into NASA Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building high bay 2 for assembly with the solid rocket boosters already stacked on the mobile launch platform (seen at the bottom). The STS-129 mission is targeted to launch Nov. 12 on an 11-day supply mission to the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann KSC-2009-5184
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The external fuel tank for space shuttle Atlantis' STS-129 mission is ready for assembly with the solid rocket boosters stacked on the mobile launch platform in NASA Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building. The STS-129 mission is targeted to launch Nov. 12 on an 11-day supply mission to the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann KSC-2009-5190
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The external fuel tank for space shuttle Atlantis' STS-129 mission is being prepared for lifting in NASA Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building. The tank will be lifted into high bay 2 for assembly with the solid rocket boosters already stacked on the mobile launch platform. The STS-129 mission is targeted to launch Nov. 12 on an 11-day supply mission to the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann KSC-2009-5178
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The external fuel tank for space shuttle Atlantis' STS-129 mission is being lowered into NASA Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building high bay 2 for assembly with the solid rocket boosters already stacked on the mobile launch platform (seen at either side of the tank). The STS-129 mission is targeted to launch Nov. 12 on an 11-day supply mission to the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann KSC-2009-5185
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In NASA Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building, work platforms surround the external fuel tank for space shuttle Atlantis' STS-129 mission. The tank has been lowered onto the mobile launch platform for assembly with the solid rocket boosters stacked there. The STS-129 mission is targeted to launch Nov. 12 on an 11-day supply mission to the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann KSC-2009-5189
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The external fuel tank for space shuttle Atlantis' STS-129 mission is being moved from the checkout cell of NASA Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building to high bay 2 for assembly with the solid rocket boosters already stacked on the mobile launch platform. The STS-129 mission is targeted to launch Nov. 12 on an 11-day supply mission to the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann KSC-2009-5181
Summary
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The external fuel tank for space shuttle Atlantis' STS-129 mission is being moved from the checkout cell of NASA Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building to high bay 2 for assembly with the solid rocket boosters already stacked on the mobile launch platform. The STS-129 mission is targeted to launch Nov. 12 on an 11-day supply mission to the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann
The Space Shuttle program was the United States government's manned launch vehicle program from 1981 to 2011, administered by NASA and officially beginning in 1972. The Space Shuttle system—composed of an orbiter launched with two reusable solid rocket boosters and a disposable external fuel tank— carried up to eight astronauts and up to 50,000 lb (23,000 kg) of payload into low Earth orbit (LEO). When its mission was complete, the orbiter would re-enter the Earth's atmosphere and lands as a glider. Although the concept had been explored since the late 1960s, the program formally commenced in 1972 and was the focus of NASA's manned operations after the final Apollo and Skylab flights in the mid-1970s. It started with the launch of the first shuttle Columbia on April 12, 1981, on STS-1. and finished with its last mission, STS-135 flown by Atlantis, in July 2011.
Space Shuttle Atlantis was a space shuttle that was operated by NASA as part of the Space Shuttle program. It was the fourth operational shuttle built, and the last one to be built before the program was retired in 2011. Atlantis was named after the first research vessel operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and it made its first flight in October 1985. Over the course of its career, Atlantis completed 33 missions and spent a total of 307 days in space. Its last mission was STS-135, which was the final mission of the Space Shuttle program. Atlantis is now on display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. Space Shuttle Atlantis (Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-104) was one of the four first operational orbiters in the Space Shuttle fleet of NASA, the space agency of the United States. (The other two are Discovery and Endeavour.) Atlantis was the fourth operational shuttle built. Atlantis is named after a two-masted sailing ship that operated from 1930 to 1966 for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. Atlantis performed well in 25 years of service, flying 33 missions.