Pfaller

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A "towback" vehicle slowly pulls shuttle Endeavour from the Shuttle Landing Facility to Orbiter Processing Facility-1 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A purge unit that pumps c More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the external tank for space shuttle Atlantis is lowered toward the solid rocket boosters (the nose cone of one of the boos More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space shuttle Discovery is attached to Launch Pad 39A as the sun rises over NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It took the spacecraft about six hours to make the journey, known as " More

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- After greeting the media on the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the STS-122 crew stands in front of space shuttle Atlantis for a final group photo. From More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Crews in Orbiter Processing Facility-2 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida remove space shuttle Discovery's right-hand inner heat shield from engine No. 1. The removal is part of Di More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In the Parachute Refurbishment Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, parachutes for the Ares rockets are being prepared for packing. Ares I is an in-line, two-stage rocket that wil More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the external fuel tank for space shuttle Atlantis' STS-125 mission is moved out of the checkout cell. The tan More

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, a crane lifts a frustum high above the transfer aisle. The solid rocket booster segment is being moved into a high More

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The solid rocket booster retrieval ship Freedom Star is temporarily docked at Port Canaveral while the booster it was towing is moved alongside for the remainder of the trip uprive More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the transporter holds the container with the second shipment of hardware space shuttle Atlantis' STS-125 miss More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Press Site auditorium at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Shuttle Launch Director Mike Leinbach briefs media about the launch status of space shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 mi More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, external fuel tank, ET-138, for space shuttle Atlantis' STS-135 mission, is lowered into high bay-1 for j More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. –– Space shuttle Atlantis on Launch Pad 39A is viewed across the lagoon at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Atlantis is targeted to launch May 12 on the STS-125 mission to upgrade N More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians are documenting the installation of radius blocks to space shuttle Discovery's external fuel tank' More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space shuttle Endeavour is towed by a diesel-powered tractor into the Orbiter Processing Facility, or OPF, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. After landing in California to end More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crawler-transporter moves toward NASA's new mobile launcher (ML) support structure. The crawler will transport the ML from a construction sit More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, or AMS, arrives on the Shuttle Landing Facility runway aboard an Air Force C-5M aircraft from Europe. The stat More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, a technician works to replace the protective cover on the Super Lightweight Interchangeable Carrier, or SLIC. More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2 (AMS) begins a 180-degree rotation to provide better access for work More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, testing of the Tilt-Up Umbilical Arm (TUUA) prototype's Environmental Control System Quick Disconnect takes place in the Launch Equipment Test More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In NASA Kennedy Space Center's Orbiter Processing Facility 2, workers remove the forward reaction control system, or FRCS, from space shuttle Endeavour's forward fuselage nose area. The F More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Operations are under way to roll the protective rotating service structure, at left, around space shuttle Endeavour upon its arrival at Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in F More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the high bay of the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, a worker from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center documents the installation of a pallet suppor More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the flatbed trailer leaves the Shuttle Landing Facility with the Node 3 module. The module will be delivered to the Space Station Processing Fa More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane lifts the plasma contactor unit, or PCU, that will be installed on the Express Logistics Carri More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the sun begins it rise in the East overlooking Launch Pad 39A and space shuttle Discovery, newly arrived for its upcoming launch. First motion More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Just before dawn, space shuttle Endeavour, installed on the mobile launcher platform atop the crawler-transporter, is on Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. First More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers prepare to store External Tank-135, newly delivered to the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building. The tank arrived in Florida More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Lockheed-Martin technicians at Astrotech's payload processing facility in Titusville, Fla. remove the protective wrapping from NASA's Juno spacecraft to begin final testing and preparati More

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - NASA managers brief the media about the Space Shuttle Program and mission STS-121 from the press site at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Public Information Officer Jessica More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, an overhead crane lifts the Orbital Replacement Unit Carrier, or ORUC, and moves it across the floor to instal More

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, a solid rocket booster segment (upper left) is mated with the lower segment. The booster is part of the shut More

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, a crane lifts a frustum towards platforms separating the transfer aisle from a high bay. The solid rocket booster More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, thousands of workers, their friends and families, and members of the news media are near the Launch Complex 39 Press Site to watch space shuttl More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers check data on the payload ground handling mechanism, or PGHM, in the Payload Changeout Room on Launch Pad 39A. The PGHM is being used More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In Orbiter Processing Facility 1 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers monitor the progress of space shuttle Atlantis as it backs out of its hangar for its move to the Vehicl More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Outside the massive Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, members of the news media (foreground) wait in the dark for the rollout of the Ares I-X to begin. More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The giant external fuel tank and twin solid rocket boosters attached to space shuttle Endeavour bask in the sunlight as the rotating service structure (RSS) moves away on Launch Pad 39A a More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Workers move the Orbiter Transporter System (OTS) into Orbiter Processing Facility-1 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The OTS will be moved under shuttle Atlantis for its rollov More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Technicians in the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, check the progress of the Payload Attach System, or PAS, as it is lifted up to the Alpha M More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Repair work to space shuttle Discovery's external fuel tank begins in the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Technicians will modify 32 support beams, c More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Michael McCulley, former astronaut and chairman of the Astronauts Memorial Foundation, speaks to a crowd gathered in front of the Space Mirror Memorial at the Kennedy Space Center Visito More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Swarms of people are at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida to watch space shuttle Discovery lift off on its final scheduled mission from Launch Pad 39A. Liftoff is More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Space shuttle Discovery is being towed from NASA Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility to Orbiter Processing Facility 3. Discovery returned to Kennedy atop a Shuttle Carrier Ai More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Rubble begins to build as the rotating service structure (RSS) on Launch Pad 39B is dismantled at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Starting in 2009, the structure at the pad was n More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, hardware that will be used in the launch of the Ares I-X rocket is being offloaded from the C-5 aircraft. The ha More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Endeavour's main engine no. 2 is moved out of Orbiter Processing Bay 2 after removal from the shuttle. Engine removal is part of t More

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - On Launch Pad 39B, the cargo in Space Shuttle Atlantis' payload bay is seen before the closing of the bay doors. The cargo is the 17-and-a-half-ton P3/P4 truss segment for the In More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In the high bay of the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, a worker from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center cuts away the protective wrapping from the Orb More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A Hyster forklift moves NASA's Juno spacecraft into Astrotech's payload processing facility in Titusville, Fla. to begin final testing and preparations for launch. The solar-power More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Technicians in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility remove the protective cover from the Wide Field Camera 3, or WFC3. The WFC3 is part of the payload on space shuttle Atlantis for More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, external fuel tank, ET-138, for space shuttle Atlantis' STS-135 mission, is positioned between the twin s More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the early morning hours after landing, space shuttle Endeavour's "towback" vehicle slowly pulls it from the Shuttle Landing Facility to Orbiter Processing Facility-1 at NASA's Kennedy More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Folks from across the country camped out in communities surrounding NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to witness space shuttle Discovery make history by lifting off on its final sch More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers prepare to roll the transportation case protecting the Russian-built Mini Research Module1, or MRM1, fro More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In Orbiter Processing Facility 1 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, space shuttle Atlantis' payload bay has been thoroughly cleaned and is ready to receive the carriers transporting the inst More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Space Shuttle Main Engine Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, two of six space shuttle main engines are prepared for the STS-134 and STS-335 missions. P More

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - External tank No. 123 is being transported from the Pegasus barge in the turn basin at the Launch Complex 39 Area to the Vehicle Assembly Building where it will be lifted into a c More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In High Bay 1 in the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Endeavour hovers over the mobile launcher platform to which its external fuel tank More

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- At the Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility, a modified Boeing 727 aircraft owned by Zero Gravity Corp. takes off with its well-known passenger, physicist Stephen Hawking. More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Shuttle Weather Officer Kathy Winters talks to media about the weather forecast for space shuttle Discovery's upcoming launch to the Internatio More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the open doors of the payload canister reveal the first of the carriers associated with the STS-125 mission to More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In Orbiter Processing Bay 2 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians using a Hyster forklift remove main engine no. 2 from space shuttle Endeavour. Engine removal is part o More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Discovery is lowered alongside the external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters already stacked More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 1 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, heat lamps assist United Space Alliance technician Jeff Holmes in a putty repair on some of the high-temper More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Canister Rotation Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, workers get ready to lift the payload canister to a vertical position for the trip to Launch Pad 39A. The canister’s car More

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Viewed from an upper level of the fixed service structure on Launch Pad 39B, Space Shuttle Atlantis begins rolling back to the Vehicle Assembly Building. First motion was at 10: More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, a technician uncovers the Super Lightweight Interchangeable Carrier, or SLIC. Contamination discovered Sept. More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Space shuttle workers await landing of shuttle Atlantis on Runway 33 at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. After 11 days in space, Atlantis completed More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Forward Reaction Control System, or FRCS, for space shuttle Discovery arrives at Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 3. Discovery is being pr More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In Orbiter Processing Facility bay 3 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians secure the remote manipulator system, or RMS, removed from space shuttle Discovery onto a stor More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – After rolling out of the Orbiter Processing Facility bay 1 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, space shuttle Atlantis begins the short transfer to the Vehicle Assembly Building. In the VAB More

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - On NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Shuttle Landing Facility, Sir Richard Branson (left), chairman and founder of Virgin Atlantic, talks with Steve Fossett. They are standing next to t More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, hardware that will be used in the launch of the Ares I-X rocket is being offloaded from the C-5 aircraft. The ha More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In Orbiter Processing Facility-3 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers discuss moving, or "rolling over," shuttle Discovery to the nearby Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). On More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, a technician removes the protective cover from the Soft Capture and Rendezvous System, or SCRS. The SCRS will More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Technicians in the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville, Fla. install thermal insulation on NASA's Juno magnetometer boom. The boom structure is attached to Juno's solar a More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A Shuttle Training Aircraft (STA) is ready for flight on the Shuttle Landing Facility runway at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. STS-133 Commander Steve Lindsey and Pilot Eric Boe More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane is attached to the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph, or COS, still in its shipping container. Th More

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - External tank No. 123 makes the turn toward the Vehicle Assembly Building after being offloaded from the Pegasus barge in the turn basin at the Launch Complex 39 Area. Once insid More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The Pegasus barge carrying the external tank for space shuttle Atlantis' STS-125 mission to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope is tied to the dock in the turn basin in the Launch Complex 39 More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the tower on a new mobile launcher, or ML, for the Constellation Program grows as the fourth section is lowered into position. The tower will More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In the high bay of the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, a worker from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center removes the protective wrapping from the Orbit More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A United Space Alliance technician monitors the Space Shuttle Program's last external fuel tank, ET-122, as it moves from the Turn Basin to the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kenned More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a large yellow, metal sling lowers shuttle Discovery to its external fuel tank and solid rocket More

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - On NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Shuttle Landing Facility, Sir Richard Branson (left), chairman and founder of Virgin Atlantic, talks with Steve Fossett. They are standing next to t More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Crews in Orbiter Processing Facility-2 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida remove space shuttle Discovery's right-hand inner heat shield from engine No. 1. The removal is part of Di More

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, a solid rocket booster segment is being lifted by a 325-ton crane for stacking. The booster is part of the s More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Space shuttle Atlantis rumbles off Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on the STS-132 mission to the International Space Station at 2:20 p.m. EDT on May 14. The More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, an overhead crane lowers the Flight Support System, or FSS, carrier with the Soft Capture Mechanism More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In the Parachute Refurbishment Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, parachutes for the Ares rockets are being prepared for packing. Ares I is an in-line, two-stage rocket that wil More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In Orbiter Processing Bay 2 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians using a Hyster forklift have removed main engine no. 2 from space shuttle Endeavour. Engine removal is More

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- From the Shuttle Landing Facility runway at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, space shuttle Atlantis is towed to the Orbiter Processing Facility, or OPF, where processing Atlantis for More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In Orbiter Processing Facility 1 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, a worker from United Space Alliance gives the signal that the payload bay doors on space shuttle Atlantis are closed. The More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Space shuttle Atlantis is lowered by the yellow crane above it into High Bay 1 in the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Next, Atlantis will be positione More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, external fuel tank 129 is lowered into high bay 1 between the solid rocket boosters at left for mating on the mobile lau More

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The Liberty Star (left) tows the Pegasus barge through Port Canaveral, the last leg of its journey from the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans to Kennedy Space Center. The b More

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- From the Shuttle Landing Facility runway at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, space shuttle Atlantis is towed to theOrbiter Processing Facility, or OPF, where processing Atlantis for More

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Vehicle Assembly Building's transfer aisle at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, external tank No. 119 is suspended in a vertical position. The tank will lifted into high bay 3 fo More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At the slidewire basket area at NASA Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A, a Mode II-IV exercise is under way that allows teams to practice an emergency response, including helicopter ev More