Discovery Rolls To The PadGetting ready for the STS-124 mission, space shuttle Discovery, atop a mobile launch platform, begins rollout to Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The 3.4-mile journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building began at 11:47 p.m. on May 2. After arriving at the pad, the shuttle was secured, or hard down, at 6:06 a.m. EDT May 3. On the 13-day mission, Discovery and its crew will deliver the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Japanese Experiment Module – Pressurized Module and the Japanese Remote Manipulator System. Launch is targeted for May 31. More Photos Can Be Found In The Manned Spaceflight Section Photo credit: NASA/Troy Cryder
40th Anniversery Of America's First SpaceflightOn May 5th 1961 The United States Launched Astronaut Alan B Shepard Into Space On The Mercury Redstone 3 Mission. The main scientific objective of project Mercury was to determine man's capabilities in a space environment and in those environments to which he will be subject upon going into and returning from space. A few of the basic flight problems included: The development of an automatic escape system, vehicle control during insertion, behavior of space systems, evaluation of pilots capabilities in space, in flight monitoring, retrofire and reentry maneuvers and landing and recovery. Photo Credit: NASA
India's Capital As Viewed By Cartosat-2AThis image captured by India's new Cartosat-2A mapping satellite shows the unique hexigon layout of India's capital Delhi. Prominant Landmarks are labled in yellow. Photo Credit: ISRO
Rocky Mesas of Nilosyrtis Mensae, MarsMesas in the Nilosyrtis Mensae region of Mars appear in enhanced color in this image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The image, taken on April 5, 2007, is part of a campaign to examine more than two dozen candidate landing sites for the NASA Mars Science Laboratory rover, which is scheduled for launch in 2009. This image shows a region of scientific interest to which the Mars Science Laboratory rover might drive. The rover would need to first land in a nearby area that is flatter and less rocky. Clay minerals have been detected in this region by imaging spectrometers on the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter and on MRO. These minerals are of great interest in the search for evidence of life on ancient Mars. Someday the capability may exist for precision landing and hazard avoidance, so a rover could be set down right next to such rugged outcrops of interest for study and perhaps for collection of rock samples for return to Earth. More Amazing Mars Photos Can Be Found In The Robotic Spaceflight Section Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
Galaxy 18 Transfered To Assembly HallFollowing testing, fueling and encapsulation Galaxy 18, the next satellite set for launch aboard Sea Launch, is prepared for transfer to the assembly hall on the Sea Launch Commander. There the completed unit will be integrated with the Zenit-3SL rocket. The Payload Unit leaves the Payload Processing Facility on a specially designed transporter that takes it down the short road to the stern ramp of the ship. More Photos Can Be Found In The Commercial Spaceflight Section Photo Credit: Sea Launch
Galaxies Collide in NGC 3256 Galaxies don't normally look like this. NGC 3256 actually shows a current picture of two galaxies that are slowly colliding. Quite possibly, in hundreds of millions of years, only one galaxy will remain. Today, however, NGC 3256 shows intricate filaments of dark dust, unusual tidal tails of stars, and a peculiar center that contains two distinct nuclei. Although it is likely that no stars in the two galaxies will directly collide, the gas, dust, and ambient magnetic fields do interact directly. NGC 3256, part of the vast Hydra-Centaurus supercluster of galaxies, spans over 100 thousand light-years across and is located about 100 million light-years away. Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage (STScI / AURA) - ESA/Hubble Collaboration, & A. Evans (UVa, NRAO, SUNYSB)
Cyclone Nargis seen from spaceEnvisat captured Cyclone Nargis making its way across the Bay of Bengal just south of Myanmar on 1 May 2008. The cyclone hit the coastal region and ripped through the heart of Myanmar on Saturday, devastating the country. More Images Are In The Robotic Spaceflight Section Photo Credit: ESA
PhoenixNASA's Phoenix Mars Lander was lowered into a thermal vacuum chamber at Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, in December 2006 in preparation for launch on a mission to the Red Planet. The spacecraft was folded in its aeroshell and underwent environmental testing that simulated the extreme conditions it will endure during the nine-and-a-half-month cruise to Mars. The Phoenix is scheduled to land on May 25, 2008, and is expected to conduct a three-month mission studying a northern arctic site on Mars. Phoenix will dig into an ice-rich layer expected to lie within arm's reach of the Martian surface and will analyze the water and soil for evidence about climate cycles and investigate whether the environment there has ever been favorable for microbial life. Image credit: NASA/JPL/UA/Lockheed Martin
GLAST Moves To Hazardous Processing Facility At the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville, Fla., technicians check various parts of NASA's Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope, or GLAST, spacecraft after its transfer to a transporter. The spacecraft is being prepared for its move to the Hazardous Processing Facility for fueling. The GLAST is a powerful space observatory that will explore the universe's ultimate frontier, where nature harnesses forces and energies far beyond anything possible on Earth; probe some of science's deepest questions, such as what our Universe is made of, and search for new laws of physics; explain how black holes accelerate jets of material to nearly light speed; and help crack the mystery of stupendously powerful explosions known as gamma-ray bursts More Photos Can Be Found In The Robotic Spaceflight Section Photo Credit: NASA
Kibo Installed In DiscoveryTechnicians in the Payload Changeout Room on Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center monitor the transfer of the STS-124 mission payload, the Japanese Experiment Module - Pressurized Module and the Japanese Remote Manipulator System into space shuttle Discovery's payload bay. Launch of Discovery is targeted for May 31. More Photos Can Be Found In The Manned Spaceflight Section Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann
STS-124 Crew Arrives For TCDTThe crew of space shuttle Discovery's STS-124 mission arrive at NASA Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility to take part in the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test, or TCDT. Here, Commander Mark Kelly is greeted by Shuttle Launch Director Mike Leinbach. Behind Leinbach is Mission Specialist Greg Chamitoff. TCDT is a rehearsal for launch that includes practicing emergency procedures, handling on-orbit equipment, and simulating a launch countdown. On the STS-124 mission, the crew will deliver and install the Japanese Experiment Module – Pressurized Module and Japanese Remote Manipulator System. Discovery's launch is targeted for May 31. Visit The Manned Spaceflight Section For Full Coverage. Be Sure To Watch The TCDT Q&A Life In The Firing Room! Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
STS-124 TCDTNASA's Shuttle Training Aircraft, or STA, soars into the sky (at right) over the NASA Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility. At the controls are STS-124 Commander Mark Kelly and Pilot Ken Ham, who will be practicing space shuttle landings. At left, in the background, is the Vehicle Assembly Building. The STA is a Grumman American Aviation-built Gulf Stream II jet that was modified to simulate an orbiter's cockpit, motion and visual cues, and handling qualities. More Photos Can Be Found In The Manned Spaceflight Section Photo Credit: NASA
Chilean volcano captured blasting ashChile’s Chaiten Volcano is shown spewing ash and smoke (centre left of image) into the air for hundreds of km over Argentina’s Patagonia Plateau in this Envisat image acquired on 5 May 2008. The 1000 m-high volcano had been dormant for thousands of years before erupting on 2 May, causing the evacuation of thousands. Chaiten Volcano is located in southern Chile 10 km northeast of the town of Chaiten on the Gulf of Corcovado. Envisat’s Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) instrument processed this image at a resolution of 1200 m. Credit: ESA
Progress M-64 Prepares For LaunchAt Baikonur launch site the preparations continue for the launch of Progress M-64 cargo vehicle under the International Space Station program. Designers inspection of the Progress M-64 cargo vehicle was completed. Payload shroud roll on to the cargo vehicle was performed. More Photos Can Be Found In The ISS Section Photo Credit: SP Korolev Rocket And Space Corporation