Author: Brian

Space Shuttle Stock Photos – Framed by the Vehicle Assembly Building in the distance, at left, and the Mate- Demate Device, the Space Shuttle Atlantis with its drag chute deployed touches down on KSC’s Runway 33 at the conclusion of STS-84 mission. The Shuttle Training Aircraft piloted by Astronaut Kenneth D. Cockrell, acting deputy chief of the Astronaut Office, is flying in front of Atlantis. Main gear touchdown was at 9:27:44 a.m. EDT on May 24, 1997. The first landing opportunity was waved off because of low cloud cover. It was the 37th landing at KSC since the Shuttle program began in 1981, and the eighth consecutive landing at KSC. STS-84 was the sixth of nine planned dockings of the Space Shuttle with the Russian Space Station Mir. Atlantis was docked with the Mir for five days. STS-84 Mission Specialist C. Michael Foale replaced astronaut and Mir 23 crew member Jerry M. Linenger, who has been on the Russian Space Station since January 15. Linenger returned to Earth on Atlantis with the rest of the STS-84 crew, Mission Commander Charles J. Precourt, Pilot Eileen Marie Collins, and Mission Specialists Carlos I. Noriega, Edward Tsang Lu, Elena V. Kondakova of the Russian Space Agency and Jean-Francois Clervoy of the European Space Agency. Foale is scheduled to remain on the Mir for approximately four months, until he is replaced by STS-86 crew member Wendy B. Lawrence in September. Besides the docking and crew exchange, STS-84 included the transfer of more than 7,300 pounds of water, logistics and science experiments and hardware to and from the Mir. Scientific experiments conducted during the STS-84 mission, and scheduled for Foale’s stay on the Mir, are in the fields of advanced technology, Earth Sciences, fundamental biology, human life sciences, International Space Station risk mitigation, microgravity sciences and space sciences.

Keywords: NASA Photos, Space Shuttle Missions, Kennedy Space Center, KSC, Space photography

Space Shuttle Stock Photos – The rising sun and some scattered clouds provide a picturesque backdrop for the Space Shuttle Discovery as it travels along the Crawlerway toward Launch Pad 39A in preparation for the STS-83 mission. The Shuttle is on a Mobile Launch Platform, and the entire assemblage is being carried by a large tracked vehicle called the Crawler Transporter. A seven-member crew will perform the second sevicing of the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope (HST) during the 10-day STS-82 flight, which is targeted for a February 11 liftoff.

Keywords: NASA Photos, Space Shuttle Missions, Kennedy Space Center, KSC, Space photography

Space Shuttle Stock Photos – A vantage point from far above yields a dramatic view of an orbiter being demated from its stack inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). The approximately 171,000 pound (77,566 kilogram) Orbiter is being hoisted by crane up and away from the 184 foot (56 meter) tall external tank/solid rocket booster stack. The vehicle will be tilted to fit through an opening 190 feet (58 meters) above the ground, then lowered to the VAB transfer aisle and installed atop the orbiter transporter. This photograph was taken from the 34th level of the VAB; the operator cabin of the crane is located one level above. After a return visit to the Orbiter Processing Facility, Atlantis will be brought back to the VAB and mated to a new external tank/booster stack. It is targeted for liftoff on Mission STS-79 around September 12.

Keywords: NASA Photos, Space Shuttle Missions, Kennedy Space Center, KSC, Space photography

Space Shuttle Stock Photos – A massive 19 million pounds (8.6 million kilograms) of Space Shuttle, support and transport hardware, inch toward Launch Pad 39A from the Vehicle Assembly Building. The fully assembled Space Shuttle Endeavour, minus its payloads, weighs about 4.5 million pounds (2 million kg.); the mobile launch platform on which it was stacked and from which it will lift off weighs 9.25 million pounds (4.19 million kg.) and the crawler-transporter carrying the platform and Shuttle checks in at around 6 million pounds (2.7 million kg.). Once at the pad, the Shuttle and launch platform will be positioned atop support columns to complete preparations for the second Shuttle launch of 1995. Primary payload of Mission STS-67 is the Astro-2 astrophysics observatory, carrying three ultraviolet telescopes that flew on the Astro-1 mission in 1990. STS-67 also is scheduled to become the longest Shuttle flight to date, lasting 16 days.

Keywords: NASA Photos, Space Shuttle Missions, Kennedy Space Center, KSC, Space photography

Space Shuttle Stock Photos – The Space Shuttle Discovery completes the final Earth-bound portion of its journey into space, leaving the Vehicle Assembly Building on the slow trip to Launch Pad 39B. Discovery is scheduled to fly the first Shuttle mission of 1995, STS-63, in early February.

Keywords: NASA Photos, Space Shuttle Missions, Kennedy Space Center, KSC, Space photography

Space Shuttle Stock Photos – The 66th Space Shuttle flight begins with a nearly ontime liftoff of Space Shuttle Mission STS-66 into clear Florida skies. The orbiter Atlantis returned to space after an approximately two year absence with a liftoff from Launch Pad 39B at 11:59:43 a.m. EST, about four minutes after the launch window opened. The planned 11 day flight will continue NASA’s Mission to Planet Earth, a comprehensive international collaboration to study how Earth’s environment is changing and how human beings affect that change. Primary payloads for the last Shuttle flight of 1994 include the Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science (ATLAS-3), making its third flight, and the German built Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the Atmosphere Shuttle Pallet Satellite (CRISTA-SPAS), which will be deployed and later retrieved during the mission. Mission commander is Donald R. McMonagle; Curtis L. Brown Jr. is the pilot; Ellen Ochoa is the payload commander, and the three mission specialists are Joseph R. Tanner, Scott E. Parazynski, and Jean-Francois Clervoy, a French citizen who is with the European Space Agency.

Keywords: NASA Photos, Space Shuttle Missions, Kennedy Space Center, KSC, Space photography

Space Shuttle Stock Photos – The Space Shuttle Atlantis blazes through the night sky to begin the STS-86 mission, slated to be the seventh of nine planned dockings of the Space Shuttle with the Russian Space Station Mir. Liftoff on September 25 from Launch Pad 39A was at 10:34 p.m. EDT, within seconds of the preferred time, during a six minute, 45 second launch window. The 10 day flight will include the transfer of the sixth U.S. astronaut to live and work aboard the Mir. After the docking, STS-86 Mission Specialist David A. Wolf will become a member of the Mir 24 crew, replacing astronaut C. Michael Foale, who will return to Earth aboard Atlantis with the remainder of the STS-86 crew. Foale has been on the Russian Space Station since mid May. Wolf is scheduled to remain there about four months. Besides Wolf (embarking to Mir) and Foale (returning), the STS-86 crew includes Commander James D. Wetherbee, Pilot Michael J. Bloomfield, and Mission Specialists Wendy B. Lawrence, Scott E. Parazynski, Vladimir Georgievich Titov of the Russian Space Agency, and Jean-Loup J.M. Chretien of the French Space Agency, CNES. Other primary objectives of the mission are a spacewalk by Parazynski and Titov, and the exchange of about 3.5 tons of science and logistical equipment and supplies between Atlantis and the Mir.

Keywords: NASA Photos, Space Shuttle Missions, Kennedy Space Center, KSC, Space photography

Space Shuttle Stock Photos – The Space Shuttle Discovery soars skyward from Launch Pad 39B on Mission STS-64 at 6:22:35 p.m. EDT, September 9, 1994. On board are a crew of six: Commander Richard N. Richards; Pilot L. Blaine Hammond Jr.; and Mission Specialists Mark C. Lee, Carl J. Meade, Susan J. Helms and Dr. J.M. Linenger. Payloads for the flight include the Lidar InSpace Technology Experiment (LITE), the Shuttle Pointed Autonomous Research Tool for Astronomy 201 (SPARTAN201) and the Robot Operated Processing System (ROMPS). Mission Specialists Lee and Meade also are scheduled to perform an extravehicular activity during the 64th Shuttle mission.

Keywords: NASA Photos, Space Shuttle Missions, Kennedy Space Center, KSC, Space photography

Space Shuttle Stock Photos – Operations, security and other personnel escort the orbiter Discovery from the Orbiter Processing Facility to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). OV-103 will spend about five working days in the VAB, where it will be mated with the external tank/twin solid rocket booster assembly. The fully assembled Space Shuttle will then be rolled out to Launch Pad 39B. Liftoff on Mission STS-64 is targeted for early September.

Keywords: NASA Photos, Space Shuttle Missions, Kennedy Space Center, KSC, Space photography

Space Shuttle Stock Photos – A golden new era in space cooperation begins with a flawless countdown and the ontime liftoff of the Space Shuttle Discovery on Mission STS-60. Liftoff from Launch Pad 39A occurred at 7:10:01 a.m., EST. The first Shuttle mission of 1994 carries the first Russian cosmonaut, Sergei K. Krikalev, to fly on the Space Shuttle. The veteran space traveler joins astronauts N. Jan Davis and Ronald M. Sega, mission specialists; Franklin R. Chang-Diaz, payload commander: Kenneth S. Reightler, pilot; and Charles F. Bolden Jr., mission commander, on an eight day journey. Primary payloads of the 60th Space Shuttle flight are the SPACEHAB-2 laboratory and the Wake Shield Facility.

Keywords: NASA Photos, Space Shuttle Missions, Kennedy Space Center, KSC, Space photography