Author: Brian

Space Shuttle Stock Photos – The Space Shuttle Endeavour is being rolled around from Launch Pad 39A to Launch Pad 39B. The rare pad switch was deemed necessary after contamination was discovered in the Payload Changeout Room at Pad A. The transfer began around noon and was completed about seven hours later. Still to come are the payloads for the upcoming STS-61 mission, the first servicing of the Hubble Space Telescope.

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

Space Shuttle Stock Photos – The longest Space Shuttle flight in program history begins at 10:53:10 a.m. EDT with a flawless liftoff from Launch Pad 39B. During the 14 day flight of STS-58, a seven member crew will study extensively the adaptation of the human body to the near-weightless environment of space. Mission Commander is John E. Blaha; Pilot, Richard A. Searfoss; Payload Commander, Dr. M. Rhea Seddon; Mission Specialists, William S. McArthur Jr., David A. Wolf, and Shannon W. Lucid; and Payload Specialist, Martin J. Fettman.

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

Space Shuttle Stock Photos – The first flight of the commercially developed SPACEHAB laboratory module begins with the flawless liftoff of the Space Shuttle Endeavour from Launch Pad 39B at 9:07:22 a.m. EDT, June 21, 1993. Also planned for the eight-day flight of Mission STS-57 is the retrieval of the European Retrievable Carrier (EURECA). Onboard for the fourth flight of Endeavour are a crew of six: Mission Commander Ronald J. Grabe; Pilot Brian Duffy; Payload Commander G. David Low; and Mission Specialists Nancy Jane Sherlock, Peter J.K. “Jeff” Wisoff, and Janice E. Voss. The first launch attempt on June 20 was scrubbed due to unacceptable weather conditions both at KSC and the overseas contingency landing sites.

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

Space Shuttle Stock Photos – Ed Muktarian, a structural engineer with Lockheed Space Operations Co., is assisting with the docking of the Space Shuttle Endeavour at Launch Pad 39B. Muktarian is using a surveying instrument called a zenith nadir plummet to properly align survey plates located both on the pad surface and the mobile launch platform (MLP), which rests atop the crawler and supports the Shuttle. The north-south positioning provided by the plummet is used in conjunction with the east-west alignment accomplished with the highly precise laser docking system on the crawler. Muktarian communicates through his headset with the driver aboard the crawler to insure that the shuttle and MLP are placed in an accurate final position atop the hard stand. Launch of Endeavour on Mission STS-57 is targeted for early June.

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

Space Shuttle Stock Photos – Hundreds of birds scatter as the typical quiet reverie of their day is temporarily broken by the roar of a Space Shuttle surging off the pad. 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. The planned 11-day flight of Space Shuttle Mission STS-66 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