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NASA TV's This Week at NASA, …
Scientists now believe Earth …
04/09/10
Description Scientists now believe Earth's nearest neighbor Venus is more like our planet than they previously thought. New findings based on pictures and infrared imagery captured by the European Space Agency's Venus Express mission and NASA's Magellan spacecraft confirm that Venus is not a cold rock but a dynamic host of active volcanoes like those found in Hawaii. * Opportunity, the Mars Exploration Rover, has reached another milestone in its travels around the Red Planet. The rover has covered more than twelve-and-a-half miles since landing on Mars six years ago. * The first, full-scale, friction stir welded and spun-formed tank dome was unveiled by NASA and its partners at a special ceremony at the Marshall Space Flight Center. * Four members of the STS-130 Endeavour space shuttle crew expressed their appreciation for employees of the Marshall Space Flight Center during a recent visit. The crew thanked employees for supporting the successful February mission to the International Space Station. Among other contributions, Marshall provided the three main engines that powered the crew on their 14-day mission. * Twenty-nine years ago, on April 12, 1981, space shuttle Columbia was launched from the Kennedy Space Center. Commanded by Gemini and Apollo veteran John Young and piloted by first-time flyer Bob Crippen, this first space shuttle mission, STS-1, was also the first U.S. manned orbital space flight since the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project almost six years earlier.
Date 04/09/10
Light Weight External Tank a …
Name of Image Light Weight External Tank at Kennedy Space Center
Date of Image 1982-10-01
Full Description The first light weight external tank (LWT) for the STS-3 mission was moved to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at the Kennedy Space Center. In VAB the LWT would be mated with the Space Shuttle orbiter Columbia and solid rocket boosters. The LWT, unpainted external tank (ET) saved 6,000 pounds in the Shuttle liftoff weight. The giant cylinder, higher than a 15-story building, with a length of 154-feet (47-meters) and a diameter of 27.5-feet (8.4-meters), is the largest single piece of the Space Shuttle. During launch, the ET also acts as a backbone for the orbiter and solid rocket boosters. In separate, internal pressurized tank sections, the ET holds the liquid hydrogen fuel and liquid oxygen oxidizer for the Shuttle's three main engines. During launch, the ET feeds the fuel under pressure through 17-inch (43.2-centimeter) ducts that branch off into smaller lines that feed directly into the main engines. Some 64,000 gallons (242,260 liters) of fuel are consumed by the main engines each minute. Machined from aluminum alloys, the Space Shuttle's ET is the only part of the launch vehicle that currently is not reused. After its 526,000 gallons (1,991,071 liters) of propellants are consumed during the first 8.5 minutes of flight, it is jettisoned from the orbiter and breaks up in the upper atmosphere, its pieces falling into remote ocean waters. The Marshall Space Flight Center was responsible for developing the ET.
Installation of Spacelab 1 M …
Name of Image Installation of Spacelab 1 Module
Date of Image 1983-01-01
Full Description This photograph shows the Spacelab 1 module and pallet ready to be installed in the cargo bay of the Space Shuttle Orbiter Columbia at the Kennedy Space Center. The overall goal of the first Spacelab mission was to verify its Space performance through a variety of scientific experiments. The investigation selected for this mission tested the Spacelab hardware, flight and ground systems, and crew to demonstrate their capabilities for advanced research in space. However, Spacelab 1 was not merely a checkout flight or a trial run. Important research problems that required a laboratory in space were scheduled for the mission. Spacelab 1 was a multidisciplinary mission, that is, investigations were performed in several different fields of scientific research. These fields were Astronomy and Solar Physics, Space Plasma Physics, Atmospheric Physics and Earth Observations, Life Sciences, and Materials Science. Spacelab 1 was launched aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-9 mission) on November 28, 1983.
Astro-1 Payloads Integration …
Name of Image Astro-1 Payloads Integration at Kennedy Space Center
Date of Image 1990-03-20
Full Description This photograph was taken during the integration of the Astro-1 mission payloads at the Kennedy Space Center on March 20, 1990, showing the Broad Band X-Ray Telescope (BBXRT) at the left, as three telescopes for the Astro-1 Observatory are settled into the Orbiter Columbia payload bay. Above Earth's atmospheric interference, Astro-1 would make precise measurements of objects such as planets, stars, and galaxies in relatively small fields of view and would observe and measure ultraviolet radiation from celestial objects. The Astro-1 used a Spacelab pallet system with an instrument pointing system and a cruciform structure for bearing the three ultraviolet instruments mounted in a parallel configuration. The three instruments were: The Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT), which was designed to obtain far-ultraviolet spectroscopic data from white dwarfs, emission nebulae, active galaxies, and quasars, the Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment (WUPPE) which was to study polarized ultraviolet light from magnetic white dwarfs, binary stars, reflection nebulae, and active galaxies, and the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT), which was to record photographic images in ultraviolet light of galaxies, star clusters, and nebulae. The star trackers that supported the instrument pointing system, were also mounted on the cruciform. Also in the payload bay was the Broad Band X-Ray Telescope (BBXRT), which was designed to obtain high-resolution x-ray spectra from stellar corona, x-ray binary stars, active galactic nuclei, and galaxy clusters. Managed by the Marshall Space Flight Center, the Astro-1 observatory was launched aboard the Space Shuttle Orbiter Columbia (STS-35) on December 2, 1990.
Columbia (STS-50) Landing
Name of Image Columbia (STS-50) Landing
Date of Image 1992-07-09
Full Description As the orbiter Columbia (STS-50) rolled down Runway 33 of Kennedy Space Center's (KSC) Shuttle Landing Facility, its distinctively colored drag chute deployed to slow down the spaceship. This landing marked OV-102's first end-of-mission landing at KSC and the tenth in the program, and the second shuttle landing with the drag chute. Edwards Air Force Base, CA, was the designated prime for the landing of Mission STS-50, but poor weather necessitated the switch to KSC after a one-day extension of the historic flight. STS-50 was the longest in Shuttle program historyo date, lasting 13 days, 19 hours, 30 minutes and 4 seconds. A crew of seven and the USML-1 were aboard.
Columbus ships at KSC
Name of Image Columbus ships at KSC
Date of Image 1992-10-15
Full Description On the 500th arniversary of Christopher Columbus' discovery of the New World, replicas of his three ships sailed past the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) while the space shuttle Columbia sat poised for lift off.
Onboard photo: Shuttle cargo …
Name of Image Onboard photo: Shuttle cargo bay
Date of Image 1992-06-25
Full Description Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-50) onboard photo of the United States Microgravity Laboratory (USML-1) module in payload bay in this scene over the southern two-thirds of the Florida peninsula. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) can be seen just above Columbia's starboard wing.
Columbus ships at KSC
Name of Image Columbus ships at KSC
Date of Image 1992-10-15
Full Description On the 500th arniversary of Christopher Columbus' discovery of the New World, replicas of his three ships sailed past the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) while the space shuttle Columbia sat poised for lift off.
Columbus ships at KSC
Name of Image Columbus ships at KSC
Date of Image 1992-10-15
Full Description On the 500th arniversary of Christopher Columbus' discovery of the New World, replicas of his three ships sailed past the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) while the space shuttle Columbia sat poised for lift off.
Columbus ships at KSC
Name of Image Columbus ships at KSC
Date of Image 1992-10-15
Full Description On the 500th arniversary of Christopher Columbus' discovery of the New World, replicas of his three ships sailed past the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) while the space shuttle Columbia sat poised for lift off.
Columbus ships at KSC
Name of Image Columbus ships at KSC
Date of Image 1992-10-15
Full Description On the 500th arniversary of Christopher Columbus' discovery of the New World, replicas of his three ships sailed past the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) while the space shuttle Columbia sat poised for lift off.
Columbia (STS-52) landing
Name of Image Columbia (STS-52) landing
Date of Image 1992-11-01
Full Description Aligned straight on with the red approach lights, the Orbiter Columbia (STS-52) glides toward Runway 33 of Kennedy Space Center's (KSC) Shuttle Landing Facility. The six member crew successfully completed deployment of the Laser Geodynamic Satellite II (LAGEOS), which is a spherical passive satellite covered with reflectors which are illuminated by ground-based lasers to determine precise measurements of the Earth's crustal movements. The crew also completed a series of materials processing experiments in the microgravity environment aboard the United States Microgravity Payload 1 (USMP-1) carried in the orbiter's cargo bay.
Columbus ships at KSC
Name of Image Columbus ships at KSC
Date of Image 1992-10-15
Full Description On the 500th arniversary of Christopher Columbus' discovery of the New World, replicas of his three ships sailed past the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) while the space shuttle Columbia sat poised for lift off.
STS-65 Mission Onboard Photo …
Name of Image STS-65 Mission Onboard Photograph
Date of Image 1994-07-01
Full Description Astronaut Donald Thomas conducts the Fertilization and Embryonic Development of Japanese Newt in Space (AstroNewt) experiment at the Aquatic Animal Experiment Unit (AAEU) inside the International Microgravity Laboratory-2 (IML-2) science module. The AstroNewt experiment aims to know the effects of gravity on the early developmental process of fertilized eggs using a unique aquatic animal, the Japanese red-bellied newt. The newt egg is a large single cell at the begirning of development. The Japanese newt mates in spring and autumn. In late autumn, female newts enter hibernation with sperm in their body cavity and in spring lay eggs and fertilized them with the stored sperm. The experiment takes advantage of this feature of the newt. Groups of newts were sent to the Kennedy Space Center and kept in hibernation until the mission. The AAEU cassettes carried four newts aboard the Space Shuttle. Two newts in one cassette are treated by hormone injection on the ground to simulate egg laying. The other two newts are treated on orbit by the crew. The former group started maturization of eggs before launch. The effects of gravity on that early process were differentiated by comparison of the two groups. The IML-2 was the second in a series of Spacelab flights designed to conduct research by the international science community in a microgravity environment. Managed by the Marshall Space Flight Center, the IML-2 was launch on July 8, 1994 aboard the STS-65 Space Shuttle Orbiter Columbia mission.
Columbia (STS-65) landing
Name of Image Columbia (STS-65) landing
Date of Image 1994-07-23
Full Description The Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-65) came to a stop at Kennedy Space Center's (KSC) Shuttle Landing Facility to complete the International Microgravity Laboratory 2 (IML-2) mission. During the record-setting spaceflight of 14 days, 17 hours, and 56 minutes, the seven-person crew conducted more than 80 materials and life sciences experiments,
Onboard Photo: International …
Name of Image Onboard Photo: International Microgravity Laboratory-2 in Cargo Bay
Date of Image 1994-07-08
Full Description This is a Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-65) onboard photo of the second International Microgravity Laboratory (IML-2) in the cargo bay with Earth in the background. Mission objectives of IML-2 were to conduct science and technology investigations that required the low-gravity environment of space, with emphasis on experiments that studied the effects of microgravity on materials processes and living organisms. Materials science and life sciences are two of the most exciting areas of microgravity research because discoveries in these fields could greatly enhance the quality of life on Earth. If the structure of certain proteins can be determined by examining high-quality protein crystals grown in microgravity, advances can be made to improve the treatment of many human diseases. Electronic materials research in space may help us refine processes and make better products, such as computers, lasers, and other high-tech devices. The 14-nation European Space Agency (ESA), the Canadian Space Agency (SCA), the French National Center for Space Studies (CNES), the German Space Agency and the German Aerospace Research Establishment (DARA/DLR), and the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) participated in developing hardware and experiments for the IML missions. The missions were managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. The Orbiter Columbia was launched from the Kennedy Space Center on July 8, 1994 for the IML-2 mission.
Space Shuttle Orbiter Columb …
Name of Image Space Shuttle Orbiter Columbia STS-75 Landing
Date of Image 1996-03-09
Full Description The Space Shuttle Orbiter Columbia's (STS-75) mission came to a close as the orbiter touched down on Runway 33 of Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility on March 9, 1996. Off to the right is the Vehicle Assembly Building and the Shuttle Training Aircraft (STA). The Mate/Demate Device (MDM) is at left. This Marshall Space Flight Center managed mission lasted 15 days and 17-hours, during which time the seven member crew conducted microgravity research with the U.S. Microgravity Payload (USMP-3), which flew for the third time. The other primary payload was the Tethered Satellite System (TSS-1R),a reflight from an earlier mission, but the satellite was lost when the tether broke just short of its fully deployed length of nearly 13 miles.
Space Shuttle STS-78 Columbi …
Name of Image Space Shuttle STS-78 Columbia landing
Date of Image 1996-07-07
Full Description The longest Shuttle flight to date came to a successful close as the orbiter Columbia (STS-78) touched down on Runway 33 of the Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility. During the nearly 17-day flight, the seven crew members on board for the 78th Shuttle mission conducted extensive research in the primary payload, the Life and Microgravity Spacelab (LMS). The results from this Marshall managed payload will be sent to Marshall Space Flight Center for futher review.
STS-107 Launch
Name of Image STS-107 Launch
Date of Image 2003-01-16
Full Description A clear blue sky hosts the Space Shuttle Orbiter Columbia STS-107 mission as it hurtles toward space from launch pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center on January 16, 2003. The 28th Columbia flight and 113th overall flight in NASA's Space Shuttle program, STS-107 is a multidiscipline microgravity and Earth science research mission involving 80-plus International experiments to be performed by a crew of seven during the 16-day mission. The breadth of science conducted on this mission will have widespread benefits to life on Earth, many of which will be managed by the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
STS-65 Mission Onboard Photo …
Name of Image STS-65 Mission Onboard Photograph
Date of Image 1994-07-01
Full Description Astronaut Donald Thomas conducts the Fertilization and Embryonic Development of Japanese Newt in Space (AstroNewt) experiment at the Aquatic Animal Experiment Unit (AAEU) inside the International Microgravity Laboratory-2 (IML-2) science module. The AstroNewt experiment aims to know the effects of gravity on the early developmental process of fertilized eggs using a unique aquatic animal, the Japanese red-bellied newt. The newt egg is a large single cell at the begirning of development. The Japanese newt mates in spring and autumn. In late autumn, female newts enter hibernation with sperm in their body cavity and in spring lay eggs and fertilize them with the stored sperm. The experiment takes advantage of this feature of the newt. Groups of newts were sent to the Kennedy Space Center and kept in hibernation until the mission. The AAEU cassettes carried four newts aboard the Space Shuttle. Two newts in one cassette are treated by hormone injection on the ground to simulate egg laying. The other two newts are treated on orbit by the crew. The former group started maturization of eggs before launch. The effects of gravity on that early process were differentiated by comparison of the two groups. The IML-2 was the second in a series of Spacelab flights designed to conduct research by the international science community in a microgravity environment. Managed by the Marshall Space Flight Center, the IML-2 was launched on July 8, 1994 aboard the STS-65 Space Shuttle mission, Orbiter Columbia.
Space Shuttle Columbia (STS- …
Name of Image Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-52) landing
Date of Image 1997-07-17
Full Description Framed by the Vehicle Assembly Building at right and the Mate-Demate Device at left, the Space Shuttle orbiter Columbia (STS-94) glided onto Runway 33 of Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility. On board for the reflight of STS-83 were a crew of seven and the Microgravity Science Laboratory-1 (MSL-1)which was managed by scientists and engineers from the Marshall Space Flight Center. Mission STS-94 marked the 23rd flight of Columbia and the 85th mission flown since the start of the Space Shuttle program in 1981. During the mission, the Spacelab module was used to test some of the hardware, facilities and procedures that are planned for use on the International Space Station while the flight crew conducted combustion, protein crystal growth and materials processing experiments.
Space Shuttle STS-87 Columbi …
Name of Image Space Shuttle STS-87 Columbia landing
Date of Image 1997-12-05
Full Description With Commander Kevin R. Kregel and Pilot Steven W. Lindsey at the controls, the orbiter Columbia (STS-87) touched down its main gear on Runway 33 at Kennedy Space Center's (KSC) Shuttle Landing Facility to complete a 15-day, 16-hour and 34-minute-long mission of 6.5 million miles. During the 88th Space Shuttle mission, the crew performed experiments on the United States Microgravity Payload-4 and pollinated plants as part of the Collaborative Ukrainian Experiment. This was the 12th landing for Columbia at KSC and the 41st KSC landing in the history of the Space Shuttle program.
STS-114 Space Shuttle Discov …
Name of Image STS-114 Space Shuttle Discovery Performs Back Flip For Photography
Date of Image 2005-07-28
Full Description Launched on July 26, 2005 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, STS-114 was classified as Logistics Flight 1. Among the Station-related activities of the mission were the delivery of new supplies and the replacement of one of the orbital outpost's Control Moment Gyroscopes (CMGs). STS-114 also carried the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module and the External Stowage Platform-2. A major focus of the mission was the testing and evaluation of new Space Shuttle flight safety, which included new inspection and repair techniques. Upon its approach to the International Space Station (ISS), the Space Shuttle Discovery underwent a photography session in order to assess any damages that may have occurred during its launch and/or journey through Space. Discovery was over Switzerland, about 600 feet from the ISS, when Cosmonaut Sergei K. Kriklev, Expedition 11 Commander, and John L. Phillips, NASA Space Station officer and flight engineer photographed the spacecraft as it performed a back flip to allow photography of its heat shield. Astronaut Eileen M. Collins, STS-114 Commander, guided the shuttle through the flip. The photographs were analyzed by engineers on the ground to evaluate the condition of Discovery?s heat shield. The crew safely returned to Earth on August 9, 2005. The mission historically marked the Return to Flight after nearly a two and one half year delay in flight after the Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy in February 2003.
STS-114 Space Shuttle Discov …
Name of Image STS-114 Space Shuttle Discovery Performs Back Flip For Photography
Date of Image 2005-07-28
Full Description Launched on July 26, 2005 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, STS-114 was classified as Logistics Flight 1. Among the Station-related activities of the mission were the delivery of new supplies and the replacement of one of the orbital outpost's Control Moment Gyroscopes (CMGs). STS-114 also carried the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module and the External Stowage Platform-2. A major focus of the mission was the testing and evaluation of new Space Shuttle flight safety, which included new inspection and repair techniques. Upon its approach to the International Space Station (ISS), the Space Shuttle Discovery underwent a photography session in order to assess any damages that may have occurred during its launch and/or journey through Space. Discovery was over Switzerland, about 600 feet from the ISS, when Cosmonaut Sergei K. Kriklev, Expedition 11 Commander, and John L. Phillips, NASA Space Station officer and flight engineer photographed the spacecraft as it performed a back flip to allow photography of its heat shield. Astronaut Eileen M. Collins, STS-114 Commander, guided the shuttle through the flip. The photographs were analyzed by engineers on the ground to evaluate the condition of Discovery?s heat shield. The crew safely returned to Earth on August 9, 2005. The mission historically marked the Return to Flight after nearly a two and one half year delay in flight after the Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy in February 2003.
STS-114 Space Shuttle Discov …
Name of Image STS-114 Space Shuttle Discovery Performs Back Flip For Photography
Date of Image 2005-07-28
Full Description Launched on July 26, 2005 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, STS-114 was classified as Logistics Flight 1. Among the Station-related activities of the mission were the delivery of new supplies and the replacement of one of the orbital outpost's Control Moment Gyroscopes (CMGs). STS-114 also carried the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module and the External Stowage Platform-2. A major focus of the mission was the testing and evaluation of new Space Shuttle flight safety, which included new inspection and repair techniques. Upon its approach to the International Space Station (ISS), the Space Shuttle Discovery underwent a photography session in order to assess any damages that may have occurred during its launch and/or journey through Space. Discovery was over Switzerland, about 600 feet from the ISS, when Cosmonaut Sergei K. Kriklev, Expedition 11 Commander, and John L. Phillips, NASA Space Station officer and flight engineer photographed the spacecraft as it performed a back flip to allow photography of its heat shield. Astronaut Eileen M. Collins, STS-114 Commander, guided the shuttle through the flip. The photographs were analyzed by engineers on the ground to evaluate the condition of Discovery?s heat shield. The crew safely returned to Earth on August 9, 2005. The mission historically marked the Return to Flight after nearly a two and one half year delay in flight after the Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy in February 2003.
Underside View of STS-114 Sp …
Name of Image Underside View of STS-114 Space Shuttle Discovery
Date of Image 2005-07-28
Full Description Launched on July 26, 2005, from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, STS-114 was classified as Logistics Flight 1. Among the Station-related activities of the mission were the delivery of new supplies and the replacement of one of the orbital outpost's Control Moment Gyroscopes (CMGs). STS-114 also carried the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module and the External Stowage Platform-2. A major focus of the mission was the testing and evaluation of new Space Shuttle flight safety, which included new inspection and repair techniques. Upon its approach to the International Space Station (ISS), the Space Shuttle Discovery underwent a photography session in order to assess any damages that may have occurred during its launch and/or journey through Space. Discovery was over Switzerland, about 600 feet from the ISS, when Cosmonaut Sergei K. Kriklev, Expedition 11 Commander, and John L. Phillips, NASA Space Station officer and flight engineer photographed the under side of the spacecraft as it performed a back flip to allow photography of its heat shield. Astronaut Eileen M. Collins, STS-114 Commander, guided the shuttle through the flip. The photographs were analyzed by engineers on the ground to evaluate the condition of Discovery?s heat shield. The crew safely returned to Earth on August 9, 2005. The mission historically marked the Return to Flight after nearly a two and one half year delay in flight after the Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy in February 2003.
Chandra X-Ray Observatory in …
Name of Image Chandra X-Ray Observatory in Shuttle's Cargo Bay
Date of Image 1999-01-01
Full Description In this photograph, the Chandra X-Ray Observatory (CXO) was installed and mated to the Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) inside the Shuttle Columbia's cargo bay at the Kennedy Space Center. The CXO will help astronomers world-wide better understand the structure and evolution of the universe by studying powerful sources of x-rays such as exploding stars, matter falling into black holes, and other exotic celestial objects. X-ray astronomy can only be done from space because Earth's atmosphere blocks x-rays from reaching the surface. The Observatory provides images that are 50 times more detailed than previous x-ray missions. At more than 45 feet in length and weighing more than 5 tons, the CXO was carried into low-Earth orbit by the Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-93 mission) on July 22, 1999. The Observatory was deployed from the Shuttle's cargo bay at 155 miles above the Earth. Two firings of an attached IUS rocket, and several firings of its own onboard rocket motors, after separating from the IUS, placed the Observatory into its working orbit. The IUS is a solid rocket used to place spacecraft into orbit or boost them away from the Earth on interplanetary missions. Since its first use by NASA in 1983, the IUS has supported a variety of important missions, such as the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, Galileo spacecraft, Magellan spacecraft, and Ulysses spacecraft. The IUS was built by the Boeing Aerospace Co., at Seattle, Washington and managed by the Marshall Space Flight Center.
Underside View of STS-114 Sp …
Name of Image Underside View of STS-114 Space Shuttle Discovery
Date of Image 2005-07-28
Full Description Launched on July 26, 2005 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, STS-114 was classified as Logistics Flight 1. Among the Station-related activities of the mission were the delivery of new supplies and the replacement of one of the orbital outpost's Control Moment Gyroscopes (CMGs). STS-114 also carried the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module and the External Stowage Platform-2. A major focus of the mission was the testing and evaluation of new Space Shuttle flight safety, which included new inspection and repair techniques. Upon its approach to the International Space Station (ISS), the Space Shuttle Discovery underwent a photography session in order to assess any damages that may have occurred during its launch and/or journey through Space. Discovery was over Switzerland, about 600 feet from the ISS, when Cosmonaut Sergei K. Kriklev, Expedition 11 Commander, and John L. Phillips, NASA Space Station officer and flight engineer photographed the under side of the spacecraft as it performed a back flip to allow photography of its heat shield. Astronaut Eileen M. Collins, STS-114 Commander, guided the shuttle through the flip. The photographs were analyzed by engineers on the ground to evaluate the condition of Discovery?s heat shield. The crew safely returned to Earth on August 9, 2005. The mission historically marked the Return to Flight after nearly a two and one half year delay in flight after the Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy in February 2003.
Night Launch of Endeavour
Title Night Launch of Endeavour
Explanation Space Shuttle Endeavour [ http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/resources/orbiters/endeavour.html ] thunders off into orbit in a rare night launch. This March 1995 mission [ http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-67/mission-sts-67.html ] is most famous for operating the set of astronomical telescopes known as Astro-2 [ http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/archive/astro2/welcome.html ]. Astro-2's telescopes observed the universe in ultraviolet light - light so blue humans by themselves can't see it. Astro-2 measured the amount of ultraviolet light emitted by several interesting stars [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/lib/glossary.html#star ], galaxies [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/lib/glossary.html#galaxy ], planets, and QSOs [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/lib/glossary.html#qso ]. Analysis of data from this NASA mission has yielded the first clear detection of helium [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/lib/glossary.html#helium ] created during the beginning of the universe. For more information about NASA's Space Shuttle missions, see the NASA Space Shuttle Launches page [ http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/missions.html ]. Tomorrow's picture: Columbia Waits, Discovery Launches
Columbia Dawn
Title Columbia Dawn
Explanation Trailing [ http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/ photoDetail.cfm?PageID=9012 ] a thick column of exhaust, the Space Shuttle Columbia blasted into [ http://shuttle.msfc.nasa.gov/missionprofile.htm ] the twilight morning sky on March 1, its thundering rockets [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap011115.html ] briefly flooding a cloud bank with the light of a false dawn. The event marked the start of the ongoing [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/spacenews/reports/sts109/ index.html ] eleven day mission to upgrade [ http://sm3b.gsfc.nasa.gov/index.html ] the Hubble Space Telescope [ http://hubble.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ]. Hubble's upgrades include the installation of new solar arrays and a new camera [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020306.html ]. Columbia's crew is [ http://sm3b.gsfc.nasa.gov/mission-critical/ shuttle-crew.html ] scheduled to complete the work today in the last of five space walks [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/shuttle/sts-109/ flightday04/ndxpage1.html ]. Columbia's launch also marks the first flight [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010412.html ] of the oldest operating space shuttle after receiving extensive upgrades [ http://www.nasa.gov/releases/2002/02-029.html ] itself, designed to increase its capabilities for missions to low Earth orbit. The shuttle landing is expected at Kennedy Space Center on March 12.
Chandra X-ray Telescope
Title Chandra X-ray Telescope
Explanation Wrapped in protective blankets and mounted atop an Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) [ http://www1.msfc.nasa.gov/NEWSROOM/background/ facts/ius.htm ] rocket, the Chandra X-ray Telescope [ http://chandra.harvard.edu/pub.html ] is seen in this wide-angle view [ http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/captions/1999/jul/ 99pp0851.htm ] before launch snuggled into the space shuttle Columbia's payload bay. Columbia's crew released the telescope, named in honor of the late Nobel Laureate Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950901.html ], into orbit on Friday, July 23rd, where it is now undergoing check out and activation of its scientific instruments. To help realize its enormous potential for exploration of the distant Universe [ http://chandra.harvard.edu/ ] at X-ray energies, controllers will perform a series [ http://www1.msfc.nasa.gov/NEWSROOM/chandra/ major_timeline.html ] of firings in the coming days which will eventually boost the 10,000 pound telescope into a highly ecentric orbit. In fact, the final working orbit for Chandra will range from a close point of about 6,200 miles out to 87,000 miles or one third of the distance to the Moon. The elongated orbit will carry Chandra's sensitive X-ray [ http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/xrays.html ] detectors beyond interference caused by the Earth's radiation belts allowing Chandra [ http://www1.msfc.nasa.gov/NEWSROOM/background/ facts/axaf.htm ] to make about 55 hours of continuous observations per orbit. The shuttle Colombia [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/index.html ], commanded by Eileen Collins [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/archives/sts-93/ crew/collins.html ] is scheduled to land this evening at 11:20 pm EDT at Kennedy Space Center [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/groundtracs/index.html ].
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - …
Description KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- At the Shuttle Landing Facility, NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin (foreground) talks with STS-93 Commander Eileen Collins beside the Space Shuttle orbiter Columbia following the successful completion of her mission. Marshall Space Flight Center Director Arthur G. Stephenson (far left) looks on. Landing occurred on runway 33 with main gear touchdown at 11:20:35 p.m. EDT on July 27. The mission's primary objective was to deploy the Chandra X-ray Observatory, which will allow scientists from around the world to study some of the most distant, powerful and dynamic objects in the universe. This was the 95th flight in the Space Shuttle program and the 26th for Columbia. The landing was the 19th consecutive Shuttle landing in Florida and the 12th night landing in Shuttle program history. On this mission, Collins became the first woman to serve as a Shuttle commander
Release Date 07/28/1999
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