ADDING THE ORION HEAT SHIELD

FROM:  NASA 

At the Operations and Checkout Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the Orion crew module and heat shield are being moved into position for the mating operation. The heat shield will be tested on Orion's first flight in December, Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1), an uncrewed flight that will put to the test the spacecraft that will send astronauts to an asteroid and eventually Mars on future missions. EFT-1 will launch an uncrewed Orion capsule 3,600 miles into space for a four-hour mission to test several of its most critical systems. After making two orbits, Orion will return to Earth at almost 20,000 miles per hour and endure temperatures near 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit, before its parachutes slow it down for a landing in the Pacific Ocean. Image Credit: NASA.

DISPLAYED: SPACE STATION'S VEGETABLE PRODUCTION SYSTEM EXPERIMENT

FROM:  NASA INTERNATIONAL 

The International Space Station's Vegetable Production System ("Veggie") experiment is on display in the News Center at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Veggie is a new investigation with "edible results" heading to the space station. Veggie is a deployable plant growth unit capable of producing salad-type crops to provide the crew with appetizing, nutritious and safe fresh food and support crew relaxation and recreation. It will serve as a new space station facility as well and will provide a venue for future plant growth research. To the right of the Veggie experiment is a model of the Space Launch System (SLS), the nation's next heavy-lift launch vehicle. NASA is developing the SLS and Orion spacecraft to provide an entirely new capability for human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit, with the flexibility to launch spacecraft for crew and cargo missions, including to an asteroid and Mars. The Veggie experiment is aboard SpaceX's Dragon cargo spacecraft, scheduled to launch atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. at 4:58 p.m. EDT on Monday, April 14, 2014. The SpaceX-3 mission is carrying almost 2.5 tons of supplies, technology and science experiments and is the third of 12 flights contracted by NASA to resupply the orbiting laboratory. Read more about cargo launching to the International Space Station aboard SpaceX-3: > SpaceX’s Dragon Headed to Space Station to Create Astronaut Farmers > CASIS-Sponsored Research Heads to Space Station Aboard SpaceX-3 > International Space Station to Beam Video via Laser Back to Earth > NASA's Latest Smartphone Satellite Ready for Launch Image Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett.

THE SPACE SHUTTLE ERA BEGINS WITH LAUNCH OF COLUMBIA

FROM: NASA

A new era in space flight began on April 12, 1981, when Space Shuttle Columbia, or STS-1, soared into orbit from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Astronaut John Young, a veteran of four previous spaceflights including a walk on the moon in 1972, commanded the mission. Navy test pilot Bob Crippen piloted the mission and would go on to command three future shuttle missions. The shuttle was humankind's first re-usable spacecraft. The orbiter would launch like a rocket and land like a plane. The two solid rocket boosters that helped push them into space would also be re-used, after being recovered in the ocean. Only the massive external fuel tank would burn up as it fell back to Earth. It was all known as the Space Transportation System. Twenty years prior to the historic launch, on April 12, 1961, the era of human spaceflight began when Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to orbit the Earth in his Vostock I spacecraft. The flight lasted 108 minutes. Pictured here: a timed exposure of STS-1, at Launch Pad A, Complex 39, turns the space vehicle and support facilities into a night- time fantasy of light. Structures to the left of the shuttle are the fixed and the rotating service structure. Image Credit: NASA

PREPARING AN ORION SPACE-CAPSULE

FROM: NASA

Orion Spacecraft
Technicians prepare to fit a special fixture around an Orion capsule inside the high bay of the Operations & Checkout Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The fixture is designed to enable precise pre-launch processing of the Orion spacecraft.

Orion will be the most advanced spacecraft ever designed and carry astronauts farther into space than ever before. It will sustain astronauts during space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space and emergency abort capability. Orion will be launched by NASA's Space Launch System (SLS), a heavy-lift rocket that will provide an entirely new capability for human exploration beyond low Earth orbit. Designed to be flexible for launching spacecraft for crew and cargo missions, SLS will enable new missions of exploration and expand human presence across the solar system.

Image Credit: NASA

A NEW GATEWAY TO SPACE

FROM: NASA

Establishing A New Gateway to Space

A year after space shuttle Atlantis touched down to end the shuttle program, NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida is preparing for future missions. Facilities are being remodeled to host a variety of spacecraft, rockets and companies to continue humanity's great adventure into space.