KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Center Director Roy Bridges Jr. speaks to the media and guests gathered in the Space Station Processing Facility for a ceremony to highlight the arrival of two major components of the International Space Station. NASA's Node 2, built by the European Space Agency (ESA) in Italy arrived at KSC on June 1. It will be the next pressurized module installed on the Station. The pressurized module of the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM), named "Kibo" (Hope) arrived at KSC on June 4. It is Japan's primary contribution to the Station. The ceremony held today included the official transfer of ownership signing of Node 2 between the ESA and NASA.. Emceed by Lisa Malone (left) , deputy director of External Relations and Business Development at KSC, the ceremony also included these speakers: NASA's Michael C. Kostelnik, deputy associate administrator for International Space Station and Shuttle Programs, and William Gerstenmaier, International Space Station Program manager; Alan Thirkettle, International Space Station Program manager for Node 2, ESA; Andrea Lorenzoni, International Space Station Program manager for Node 2, Italian Space Agency; Kuniaki Shiraki, JEM Project manager, National Aerospace and Development Agency of Japan.

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STS-126 crew visit. NASA public domain image colelction.

Cape Canaveral, Fla. -- From left, Kennedy Space Center Director Robert Cabana, NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden and Commercial Crew Program CCP, Manager Ed Mango announce the newest partners of NASA's Commercial Crew Program from Operations Support Building 2 OSB II at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Three integrated systems were selected for CCP's Commercial Crew Integrated Capability CCiCap initiative to propel America's next human space transportation system to low Earth orbit forward. Operating under funded Space Act Agreements SAAs, The Boeing Co. of Houston, Sierra Nevada Corp. SNC Space Systems of Louisville, Colo., and Space Exploration Technologies SpaceX of Hawthorne, Calif., will spend the next 21 months completing their designs, conducting critical risk reduction testing on their spacecraft and launch vehicles, and showcasing how they would operate and manage missions from launch through orbit and landing, setting the stage for future demonstration missions. To learn more about CCP, which is based at Kennedy and supported by NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, visit www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett KSC-2012-4204

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Scott Bolton, Juno primary investigator from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, speaks to about 150 followers of the agency’s Twitter account during Juno Tweetup activities inside a tent at the Press Site. The tweeters are at the center for two days of prelaunch activities. Juno is NASA’s mission to Jupiter to study the giant planet and improve our understanding of the planet’s formation and evolution. The tweeters will share their experiences with followers through the social networking site Twitter. Attendees represent 28 states, the District of Columbia and five other countries: Canada, Finland, Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom. This is the first time NASA has invited Twitter followers to experience the launch of a planetary spacecraft. The Juno spacecraft is scheduled to launch on an Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, Aug. 5, at 11:34 a.m. EDT. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/juno. Photo credit: Jim Grossmann KSC-2011-6220

Cygnus Orbital ATK OA-6 Transport from PHSF to VIF

CHARLES BOLDEN NASA ADMINISTRATOR SPEAKING AT THE MEDIA EVENT FOLLOWING THE MARSHALL SMALL BUSINESS ALLIANCE HELD AT THE DAVIDSON CENTER, HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA 1100382

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Center Director Roy Bridges Jr. speaks to the media and guests gathered in the Space Station Processing Facility for a ceremony to highlight the arrival of two major components of the International Space Station. NASA's Node 2, built by the European Space Agency (ESA) in Italy arrived at KSC on June 1. It will be the next pressurized module installed on the Station. The pressurized module of the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM), named "Kibo" (Hope) arrived at KSC on June 4. It is Japan's primary contribution to the Station. The ceremony held today included the official transfer of ownership signing of Node 2 between the ESA and NASA.. Emceed by Lisa Malone (left) , deputy director of External Relations and Business Development at KSC, the ceremony also included these speakers: NASA's Michael C. Kostelnik, deputy associate administrator for International Space Station and Shuttle Programs, and William Gerstenmaier, International Space Station Program manager; Alan Thirkettle, International Space Station Program manager for Node 2, ESA; Andrea Lorenzoni, International Space Station Program manager for Node 2, Italian Space Agency; Kuniaki Shiraki, JEM Project manager, National Aerospace and Development Agency of Japan.

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Space Shuttle Program

The Space Shuttle program was the United States government's manned launch vehicle program from 1981 to 2011, administered by NASA and officially beginning in 1972. The Space Shuttle system—composed of an orbiter launched with two reusable solid rocket boosters and a disposable external fuel tank— carried up to eight astronauts and up to 50,000 lb (23,000 kg) of payload into low Earth orbit (LEO). When its mission was complete, the orbiter would re-enter the Earth's atmosphere and lands as a glider. Although the concept had been explored since the late 1960s, the program formally commenced in 1972 and was the focus of NASA's manned operations after the final Apollo and Skylab flights in the mid-1970s. It started with the launch of the first shuttle Columbia on April 12, 1981, on STS-1. and finished with its last mission, STS-135 flown by Atlantis, in July 2011.