KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, engineers move the radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) away from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft. The RTG is being returned to the RTG facility after completing a fit check with the spacecraft. The RTG is the baseline power supply for the New Horizons, scheduled to launch in January 2006 on a journey to Pluto and its moon, Charon. As it approaches Pluto, the spacecraft will look for ultraviolet emission from Pluto's atmosphere and make the best global maps of Pluto and Charon in green, blue, red and a special wavelength that is sensitive to methane frost on the surface. It will also take spectral maps in the near infrared, telling the science team about Pluto's and Charon's surface compositions and locations and temperatures of these materials. When the spacecraft is closest to Pluto or its moon, it will take close-up pictures in both visible and near-infrared wavelengths. It is expected to reach Pluto in July 2015. KSC-05pd2469

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VANDENBERG AFB, Calif. -- A Technician photographs a component on NASA's Landsat Data Continuity Mission, or LDCM, satellite during inspection at the Astrotech processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The solar arrays are in the foreground. The Landsat Data Continuity Mission LDCM is the future of Landsat satellites. It will continue to obtain valuable data and imagery to be used in agriculture, education, business, science, and government. The Landsat Program provides repetitive acquisition of high resolution multispectral data of the Earth's surface on a global basis. The data from the Landsat spacecraft constitute the longest record of the Earth's continental surfaces as seen from space. It is a record unmatched in quality, detail, coverage, and value. Launch is planned for Feb. 11, 2013. For more information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/landsat/main/index.html Photo credit: NASA KSC-2012-6522

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Preparations have begun for two days of fueling activities on NASA's twin Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory lunar spacecraft in the Hazardous Processing Facility (HPF) at Astrotech Space Operation's payload processing facility in Titusville, Fla. GRAIL will fly in tandem orbits around the moon for several months to measure its gravity field. GRAIL's primary science objectives are to determine the structure of the lunar interior, from crust to core, and to advance understanding of the thermal evolution of the moon. Launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket from Space Launch Complex 17B on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is scheduled for Sept. 8. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/grail. Photo credit: NASA/Charisse Nahser KSC-2011-6102

Cape Canaveral, Fla. -- At the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians have removed the protective wrapping from all of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rocket-powered descent stage thrusters for documenting and inspection. The descent stage will fly the MSL rover, Curiosity, during the final moments before landing on Mars. A United Launch Alliance Atlas V-541 configuration will be used to loft MSL into space. Curiosity’s 10 science instruments are designed to search for evidence on whether Mars has had environments favorable to microbial life, including chemical ingredients for life. The unique rover will use a laser to look inside rocks and release its gasses so that the rover’s spectrometer can analyze and send the data back to Earth. MSL is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida Nov. 25 with a window extending to Dec. 18 and arrival at Mars Aug. 2012. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/msl. Photo credit: NASA/Charisse Nahser KSC-2011-4877

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, engineers move the radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) away from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft. The RTG is being returned to the RTG facility after completing a fit check with the spacecraft. The RTG is the baseline power supply for the New Horizons, scheduled to launch in January 2006 on a journey to Pluto and its moon, Charon. As it approaches Pluto, the spacecraft will look for ultraviolet emission from Pluto's atmosphere and make the best global maps of Pluto and Charon in green, blue, red and a special wavelength that is sensitive to methane frost on the surface. It will also take spectral maps in the near infrared, telling the science team about Pluto's and Charon's surface compositions and locations and temperatures of these materials. When the spacecraft is closest to Pluto or its moon, it will take close-up pictures in both visible and near-infrared wavelengths. It is expected to reach Pluto in July 2015. KSC-05pd2469

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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, engineers move the radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) away from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft. The RTG is being returned to the RTG facility after completing a fit check with the spacecraft. The RTG is the baseline power supply for the New Horizons, scheduled to launch in January 2006 on a journey to Pluto and its moon, Charon. As it approaches Pluto, the spacecraft will look for ultraviolet emission from Pluto's atmosphere and make the best global maps of Pluto and Charon in green, blue, red and a special wavelength that is sensitive to methane frost on the surface. It will also take spectral maps in the near infrared, telling the science team about Pluto's and Charon's surface compositions and locations and temperatures of these materials. When the spacecraft is closest to Pluto or its moon, it will take close-up pictures in both visible and near-infrared wavelengths. It is expected to reach Pluto in July 2015.

date_range

Date

08/11/2005

place

Location

Kennedy Space Center / Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Fire Station 7, Florida

Google Map of 28.58646409999999, -80.6564001

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Source

NASA

link

Link

https://images.nasa.gov/

Public Domain Dedication (CC0)

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