KENNEDY SPACE CENTER

NASA's Commercial Crew Program is working with the American aerospace industry as companies develop and operate a new generation of spacecraft and launch systems capable of carrying crews to low-Earth orbit and the International Space Station. Learn more about the program and how it is enabling NASA to travel to deep space destinations.

Teams with NASA's Exploration Ground Systems rehearsed booster stacking operations using mock-ups, referred to as pathfinders, inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The exercise involved preparing an aft pathfinder segment in High Bay 4, lifting and moving it over to High Bay 3, and placing it on the mobile launcher. A center pathfinder segment also was added to the stack. Also this week, Kennedy employees participated in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's "stand down to prevent falls" campaign.

NASA’s fifth core value – inclusion – was installed in the Central Campus lobby on Sept. 1, 2020. This fifth core value was added to the existing values embraced by NASA: safety, integrity, teamwork, and excellence. Technicians inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building lowered the Artemis I Orion spacecraft into the FAST cell after completing installation of the spacecraft adapter cone. This is one of the final major hardware operations the spacecraft will undergo during closeout processing before integration with the Space Launch System rocket. The last of three motors required to assemble the Launch Abort System for NASA’s Artemis II mission, the first crewed flight, arrived by truck at the Launch Abort System Facility. The attitude control motor, manufactured by Northrop Grumman, works with the other motors – the launch abort motor and the jettison motor -- to separate the spacecraft from the rocket in the unlikely event of an emergency during launch and steer the spacecraft carrying the astronauts to safety.

Russell Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, visited NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to meet with NASA leadership and tour key agency and partner facilities. Accompanying him on the tour was Center Director Bob Cabana and Deputy Director Janet Petro. Also, teams with Boeing are working on the final assembly of the CST-100 Starliner spacecraft's crew and service modules for the company's uncrewed Orbital Flight Test-2. Launch is targeted for no earlier than December 2020.

Technicians at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida work to safely return the Artemis I Orion spacecraft to the FAST cell after completing the installation of the spacecraft adapter (SA) cone inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building on Aug. 20, 2020. This is one of the final major hardware operations the spacecraft will undergo during closeout processing prior to being integrated with the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket in preparation for the first Artemis mission.

The Artemis I launch team conducted a key simulation on the procedures for cryogenic loading, or fueling the Space Launch System rocket with super cold propellants, inside NASA Kennedy Space Center’s firing room. Several more practices are planned at the Florida spaceport ahead of liftoff of the agency’s SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft. And Astronaut Jeanette Epps has been assigned to NASA’s Boeing Starliner-1 mission to the International Space Station. It will be the first operational crewed flight of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft.

NASA and SpaceX announced they are targeting no earlier than October 23, 2020, for launch of Crew-1, their first operational flight with crew to the International Space Station. Also, senior leaders at NASA's Kennedy Space Center held a virtual town hall meeting on August 20, including looking back at the success of recent launches, upcoming events, and updates on the criteria for returning to on-site work.

With 2020 more than half way through, the workforce at Kennedy Space Center is gearing up for a busy rest of the year and 2021. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission is targeted to launch from Kennedy to the International Space Station this fall. Hardware is arriving for the first uncrewed flight test of NASA’s Space Launch System and the Orion spacecraft, Artemis I. The Launch Services Program, led by Kennedy, will manage the launch of the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite scheduled for November from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Earlier this week, technicians donned protective equipment to perform work for a future mission on the flight hardware for NASA’s Orbital Syngas Commodity Augmentation Reactor, or OSCAR, at the Space Station Processing Facility.

NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley launched from American soil in a commercially built and operated American crew spacecraft to the International Space Station on Saturday, May 30. Watch their liftoff from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, their arrival to the orbiting laboratory, their successful splashdown, and their post-flight comments on the successful Demo-2 mission. Music: www.digitaljuice.com

A critical piece of hardware for NASA’s Space Launch System rocket has arrived at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Now undergoing processing inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), the launch vehicle stage adapter (LVSA) will connect the core stage of the rocket to the upper stage. It will remain inside the VAB until it’s time for stacking on the mobile launcher ahead of the Artemis I launch. Also, NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley safely returned to Earth, splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida. This successful splashdown and recovery marked the end of NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission, paving the way for NASA to certify SpaceX’s crew transportation system for regular, crewed flights to the International Space Station.

Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana praised the Florida spaceport’s employees for their contributions to important recent events, such as launching the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover and bringing home astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley safely from the International Space Station. This was accomplished during a pandemic and with a predicted hurricane bearing down on Central Florida. “I couldn’t be more proud of team,” he said. Also, Cabana stressed that the center is continuing to provide as safe a workplace as possible throughout the COVID-19 crisis.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket powered NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover off the pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 41, starting the spacecraft on its seven-month journey to the Red Planet. Teams of employees at Kennedy Space Center banded together and overcame challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic to produce several live programs promoting the historic Mars 2020 mission.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket, carrying NASA's Mars Perseverance rover, lifts off from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on July 30, 2020, at 7:50 a.m. EDT.

Mars 2020 launch teams conduct their poll for launch, giving the final "go" just seconds before liftoff. The United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket, carrying the agency's Mars Perseverance rover, lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 41 in Florida at 7:50 a.m. EDT on July 30, 2020.

The live broadcast begins for the launch of NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover. The United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 41 in Florida at 7:50 a.m. EDT on July 30, 2020.

The #CountdownToMars virtual NASA Social continues as we take you behind the scenes of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. Tune in at 3:30 p.m. ET to hear more from engineer Christiana Diaz, engineer Jessica Clark and scientist Joby Hollis from the SHERLOC instrument. Have a question for our guests? Be sure to share in the comments below for a chance to be featured on our live feed.

The #CountdownToMars virtual NASA Social continues as we host a special guest to learn more about the Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator! Join us at 4:30 p.m. ET to hear from Greg Hula from the Idaho National Lab. Have a question for our guest? Be sure to share in the comments below for a chance to be featured on our live feed.

The #CountdownToMars virtual NASA Social continues as we take you behind the scenes of United Launch Alliance’s Launch Complex 41. Join us at 2:30 p.m. to hear from the president and CEO of ULA, Tory Bruno. Have a question for our guest? Be sure to share in the comments below for a chance to be featured on our live feed.

The #CountdownToMars virtual NASA Social continues as NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, Deputy Administrator Jim Morhard and astronaut Zena Cardman join us live to answer your questions! Tune in at 1:15 p.m. ET to learn more about the Mars 2020 Perseverance mission. Have a question for our guests? Be sure to share in the comments below for a chance to be featured on our live feed.

The two aft skirts for NASA's Space Launch System twin solid rocket boosters for Artemis I were moved from the Booster Fabrication Facility to the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility (RPSF) this week. The aft skirts, which house the thrust vector control system, controls 70 percent of the steering during initial ascent of the SLS rocket. They will remain in the RPSF until ready for stacking with the other booster segments in High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building. Also this week, Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana led a virtual town hall meeting for the center's workforce. He and other senior staff addressed the center's Return to Site plan and answered questions from the workforce.