KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- Under breaking clouds, Space Shuttle Endeavour, atop the mobile launcher platform and crawler-transporter, crawls its way to Launch Pad 39A for mission STS-99. Named the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), STS-99 involves an international project spearheaded by the National Imagery and Mapping Agency and NASA, with participation of the German Aerospace Center DLR. SRTM will chart a new course, using two antennae and a 200-foot-long section of space station-derived mast protruding from its payload bay, to produce unrivaled 3-D images of the Earth's surface. The result of the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission could be close to 1 trillion measurements of the Earth's topography. Besides contributing to the production of better maps, these measurements could lead to improved water drainage modeling, more realistic flight simulators, better locations for cell phone towers, and enhanced navigation safety. STS-99 is scheduled for launch in January 2000 KSC-99pp1418

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STS-134 - EOM - Public domain NASA photogrpaph

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - After reversing its direction to the Vehicle Assembly Building, Space Shuttle Atlantis nears Launch Pad 39B. The shuttle had been moved off the launch pad due to concerns about the impact of Tropical Storm Ernesto, expected within 24 hours. The forecast of lesser winds expected from Ernesto and its projected direction convinced Launch Integration Manager LeRoy Cain and Shuttle Launch Director Mike Leinbach to return the shuttle to the launch pad. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett KSC-06pd1998

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – On Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Endeavour is revealed after the rollback of the rotating service structure, or RSS. In the foreground is the flame trench, which the mobile launcher platform straddles. On top of the external fuel tank is the oxygen vent hood, called the "beanie cap," which is designed to vent gaseous oxygen vapors away from the shuttle. The rollback is preparation for Endeavour's liftoff June 13 on the STS-127 mission with a crew of seven. First motion was at 10:39 a.m. EDT and completed at 11:18 a.m. The rotating structure provides protected access to the shuttle for changeout and servicing of payloads at the pad. It is supported by a rotating bridge that pivots on a vertical axis on the west side of the pad's flame trench. After the RSS is rolled back, the orbiter is ready for fuel cell activation and external tank cryogenic propellant loading operations. The launch will be Endeavour's 23rd flight. The shuttle will carry the Japanese Experiment Module's Exposed Facility, or JEM-EF, and the Experiment Logistics Module-Exposed Section, or ELM-ES, on STS-127. The mission is the final of three flights dedicated to the assembly of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory complex on the space station. Endeavour's launch is scheduled for June 13 at 7:17 a.m. EDT. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann KSC-2009-3698

STS081-368-035 - STS-081 - View of the STS-81 Atlantis's payload bay

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, preparations are under way to move space shuttle Discovery from the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) to Orbiter Processing Facility-1 (OPF-1). Discovery is switching places with shuttle Endeavour which has been undergoing decommissioning activities in OPF-1. Both shuttles will stop briefly outside OPF-3 for a "nose-to-nose" photo opportunity. Discovery then will be rolled into OPF-1 and Endeavour into the VAB. In OPF-1, Discovery will undergo further preparations for public display at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia. Endeavour will be stored in the VAB until October when it will be moved into OPF-2 for further work to get it ready for public display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis KSC-2011-6411

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- Atop the crawler/transporter, the Space Shuttle orbiter Atlantis rolls out to Launch Complex 39A in preparation for mission STS-86, which is targeted for a September launch. STS-86 will be the seventh of nine planned dockings of the Space Shuttle orbiter with the Russian Space Station Mir KSC-97PC1247

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- Under breaking clouds, Space Shuttle Endeavour, atop the mobile launcher platform and crawler-transporter, crawls its way to Launch Pad 39A for mission STS-99. Named the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), STS-99 involves an international project spearheaded by the National Imagery and Mapping Agency and NASA, with participation of the German Aerospace Center DLR. SRTM will chart a new course, using two antennae and a 200-foot-long section of space station-derived mast protruding from its payload bay, to produce unrivaled 3-D images of the Earth's surface. The result of the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission could be close to 1 trillion measurements of the Earth's topography. Besides contributing to the production of better maps, these measurements could lead to improved water drainage modeling, more realistic flight simulators, better locations for cell phone towers, and enhanced navigation safety. STS-99 is scheduled for launch in January 2000 KSC-99pp1418

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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- Under breaking clouds, Space Shuttle Endeavour, atop the mobile launcher platform and crawler-transporter, crawls its way to Launch Pad 39A for mission STS-99. Named the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), STS-99 involves an international project spearheaded by the National Imagery and Mapping Agency and NASA, with participation of the German Aerospace Center DLR. SRTM will chart a new course, using two antennae and a 200-foot-long section of space station-derived mast protruding from its payload bay, to produce unrivaled 3-D images of the Earth's surface. The result of the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission could be close to 1 trillion measurements of the Earth's topography. Besides contributing to the production of better maps, these measurements could lead to improved water drainage modeling, more realistic flight simulators, better locations for cell phone towers, and enhanced navigation safety. STS-99 is scheduled for launch in January 2000

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.