Heron & Fox

NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket rolled out to LC-39B for a Wet Dress Rehearsal. The launch team will practice the countdown and physically perform most of the tasks up to main engine start to familiarize themselves with the vehicle and the best procedures to follow. The Artemis I mission launched on this rocket on November 16, sending an uncrewed Orion capsule around the Moon and back to the Earth, as well as deploy some Cubesats. Orion returned to Earth on December 11, having completed its mission. Seagulls fly over the Banana River and the scrubland. This picture was taken from the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex's Apollo/Saturn V center on the Banana River. A full-sized Saturn V is on display inside, as well as the Apollo CSM meant to rescue the Skylab astronauts if something happened to their vehicle.

Two Roseate Spoonbills (Platalea ajaja) at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (MINWR), just north of Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, stand in the conserved wetlands area. MINWR is one of the northernmost places where the Roseate Spoonbill can be found natively. Their red coloring, like flamingos, comes from pigments in crustaceans that make up an important part of the spoonbill's diet.

The Androgynous Peripheral Attach System (APAS) on display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex (KSCVC). APAS was co-developed by Soviet and American engineers as part of a plan to dock an American Apollo spacecraft with a Soviet spacecraft, at first a Salyut station, and ultimately a Soyuz spacecraft. APAS was different from previous docking systems, which had one "active" mechanism on one spacecraft, and one "passive" mechanism on the other spacecraft. Using APAS, either spacecraft can be the active or passive partner. The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP), in which an Apollo spacecraft used an APAS adapter to dock to an APAS-equipped Soyuz in orbit. The Soviets continued to work on the APAS system, planning to use it for their reusable Shuttle-like orbiter, Buran, and one module on the Mir station, Kristall, was equipped with two APAS adapters to accommodate Buran. Buran ended up making only one flight under automated control, but the docking system for Buran was moved to the American Space Shuttle so that the Shuttle could dock to Mir, and to prepare for the construction of the coming International Space Station (ISS). The current docking system standard, the International Docking System (IDS) or Low-Impact Docking System (LIDS), is based on APAS.

During the retirement of NASA's fleet of Space Shuttle Orbiters, it was necessary to ferry the 3 remaining orbiters though the 2 Orbiter Processing Facilities (OPF). The remaining Orbiter was stored in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). In this case, Space Shuttle Discovery has finished being prepared for display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Its 3 Space Shuttle Maine Engines/RS-25D (SSME) engines have been removed and replaced with replicas. The 2 Orbital Maneuvering System pods (OMS) containing the Shuttle's on-orbit maneuvering engine and thrusters and the forward Reaction Control System pod (RCS) have been cleaned of their toxic propellants, and the aerodynamic tail cover has been installed to prepare the Orbiter to be ferried to Virginia on the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, a modified Boeing 747. In the background, Space Shuttle Orbiter Atlantis is being towed into the Orbiter Processing Facility to begin being made ready for display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex Atlantis Museum. This photograph was taken from an upper floor in the VAB, making it possible to see over Discovery and towards Atlantis and the Orbiter Processing Facilities beyond.