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.
Space Coast Photography Studios
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Two Central Florida photographers with an interest in nature, landscape, bird, flower, space, technology, and architecture photography.
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.
