Col. Doug Hurley

United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket is on the launch pad for the USSF-87 mission that will place U.S. national security spacecraft into geosynchronous orbit. It will be our next-generation rocket's heaviest payload yet and the longest flight to date, lasting 10 hours. Liftoff is scheduled for Thursday at 3:30 a.m. EST (0830 UTC) from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral. Weather forecasters give a 95% chance of GO conditions. Our play-by-play status journal begins at 10 p.m. EST (0300 UTC) and the live webcast starts 20 minutes before liftoff. bit.ly/vulcan_ussf87

Every January, @NASA commemorates the lives we have lost, including crews of Apollo 1 and the space shuttles Challenger and Columbia. #NASARemembers their sacrifice and enduring strength of their families, whose courage continues to inspire us all. As we continue missions to the @Space_Station and push forward to the Moon and beyond, the agency is committed to safety and lessons learned to further space exploration and discovery.

Today is our Day of Remembrance. As we push forward to the Moon with our Artemis missions, it is vital that we stay vigilant and remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the name of science and discovery.

From rollout to liftoff, propulsion matters. Artemis II is one step closer to exploring deep space and our technology is built into the mission from the ground up.

"Some people live their life... they worry about the destination. They worry about where they're going. I enjoy the trip. Wherever you're going is where you'll end up. Don't worry about that. Enjoy the scenery on the way."

A defining moment of American exploration. The @America250 emblem is displayed on the twin solid rocket boosters of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket for the Artemis II mission around the Moon. Launch is scheduled for early next year.

We build the world’s largest single-cast solid rocket boosters ever flown. Four of our GEM 63XL #SRBs propelled @ULALaunch’s #VulcanRocket into orbit, delivering a @SpaceForceDoD payload!🚀 news.northropgrumman.com/launch/Northro…

Pristine clear skies over Salt Lake City and Provo captured live from @sen's 4K camera payload on the @Space_Station at 8:42 AM MDT this morning. @SLCgov @provocity @NWSSaltLakeCity @tvheidihatch @kslnewsradio @KUTV2News @abc4utah @fox13 @bobbynovakfox13 Aug 12, 2025

On this day in 2011, Space Shuttle Atlantis landed at Kennedy Space Center, completing STS-135, the final mission of the Space Shuttle program.

The 135th and final space shuttle mission launched #OTD in 2011. Atlantis transported 11,600 pounds of supplies and equipment to the International @Space_Station. At mission's end, STS-135 Commander Chris Ferguson said, “We sure hope that everybody who has ever worked on, or touched, or looked at, or envied or admired a space shuttle was able to take just a little part of the journey with us.” 🚀 go.nasa.gov/4eCGkNz

#OTD in 2011, Shuttle Atlantis launched STS-135, the final mission of NASA’s Space Shuttle Program. The crew delivered 8,000+ lbs of supplies to the ISS aboard the Raffaello module. Crew: Commander @Astro_Ferg Pilot @Astro_Doug Mission Specialists @Astro_Sandy & @Astro_Rex

Hello, hello. It's good to be back! 👋🎙️ Wishing the best of luck to @oasis as they return to the stage this evening! 🎸🩵

Happy Fourth of July from Kennedy Space Center! We’re throwing it back to July 21, 2011 – the final landing of Space Shuttle Atlantis. This mission, STS-135, delivered spare parts, equipment and supplies to @Space_Station and was the final flight of the Space Shuttle Program.

On June 26 at 1pm ET, we are static test firing the Booster Obsolescence and Life Extension solid rocket motor – the largest segmented solid rocket booster ever built.

@TurkeyBeaver @SpaceX One of my favorite days. Only topped by them coming home safely 🩷

Hard to believe it’s been five years since @SpaceX launched the Demo-2 mission. That day was special on so many fronts. It was the culmination of an eight year grind of designing, testing and qualifying Dragon 2. Then there was the intensity in the lead up to the mission while the rest of the world shut down due to the pandemic. Hard to describe the pure joy and relief of seeing Bob and Doug smiling on orbit. Just a couple of dads in space! @elonmusk

Happy Demo-2 Day! Today marks the 5th anniversary of Falcon 9 returning human spaceflight capabilities to the United States

@NASAhistory @SpaceX @NASA Five years already! Also the first crewed test flight of an orbital spacecraft since 1981. Truly an incredible achievement by the dedicated teams from NASA and SpaceX in Hawthorne, MacGregor, JSC, and KSC. Congratulations and thank you. Amazing to see where we are now!

5 years ago #OTD, Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken made history as the first astronauts to fly on @SpaceX's Crew Dragon. Their Demo-2 spaceflight was the first to launch from US soil since @NASA's final shuttle flight in 2011.

Technicians with @NASAGroundSys recently finished stacking the SLS solid rocket boosters for @NASAArtemis II. Watch as teams in the Vehicle Assembly Building at @NASAKennedy assemble the boosters, which will provide 75% of the thrust needed at liftoff. youtube.com/watch?v=oSVsDm…

Boosters: complete ✅ With stacking of the right forward assembly, the @NASA_SLS solid rocket boosters for the @NASAArtemis II mission are complete. In total, teams with Exploration Ground Systems transported and stacked ten motor segments and two forward assemblies to fully configure the boosters. Next to stack on mobile launcher 1 is the core stage, which is currently undergoing processing in High Bay 2 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at @NASAKennedy. Read more about stacking here: go.nasa.gov/4hJGZ0i