NASA - The Osprey Has Landed

At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, an adult osprey guards its young in a nest built on a platform in the Press Site parking lot.

In the background is the 12,300-square-foot NASA logo painted on the side of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB).

 The VAB and Press Site are located at the Turn Basin in Launch Complex 39, making it an ideal osprey nesting place.

The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge overlaps with Kennedy Space Center property and provides a habitat for many types of wildlife, including the osprey, and 330 species of birds. For information on the refuge, visit http://www.fws.gov/merrittisland/Index.

Image Credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller

Ready for Liftoff - Ospreys at Nasa

Ready for Liftoff

A family of Osprey are seen outside the NASA Kennedy Space Center Vehicle Assembly Building in Cape Canaveral, Fla. on Thursday, May 13, 2010.

The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge overlaps Kennedy and provides a habitat for 330 species of birds, including the osprey.

A variety of other wildlife--117 kinds of fish, 65 types of amphibians and reptiles, 31 different mammals, and 1,045 species of plants--also inhabit the refuge.

The countdown is on for today's scheduled launch of space shuttle Atlantis on its STS-132 mission. At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians at Launch Pad 39A continue preparations for the liftoff at 2:20 p.m. EDT.

Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls