Members of the Artemis 1 launch team, including personnel with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) and Jacobs Test and Operations Support Contract (TOSC), monitor activities during the first formal terminal countdown simulation inside Firing Room 1 in the Launch Control Center at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 12, 2019.

This was the first in a series of simulations to help the team prepare for the launch of Artemis 1, the uncrewed first flight of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

NASA image use policy.

Ralf Zimmerman, head of Moon programs and Orion European Service Module, Airbus,

participates in a prelaunch media briefing on the role of industry in advancing human exploration on Aug. 26, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, as the agency prepares for launch of Artemis I scheduled for Aug. 29, at 8:33 a.m. EDT from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39B. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration and demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human presence to the Moon and beyond. The primary goal of Artemis I is to thoroughly test the integrated systems before crewed missions by operating the spacecraft in a deep space environment, testing Orion’s heat shield, and recovering the crew module after reentry, descent, and splashdown. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

NASA image use policy.

A family wearing matching Artemis shirts are on the Max Brewer Bridge in Titusville, Florida, to witness the launch of NASA’s Artemis I mission on Sept. 3, 2022. The launch was waived off for the day. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration and demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human presence to the Moon and beyond. The primary goal of Artemis I is to thoroughly test the integrated systems before crewed missions by operating the spacecraft in a deep space environment, testing Orion’s heat shield, and recovering the crew module after reentry, descent, and splashdown. Photo credit: NASA/Steven Seipel

NASA image use policy.

A group of young children with an Artemis flag are photographed on the Max Brewer Bridge in Titusville, Florida, as they wait to watch the launch of NASA’s Artemis I mission on Sept. 3, 2022. The launch was waived off for the day. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration and demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human presence to the Moon and beyond. The primary goal of Artemis I is to thoroughly test the integrated systems before crewed missions by operating the spacecraft in a deep space environment, testing Orion’s heat shield, and recovering the crew module after reentry, descent, and splashdown. Photo credit: NASA/Steven Seipel

NASA image use policy.

NASA’s Biology Experiment-1 (BioExpt-1) is officially packaged and ready for handover to the Orion team for Artemis I inside the Space Station Processing Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Aug. 18, 2022. BioExpt-1 is a space biology pathfinder, which will carry Arabidopsis, algae, yeast, and fungi science payloads for biology research beyond low-Earth orbit aboard the Orion capsule on the Artemis I mission. The payload container assemblies will be installed onto panels in the Orion capsule and will return to Earth to provide critical and unique data about life beyond low-Earth orbit for the first time in more than 40 years. Artemis I is the first in a series of increasingly complex missions that will enable human exploration to the Moon and eventually on to Mars. Photo credit: NASA/Frank Michaux

NASA image use policy.

Edited NASA image of the SLS for the Artemis I mission in the summer.

Original caption: NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen illuminated by spotlights atop a mobile launcher at Launch Complex 39B, Friday, March 18, 2022, after being rollout out to the launch pad for the first time at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Ahead of NASA’s Artemis I flight test, the fully stacked and integrated SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft will undergo a wet dress rehearsal at Launch Complex 39B to verify systems and practice countdown procedures for the first launch.

NASA astronaut Stan Love, left, and Don Pettit visit the Kennedy Space Center Press Site on Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2022. Later in the day, NASA’s Space Launch System rocket, with the agency’s Orion spacecraft atop, will roll out from the Florida spaceport’s Vehicle assembly Building to Launch Complex 39B in preparation for the Artemis I launch – targeted for no earlier than Aug. 29. Artemis I will be the first integrated test of the SLS and Orion. In later missions, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone on the way to Mars. Photo credit: NASA/Isaac Watson

NASA image use policy.

Kelly DeFazio, director of Orion production, Lockheed Martin, participates in a prelaunch media briefing on the role of industry in advancing human exploration on Aug. 26, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, as the agency prepares for launch of Artemis I scheduled for Aug. 29, at 8:33 a.m. EDT from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39B. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration and demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human presence to the Moon and beyond. The primary goal of Artemis I is to thoroughly test the integrated systems before crewed missions by operating the spacecraft in a deep space environment, testing Orion’s heat shield, and recovering the crew module after reentry, descent, and splashdown. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

NASA image use policy.

Scientists package up part of NASA’s Biology Experiment-1 (BioExpt-1) for official handover to the Orion team for Artemis I inside the Space Station Processing Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Aug. 18, 2022. BioExpt-1 is a space biology pathfinder, which will carry Arabidopsis, algae, yeast, and fungi science payloads for biology research beyond low-Earth orbit aboard the Orion capsule on the Artemis I mission. The payload container assemblies will be installed onto panels in the Orion capsule and will return to Earth to provide critical and unique data about life beyond low-Earth orbit for the first time in more than 40 years. Artemis I is the first in a series of increasingly complex missions that will enable human exploration to the Moon and eventually on to Mars. Photo credit: NASA/Frank Michaux

NASA image use policy.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson visits Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39B in Florida, following the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket's arrival at the pad on March 18, 2022. The rocket, with the Orion spacecraft atop, was carried from the Vehicle Assembly Building to the pad - a 4.2-mile journey that took nearly 11 hours to complete - by the agency's crawler-transporter 2 for a wet dress rehearsal ahead of the uncrewed Artemis I launch. Artemis I will test SLS and Orion as an integrated system prior to crewed flights to the Moon. Through Artemis, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the lunar surface, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone on the way to Mars. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

NASA image use policy.

Jennifer Boland-Masterson, director of operations, Michoud Assembly Facility, Boeing, participates in a prelaunch media briefing on the role of industry in advancing human exploration on Aug. 26, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, as the agency prepares for launch of Artemis I scheduled for Aug. 29, at 8:33 a.m. EDT from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39B. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration and demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human presence to the Moon and beyond. The primary goal of Artemis I is to thoroughly test the integrated systems before crewed missions by operating the spacecraft in a deep space environment, testing Orion’s heat shield, and recovering the crew module after reentry, descent, and splashdown. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

NASA image use policy.

Vice President Kamala Harris visits with NASA astronauts Victor Glover, at left, and Randy Bresnik, at right, during launch countdown activities on Aug. 29, 2022, at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The launch was waved off for the day. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration and demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human presence to the Moon and beyond. The primary goal of Artemis I is to thoroughly test the integrated systems before crewed missions by operating the spacecraft in a deep space environment, testing Orion’s heat shield, and recovering the crew module after reentry, descent, and splashdown. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

NASA image use policy.

Jim Free, association administrator, Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters, participates in a prelaunch media briefing on the role of industry in advancing human exploration on Aug. 26, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, as the agency prepares for launch of Artemis I scheduled for Aug. 29, at 8:33 a.m. EDT from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39B. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration and demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human presence to the Moon and beyond. The primary goal of Artemis I is to thoroughly test the integrated systems before crewed missions by operating the spacecraft in a deep space environment, testing Orion’s heat shield, and recovering the crew module after reentry, descent, and splashdown. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

NASA image use policy.

Randy Lycans, vice president/general manager of NASA Enterprise Solutions, Jacobs, participates in a prelaunch media briefing on the role of industry in advancing human exploration on Aug. 26, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, as the agency prepares for launch of Artemis I scheduled for Aug. 29, at 8:33 a.m. EDT from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39B. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration and demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human presence to the Moon and beyond. The primary goal of Artemis I is to thoroughly test the integrated systems before crewed missions by operating the spacecraft in a deep space environment, testing Orion’s heat shield, and recovering the crew module after reentry, descent, and splashdown. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

NASA image use policy.

Jeff Zotti, RS-25 program director, Aerojet Rocketdyne, participates in a prelaunch media briefing on the role of industry in advancing human exploration on Aug. 26, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, as the agency prepares for launch of Artemis I scheduled for Aug. 29, at 8:33 a.m. EDT from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39B. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration and demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human presence to the Moon and beyond. The primary goal of Artemis I is to thoroughly test the integrated systems before crewed missions by operating the spacecraft in a deep space environment, testing Orion’s heat shield, and recovering the crew module after reentry, descent, and splashdown. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

NASA image use policy.

A transporter containing the first half of the J level work platforms enters the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Inside the VAB, the platform will be lifted off of the transporter and placed onto support stands in the transfer aisle. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to High Bay 3 to support processing of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion spacecraft. A total of 10 levels of new platforms, 20 platforms altogether, will surround the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft and provide access for testing and processing in High Bay 3. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

NASA image use policy.

2015-2956

A flatbed truck, carrying the second half of the J level work platforms for the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), moves slowly toward the VAB at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The platform was transported from Sauer Co. in Oak Hill, Florida. It was fabricated by Steel LLC of Scottdale, Georgia, and assembled by Sauer. A contract to modify High Bay 3 in the VAB was awarded to Hensel Phelps Construction Co. of Orlando, Florida in March 2014. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to the high bay to support processing of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion spacecraft. A total of 10 levels of new platforms, 20 platforms altogether, will surround the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft and provide access for testing and processing in High Bay 3. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

Kathryn Hambleton, NASA Communications, moderates a prelaunch briefing on the role of industry in advancing human exploration on Aug. 26, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, as the agency prepares for launch of Artemis I scheduled for Aug. 29, at 8:33 a.m. EDT from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39B. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration and demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human presence to the Moon and beyond. The primary goal of Artemis I is to thoroughly test the integrated systems before crewed missions by operating the spacecraft in a deep space environment, testing Orion’s heat shield, and recovering the crew module after reentry, descent, and splashdown. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

NASA image use policy.

Boeing is building the core stages for NASA’s next heavy-lift rocket, the 321-foot tall Space Launch System, at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans.

Work continues as Boeing builds the core stage for the Space Launch System, using massive friction stir weld tooling, such as this Vertical Weld Center, which stacks rocket segments, then welds them together.

LEARN MORE - www.boeing.com/space/space-launch-system/

The SLS Preliminary Design Review (PDR) was held July 31 at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala., where some 20 NASA representatives signed the SLS PDR certificate validating the SLS Program has demonstrated readiness to proceed to the next major milestone review. One of those representatives, astronaut Anthony Antonelli, SLS Program PDR Board crew office representative, talks with Todd May, left, SLS program manager, after the certificate was signed. Also pictured is Tony Lavoie, SLS Stages Manager, also a member of the review board.

Image credit: NASA/MSFC

Read more:

www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/sls-pdr.html

www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/multimedia/gallery/s...

More about SLS:

www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/index.html

Space Launch System Flickr photoset:

www.flickr.com/photos/28634332@N05/sets/72157627559536895/

_____________________________________________

These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...

Under the watchful eye of technicians and engineers, a crane is prepared to lift the Orion crew access arm (CAA) so it can be attached to the mobile launcher (ML) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The arm will be installed at about the 274-foot level on the ML tower. NASA's Exploration Ground Systems organization has been overseeing installation of umbilicals and other launch accessories on the 380-foot-tall ML in preparation for stacking the first launch of the Space launch System, or SLS, rocket with an Orion spacecraft. The CAA is designed to rotate from its retracted position and line up with Orion's crew hatch providing entry for astronauts and technicians.

Photo credit: NASA/Michelle Stone

NASA image use policy.

Eric Ernst, at right, NASA Mobile Launcher project manager, talks to members of the media on the zero level or base of the mobile launcher (ML) at the Mobile Launcher Park Site at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The ML will support NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion spacecraft during Exploration Mission-1. The ML base and tower structure were modified to accommodate the weight, size and thrust at launch of the SLS and Orion spacecraft. A contract recently was awarded to J.P. Donovan Construction Inc. of Rockledge, Florida, to begin the next phase of work on the 380-foot-tall (including the base) steel structure. The scope of work includes the installation of mechanical, electrical and fluid subsystems, including 800 mechanical, fluid and electrical panels, about 300,000-plus feet of cabling, and miles of tubing and piping. The ML is one of the key elements of ground support equipment that is being upgraded by the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program at Kennedy. Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston

Just north of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians install the core stage forward skirt umbilical on the mobile launcher. The mobile launcher is designed to support the assembly, testing and check-out of the agency's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion spacecraft.

Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

NASA image use policy.

NASA Space Launch System's Chris Crumbly

The Orion Stage Adapter (OSA) was moved out of NASA's Super Guppy aircraft onto a special payload handler at the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The OSA is the second flight-hardware section of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket to arrive at Kennedy. The OSA will connect the Orion spacecraft to the upper part of the SLS, the interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS). Both the OSA and ICPS are being stored for processing in the center's Space Station Processing Facility in preparation for Exploration Mission-1, the first uncrewed, integrated launch of the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

NASA image use policy.

Media and social media followers had an invitation to watch as NASA tested the RS-25 engine like those that will power the rocket that launches astronauts on missions to an asteroid and to Mars. The test took place on Thursday, August 13, at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.

In this image:

Dr. Rick Rauch, B Stand Project Manager at SSC discusses B-2 restoration efforts with #NASASocial participants.

More about the Vertical Assembly Center:

The largest spacecraft welding tool in the world, the Vertical Assembly Center officially is open for business at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The 170-foot-tall, 78-foot-wide giant completes a world-class welding toolkit that will be used to build the core stage of America's next great rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS).

SLS will be the most powerful rocket ever built for deep space missions, including to an asteroid and eventually Mars. The core stage, towering more than 200 feet tall (61 meters) with a diameter of 27.6 feet (8.4 meters), will store cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen that will feed the rocket's four RS-25 engines.

Read more:

www.nasa.gov/press/2014/september/nasa-unveils-worlds-lar...

Image credit: NASA/SSC

More about SLS:

www.nasa.gov/sls

More SLS graphics and concepts:

www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/multimedia/gallery/S...

Space Launch System Flickr album

www.flickr.com/photos/28634332@N05/sets/72157627559536895/

_____________________________________________

These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...

Jim Crocker, Vice President and General Manager, civil space, Lockheed Martin Space Systems, gestures while speaking at a panel discussion on deep space exploration using the Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft at the Newseum in Washington on Tuesday, November 12, 2013. Photo Credit: (NASA/Jay Westcott)

Julie Van Kleek, Vice President, space programs, Aerojet Rocketdyne, gestures while speaking at a panel discussion on deep space exploration using the Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft at the Newseum in Washington on Tuesday, November 12, 2013. Photo Credit: (NASA/Jay Westcott)

In this image:

NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden poses for a photo withNASASocial participants following a JourneyToMars briefing at Stennis Space Center.

More about the Vertical Assembly Center:

The largest spacecraft welding tool in the world, the Vertical Assembly Center officially is open for business at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The 170-foot-tall, 78-foot-wide giant completes a world-class welding toolkit that will be used to build the core stage of America's next great rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS).

SLS will be the most powerful rocket ever built for deep space missions, including to an asteroid and eventually Mars. The core stage, towering more than 200 feet tall (61 meters) with a diameter of 27.6 feet (8.4 meters), will store cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen that will feed the rocket's four RS-25 engines.

Read more:

www.nasa.gov/press/2014/september/nasa-unveils-worlds-lar...

Image credit: NASA/SSC

More about SLS:

www.nasa.gov/sls

More SLS graphics and concepts:

www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/multimedia/gallery/S...

Space Launch System Flickr album

www.flickr.com/photos/28634332@N05/sets/72157627559536895/

_____________________________________________

These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...

A liquid oxygen tank confidence article for NASA's new rocket, the Space Launch System, completes final welding on the Vertical Assembly Center at Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans.

A liquid oxygen tank confidence article for NASA's new rocket, the Space Launch System, completes final welding on the Vertical Assembly Center at Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans.

_______________________________

These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...

NASA Space Launch System's Chris Crumbly chats space with Raisbeck Aviation High School students.

L-R: William Gerstenmaier, NASA Associate Administrator for human exploration and operations; Charlie Precourt, Vice President and General Manager, ATK Space Launch Division; John Elbon, Vice President and General Manager, Boeing Space Exploration; Julie Van Kleek, Vice President, space programs, Aerojet Rocketdyne; and Jim Crocker, Vice President and General Manager, civil space, Lockheed Martin Space Systems, participate in a panel discussion on deep space exploration using the Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft at the Newseum in Washington on Tuesday, November 12, 2013. Photo Credit: (NASA/Jay Westcott)

John Elbon, Vice President and General Manager, Boeing Space Exploration, gestures while speaking at a panel discussion on deep space exploration using the Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft at the Newseum in Washington on Tuesday, November 12, 2013. Photo Credit: (NASA/Jay Westcott)

William Gerstenmaier, NASA Associate Administrator for human exploration and operations, participates in a panel discussion on deep space exploration using the Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft at the Newseum in Washington on Tuesday, November 12, 2013. Photo Credit: (NASA/Jay Westcott)

William Gerstenmaier, NASA Associate Administrator for human exploration and operations, participates in a panel discussion on deep space exploration using the Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft at the Newseum in Washington on Tuesday, November 12, 2013. Photo Credit: (NASA/Jay Westcott)

Boeing is building the core stages for NASA’s next heavy-lift rocket, the 321-foot tall Space Launch System, at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans.

Work continues as Boeing builds the core stage for the Space Launch System, using massive friction stir weld tooling, such as this Vertical Weld Center, which stacks rocket segments, then welds them together.

LEARN MORE - www.boeing.com/space/space-launch-system/

NASA’s upgraded crawler-transporter 2 (CT-2) has exited the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for its trek along the crawlerway to Launch Pad 39B to test recently completed upgrades and modifications for NASA’s journey to Mars. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program at Kennedy oversaw upgrades to the crawler in the VAB. The crawler will carry the mobile launcher with Orion atop the Space Launch System rocket to Pad 39B for Exploration Mission-1, scheduled for 2018. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

NASA image use policy.

Charlie Precourt, Vice President and General Manager, ATK Space Launch Division, gestures while speaking at a panel discussion on deep space exploration using the Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft at the Newseum in Washington on Tuesday, November 12, 2013. Photo Credit: (NASA/Jay Westcott)

A team of engineers, technicians and construction workers gather on the ground floor of High Bay 3 in the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, to review procedures for the lift and install of the K-level work platform. The first half of the K-level work platforms for NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) will be installed about 86 feet above the floor. The K work platforms will provide access to the SLS core stage and solid rocket boosters during processing and stacking operations on the mobile launcher. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to High Bay 3 to support processing of the SLS and Orion spacecraft. A total of 10 levels of new platforms, 20 platform halves altogether, will surround the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft and provide access for testing and processing. Photo credit: NASA/Glen Benson

NASA image use policy.

Preparations are underway for Load Test #1 on the Interim Cryogenic Propulsive Stage Umbilical (ICPSU) arm for NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) at Coastal Steel in Cocoa, Florida. The test will consist of applying six vertical loads and eight horizontal loads onto the truss in the retracted position to simulate the effects of a launch on the structure. A load test tower was designed and fabricated at Coastal Steel for the test. Engineers and technicians from NASA Kennedy Space Center and Coastal will apply the loads by hanging weights off the ICPSU structure. Vertical loads will be applied by hanging the weights directly, and horizontal loads will be applied by a rope that wraps over an adjacent pipe on the load test tower. The ICPSU is one of the umbilical arms that will be attached to the mobile launcher. The umbilical will be located at the about the 240-foot-level of the mobile launcher and will supply fuel, oxidizer, pneumatics, hazard gas leak detection, electrical commodities and environmental control systems to the interim cryogenic propulsive stage of the SLS rocket during launch. Photo credit: Daniel Casper

In this image:

During a tour of Aerojet Rocketdyne's Engine Assembly Facility, #NASASocial followers viewed RS-25 engines in storage.

More about the Vertical Assembly Center:

The largest spacecraft welding tool in the world, the Vertical Assembly Center officially is open for business at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The 170-foot-tall, 78-foot-wide giant completes a world-class welding toolkit that will be used to build the core stage of America's next great rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS).

SLS will be the most powerful rocket ever built for deep space missions, including to an asteroid and eventually Mars. The core stage, towering more than 200 feet tall (61 meters) with a diameter of 27.6 feet (8.4 meters), will store cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen that will feed the rocket's four RS-25 engines.

Read more:

www.nasa.gov/press/2014/september/nasa-unveils-worlds-lar...

Image credit: NASA/SSC

More about SLS:

www.nasa.gov/sls

More SLS graphics and concepts:

www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/multimedia/gallery/S...

Space Launch System Flickr album

www.flickr.com/photos/28634332@N05/sets/72157627559536895/

_____________________________________________

These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...

In this image:

Mike McDaniel, Aerojet Rocketdyne's General Manager briefs NASASocial participants during a tour of the Engine Assembly Facility.

More about the Vertical Assembly Center:

The largest spacecraft welding tool in the world, the Vertical Assembly Center officially is open for business at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The 170-foot-tall, 78-foot-wide giant completes a world-class welding toolkit that will be used to build the core stage of America's next great rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS).

SLS will be the most powerful rocket ever built for deep space missions, including to an asteroid and eventually Mars. The core stage, towering more than 200 feet tall (61 meters) with a diameter of 27.6 feet (8.4 meters), will store cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen that will feed the rocket's four RS-25 engines.

Read more:

www.nasa.gov/press/2014/september/nasa-unveils-worlds-lar...

Image credit: NASA/SSC

More about SLS:

www.nasa.gov/sls

More SLS graphics and concepts:

www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/multimedia/gallery/S...

Space Launch System Flickr album

www.flickr.com/photos/28634332@N05/sets/72157627559536895/

_____________________________________________

These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...

Progress on the new brick walls of the north side of the flame trench at Launch Pad 39B is seen in a view from the top of the pad at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Construction workers with J.P. Donovan of Rockledge, Florida, continue to install new heat-resistant bricks on the concrete walls. The Pad B flame trench is being refurbished to support the launch of NASA's Space Launch System rocket. The Ground Systems Development and Operations (GSDO) Program at Kennedy is helping transform the space center into a multi-user spaceport and prepare for Exploration Mission 1, deep-space missions, and NASA's Journey to Mars. For more information about GSDO, visit: www.nasa.gov/groundsystems. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

NASA image use policy.

NASA’s new Space Launch System (SLS) is seen at the rollout event on March 17th, 2022. Photo: Brandon Moser

Lockheed Martin engineers at Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Louisiana, prepare elements of the Orion pressure vessel for welding.

Boeing engineer Tony Castilleja works on the CST-100 Starliner, which will provide NASA with transportation to and from the International Space Station.

WATCH Tony talk about what inspired him to become a rocket engineer - www.boeing.com/principles/education/students-families.pag...

Kenneth Kroll, left, and Colleen Huber, Hazardous Gas Leak Detection Systems engineers with Jacobs, NASA's Test and Operations Support Contractor, monitor operations from their positions in Firing Room 1 at the Kennedy Space Center's Launch Control Center during a terminal countdown demonstration for Exploration Mission 1. Taking place on Dec. 14, 2018, the countdown demonstration was intended to validate the launch team's capability to perform an EM-1 countdown and respond to challenges put into the system for practice.

Photo credit: NASA/Frank Michaux

NASA image use policy.

A liquid oxygen tank confidence article for NASA's new rocket, the Space Launch System, completes final welding on the Vertical Assembly Center at Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans.

A liquid oxygen tank confidence article for NASA's new rocket, the Space Launch System, completes final welding on the Vertical Assembly Center at Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans.

_______________________________

These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...

Lockheed Martin engineers at Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Louisiana, prepare elements of the Orion pressure vessel for welding.