View allAll Photos Tagged SpaceLaunchSystem
The first solid rocket booster test for Space Launch System (SLS) missions beyond Artemis III seen here during a two-minute hot fire test, Wednesday, September 2, 2020, at the T-97 Northrop Grumman test facility in Promontory, Utah. The flight support booster is structurally identical to each of the five-segment solid rocket boosters on the SLS rocket and produce more than 75 percent of the rocket's thrust capability.
The flight support booster test builds on prior tests and will allow NASA and Northrop Grumman, the SLS booster lead contractor, to evaluate the motor's performance using potential new materials and processes for future booster performance.
NASA is working to land the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024. The SLS rocket, Orion spacecraft, Gateway, and Human Landing System are part of NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration. The Artemis program is the next step in human space exploration. It’s part of America’s broader Moon to Mars exploration approach, in which astronauts will explore the Moon. Experience gained there will enable humanity’s next giant leap: sending humans to Mars. SLS is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts and supplies to the Moon in a single mission.
Credit: NASA/Northrop Grumman/Scott Mohrman
#NASA #space #moon #Mars #NASAMarshall #msfc #sls #spacelaunchsystem #nasasls #rockets #exploration #engineering #explore #rocketscience #artemis #solidrocketbooster
The Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage for the second flight of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket arrived in Florida on July 28 for the final phase of production. The stage and its single RL10 engine provide the in-space propulsion needed to send NASA’s Orion spacecraft and its crew on a precise trajectory to the Moon for Artemis II, the first crewed mission of NASA’s Artemis lunar missions. It is the first piece of the rocket for the Artemis II flight to arrive in Florida. Boeing and United Launch Alliance, the contractor team for the stage, shipped the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage from ULA’s facilities in Decatur, Alabama, to its Delta IV Operation Center at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The stage will undergo final processing and checkout before it is transported to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center for launch preparations.
With Artemis, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the lunar surface and establish long-term exploration at the Moon in preparation for human missions to Mars. SLS and NASA’s Orion spacecraft, along with the commercial human landing system and the Gateway in orbit around the Moon, are NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration. SLS is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts, and supplies to the Moon in a single mission.
Image Credit: ULA
#NASA #space #moon #Mars #Moon2Mars #MoontoMars #NASAMarshall #msfc #sls #spacelaunchsystem #nasasls #rockets #exploration #engineering #explore #rocketscience #artemis #ArtemisII #KSC #KennedySpaceCenter
At approximately 9:15 a.m. EDT, Sept. 27, NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft for the Artemis I mission were secured inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center after a four-mile journey from Launch Pad 39B that began at 11:21 p.m. Monday, Sept. 26 ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Ian.
After the storm has passed, teams will conduct inspections to determine impacts at the center and establish a forward plan for the next launch attempt, including replacing the core stage flight termination system batteries and retesting the system to ensure it can terminate the flight if necessary for public safety in the event of an emergency during launch.
Image Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
#NASA #NASAMarshall #ArtemisI #sls #spacelaunchsystem #nasasls #exploration #rocket #artemis #KSC #KennedySpaceCenter
NASA conducted a fifth RS-25 single-engine hot fire July 14 as a continuation of its ongoing seven-part test series, supporting development and production of engines for the agency's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket on future missions to the Moon. Operators fired the engine for more than eight minutes (500 seconds) on the A-1 Test Stand at Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, providing data to Aerojet Rocketdyne, lead contractor for the SLS engines, as it produces engines for use after the first four SLS flights. Four RS-25 engines, along with a pair of solid rocket boosters, will help power SLS, firing simultaneously to generate a combined 1.6 million pounds of thrust at launch and 2 million pounds during ascent. With testing of RS-25 engines for the first four Artemis program missions to the Moon completed, operators are now focused on collecting data to demonstrate and verify various engine capabilities, evaluate new engine components manufactured with cutting-edge and cost-saving technologies, and reduce operational risk. During the July 14 test, the team fired the engine at 111% of its original power level for a set time, the same level that RS-25 engines are required to operate during launch, as well as 113%, which allowed operators to test a margin of safety. NASA is building SLS as the world's most powerful rocket to send the agency's Orion spacecraft to the Moon as part of Artemis, including missions that will land the first woman and the first person of color on the lunar surface. The agency is working towards launch of the Artemis I uncrewed flight test this year, which will pave the way for future flights with astronauts to explore the lunar surface and prepare for missions to Mars. SLS and Orion, along with the commercial human landing system and the Gateway outpost in orbit around the Moon, are NASA's backbone for deep space exploration. RS-25 tests at Stennis are conducted by a combined team of NASA, Aerojet Rocketdyne and Syncom Space Services operators. Syncom Space Services is the prime contractor for Stennis facilities and operations.
Credit: NASA
#NASA #space #moon #Mars #NASAMarshall #msfc #sls #spacelaunchsystem #nasasls #rockets #exploration #engineering #explore #rocketscience #artemis #SSC #StennisSpaceCenter
The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard lifted off at 07:47 CEST from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA on 16 November 2022.
The most powerful rocket ever built sent NASA’s Orion spacecraft and ESA’s European Service Module (ESM) to a journey beyond the Moon and back. No crew will be on board Orion this time, and the spacecraft will be controlled by teams on Earth.
ESM provides for all astronauts’ basic needs, such as water, oxygen, nitrogen, temperature control, power and propulsion.
Much like a train engine pulls passenger carriages and supplies power, the European Service Module will take the Orion capsule to its destination and back.
Credits: ESA - S. Corvaja
In this view looking up from the floor of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, four levels of new work platforms are now installed on the north and south sides of High Bay 3. The G-level work platforms were most recently installed, at about the 14th floor level. Below them are the H, J and K level platforms.
The G-level work platforms are the fourth of 10 levels of work platforms that will surround and provide access to the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft for Exploration Mission 1. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to VAB High Bay 3, including installation of the new work platforms, to prepare for NASA’s journey to Mars.
_____________________________________________
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, click here.
All eyes are on south Mississippi with this month’s delivery and installation of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket’s first core stage to Stennis Space Center for a milestone Green Run test series prior to its Artemis I flight.
Core stage installation
The Green Run testing will be the first top-to-bottom integrated testing of the stage’s systems prior to its maiden flight. The testing will be conducted on the B-2 Test Stand at Stennis, located near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, and the nation’s largest rocket propulsion test site. Green Run testing will take place over several months and culminates with an eight-minute, full-duration hot fire of the stage’s four RS-25 engines to generate 2 million pounds of thrust, as during an actual launch.
Image credit: NASA/SSC
After its journey from NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi aboard the Pegasus barge, the mighty Space Launch System (SLS) core stage arrives at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 27, 2021. The core stage is the final piece of Artemis hardware to arrive at the spaceport and will be offloaded and moved to Kennedy’s Vehicle Assembly Building, where it will be prepared for integration atop the mobile launcher with the completed stack of solid rocket boosters ahead of the Artemis I launch. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test SLS and Orion as an integrated system prior to crewed flights to the Moon.
Credit: NASA/Mike Downs
#NASA #space #moon #Mars #NASAMarshall #msfc #sls #spacelaunchsystem #nasasls #rockets #exploration #engineering #explore #rocketscience #artemis #SSC #StennisSpaceCenter #KSC #KennedySpaceCenter
Saturday morning with SLS & Orion (redux): Lots of lightning, and then 20-minutes later the rising Sun appeared through the clouds and rain.
That rocket, NASA's Space Launch System, is scheduled to launch on 8/29, sending the Orion spacecraft to the Moon.
NASA started rolling the Artemis I Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft with its European Service Module back to the Vehicle Assembly Building on 26 September at 05:21 CEST (04:21 BST).
The return to hangar was based on weather predictions associated with Hurricane Ian, that were not improving around the launchpad at the Kennedy Space Center area in Florida, USA. The decision allows time for employees to address the needs of their families and protect the integrated rocket and spacecraft system.
NASA’s Artemis I flight test will be the first integrated test of the agency’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, SLS rocket, and supporting ground systems.
ESA’s European Service Module will be powering the Orion spacecraft to the Moon and back.
The European Service Module – or ESM – provides for all astronauts’ basic needs, such as water, oxygen, nitrogen, temperature control, power and propulsion. Much like a train engine pulls passenger carriages and supplies power, the European Service Module will take the Orion capsule to its destination and back.
Credits: ESA - S. Corvaja
The Orion spacecraft with integrated European Service Module sit atop the Space Launch System, imaged at sunrise at historic Launchpad 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA on 27 August.
The Flight Readiness Review has deemed the trio GO for launch, marking the dawn of a new era in space exploration.
The first in a series of missions that will return humans to the Moon, including taking the first European, Artemis I is scheduled for launch no earlier than Monday 29 August, at 14:33 CEST.
This mission will put NASA’s Orion spacecraft and ESA’s European Service Module to the test during a journey beyond the Moon and back. No crew will be on board Orion this time, and the spacecraft will be controlled by teams on Earth.
The crew module, however, won’t be empty. Two mannequins, named Helga and Zohar, will occupy the passenger seats. Their female-shaped plastic bodies are filled with over 5600 sensors each to measure the radiation load during their trip around the Moon. The specially trained woolly astronaut, Shaun the Sheep, has also been assigned a seat.
The spacecraft will enter lunar orbit using the Moon’s gravity to gain speed and propel itself almost half a million km from Earth – farther than any human-rated spacecraft has ever travelled.
The second Artemis mission will see four astronauts travel around the Moon on a flyby voyage around our natural satellite.
Mission duration depends on the launch date and even time. It will last between 20 to 40 days, depending on how many orbits of the Moon mission designers decide to make.
This flexibility in mission length is necessary to allow the mission to end as intended with a splashdown during daylight hours in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of California, USA.
Two more dates are available if a launch on 29 August is not possible. The Artemis Moon mission can also be launched on 2 September and 5 September. Check all the possible launch options on ESA’s Orion blog.
Orion is the only spacecraft capable of human spaceflight outside Earth orbit and high-speed reentry from the vicinity of the Moon. More than just a crew module, Orion includes the European Service Module (ESM), the powerhouse that fuels and propels Orion.
ESM provides for all astronauts’ basic needs, such as water, oxygen, nitrogen, temperature control, power and propulsion. Much like a train engine pulls passenger carriages and supplies power, the European Service Module will take the Orion capsule to its destination and back.
Watch launch coverage on ESA Web TV starting at 12:30 CEST here. Follow @esaspaceflight for updates and live Twitter coverage.
Credits: ESA-A. Conigli
Engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, on Dec. 5 deliberately pushed the world’s largest rocket fuel tank beyond its design limits to really understand its breaking point. The test version of the Space Launch System rocket’s liquid hydrogen tank withstood more than 260% of expected flight loads over five hours before engineers detected a buckling point, which then ruptured. Engineers concluded the test at approximately 11 p.m.
The test version of the tank aced earlier tests, withstanding forces expected at engine thrust levels planned for Artemis lunar missions, showing no signs of cracks, buckling or breaking. The test on Dec. 5 -- conducted using a combination of gaseous nitrogen for pressurization and hydraulics for loads -- pushed the tank to the limits by exposing it to higher forces that caused it to break as engineers predicted.
Image credit: NASA/Dennis Olive
Technicians at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, apply the first round of spray foam as part of the thermal protection system to the launch vehicle stage adapter (LVSA) of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket for Artemis III. The cone-shaped element connects the rocket’s core stage to its upper stage called the interim cryogenic propulsion stage and partially encloses it.
Spray-on foam insulation, along with other traditional insulation materials such as cork, provide thermal protection for every part – no matter how small or large -– of the SLS rocket. The insulation is flexible enough to move with the rocket but rigid enough to handle the extreme pressures and temperatures as SLS accelerates from 0 to 17,400 mph and soars to more than 100 miles above Earth in just eight minutes.
The thermal protection system for the LVSA is applied entirely by hand using a tool similar to a spray gun. It is the largest piece of SLS hardware to be hand-sprayed. During each session, two technicians take turns applying the foam across the 20 individual “stripes,” or spray lanes, that make up the LVSA. It takes about two weeks to spray all 20 stripes, and technicians will apply another coat of thermal insulation later this summer. The LVSA is fully manufactured at Marshall by NASA and lead contractor Teledyne Brown Engineering.
NASA is working to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon under Artemis. SLS is part of NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration, along with Orion and the Gateway in orbit around the Moon, and commercial human landing systems. SLS is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts, and supplies to the Moon in a single mission. Artemis III will land astronauts on the Moon to advance long-term lunar exploration and scientific discovery and inspire the Artemis Generation.
Image credit: NASA/Brandon Hancock
#NASA #NASAMarshall #sls #spacelaunchsystem #nasasls #exploration #rocket #artemis #ArtemisIII
Crews at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility rotated the engine section on Feb. 11 for Artemis II, the first Artemis mission with a crew, from a vertical position to a horizontal position in preparation for final assembly and integration. This breakover, or “flip,” signals that the core stage for the next Space Launch System (SLS) rocket is nearly complete. Following the successful launch of Artemis I, SLS engineers have their eyes set on the production, assembly, and testing of Moon rockets for Artemis II, III, and IV. The Artemis II core stage is in final assembly at Michoud, and crews will soon unbox the four RS-25 engines for the mission to integrate them into the stage. The engine section is the last major structure that makes up the core stage of the rocket that will help power the Artemis II mission.
Image Credit: NASA/Isaac Watson
#NASA #NASAMarshall #Artemis #NASA #SLS #SpaceLaunchSystem #NASASLS #exploration #rocket
Driving down a bumpy gravel road, even an off-road vehicle experiences bumps and vibrations, partly because of the car’s natural frequency. An object's natural frequency is the frequency or rate that it vibrates naturally when struck. When forces like speed and the smoothness of the road are just right, the car will vibrate in tune with that same frequency.
Rockets flying through the atmosphere to space, including NASA's Space Launch System (SLS), are no different. They have natural frequencies and experience dynamic forces during launch and ascent. Understanding those frequencies and what they look like is critical to steering SLS and the Orion spacecraft safely through the atmospheric "road" to space.
To safely control the rocket's flight, the flight software and navigation system must distinguish the rocket's natural frequencies from the vibration frequencies experienced during flight. That's why teams at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida are performing integrated modal testing to determine the different modes of vibration with the recently stacked, integrated SLS rocket before launch of the Artemis I mission.
Here, modal testing is underway in High Bay 3 inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, using the Orion stage adapter structural test article and the Mass Simulator for Orion. The test hardware articles have the same weight and mass characteristics as their respective flight components.
Image Credit: NASA
#NASA #space #moon #Mars #Moon2Mars #MoontoMars #NASAMarshall #msfc #sls #spacelaunchsystem #nasasls #rockets #exploration #engineering #explore #rocketscience #artemis #Orion #KSC #KennedySpaceCenter
NASA conducted a long duration hot fire of an RS-25 certification engine March 21, continuing a key series of testing to support future Space Launch System (SLS) missions to deep space as part of Artemis missions as the agency continues to inspire the world through discovery.
Operators fired the certification engine for 10 minutes (600 seconds), longer than the 500 seconds engines must fire during an actual mission, on the Fred Haise Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Operators also fired the engine up to 113% power level, exceeding the 111% level needed during SLS launch. Hot fires of longer duration and higher power level allow operators to test the limits of engine performance and provide a margin of safety for flight operations. The March 21 hot fire was the fourth test in a series that began in early February to certify production of new RS-25 engines by lead contractor Aerojet Rocketdyne. The company is using advanced manufacturing techniques, such as 3D printing, to reduce the cost and time needed to build new engines for use on missions beginning with Artemis V. Four RS-25 engines help power SLS at launch, including on its Artemis missions to the Moon.
Through Artemis, NASA is returning humans, including the first woman and the first person of color, to the Moon to explore the lunar surface and prepare for flights to Mars. SLS is the only rocket capable of sending the agency's Orion spacecraft, astronauts, and supplies to the Moon in a single mission.
Image Credit: NASA
#NASA #NASAMarshall #Artemis #NASA #SLS #SpaceLaunchSystem #NASASLS #exploration #rocket
NASA conducted a long-duration RS-25 single-engine test April 28, continuing its seven-part test series to support development and production of engines for future missions of the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. Operators fired the engine for almost 11 minutes (650 seconds) on the A-1 Test Stand at Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, providing valuable data to Aerojet Rocketdyne, lead contractor for the SLS engines, as it begins production of new engines for use after the first four SLS flights. Four RS-25 engines, along with a pair of solid rocket boosters, will help power SLS at launch. Engines for the rocket’s first four Artemis program missions to the Moon already have been tested. Operators now are focused on collecting data to demonstrate and verify various engine capabilities, evaluate new engine components manufactured with cutting-edge and cost-saving technologies, eliminate operating risks, and enhance engine production. The latest 650-second duration test represents the time three engines would have to fire to burn up propellant and power SLS to orbit, if the fourth engine shut down early during launch.
Credit: NASA
#NASA #space #moon #Mars #NASAMarshall #msfc #sls #spacelaunchsystem #nasasls #rockets #exploration #engineering #explore #rocketscience #artemis #SSC #StennisSpaceCenter
A view from the upper levels of the Vertical Assembly Center at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The massive blue structure supports the assembly and welding of the Space Launch System’s core stage, the primary rocket used for Artemis missions. This 170-foot-tall tool precisely aligns and joins large rocket sections, a key part of NASA’s ongoing production of deep space launch vehicles.
The Orion spacecraft with integrated European Service Module sit atop the Space Launch System, imaged at sunrise at historic Launchpad 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA on 27 August.
The Flight Readiness Review has deemed the trio GO for launch, marking the dawn of a new era in space exploration.
The first in a series of missions that will return humans to the Moon, including taking the first European, Artemis I is scheduled for launch no earlier than Monday 29 August, at 14:33 CEST.
This mission will put NASA’s Orion spacecraft and ESA’s European Service Module to the test during a journey beyond the Moon and back. No crew will be on board Orion this time, and the spacecraft will be controlled by teams on Earth.
The crew module, however, won’t be empty. Two mannequins, named Helga and Zohar, will occupy the passenger seats. Their female-shaped plastic bodies are filled with over 5600 sensors each to measure the radiation load during their trip around the Moon. The specially trained woolly astronaut, Shaun the Sheep, has also been assigned a seat.
The spacecraft will enter lunar orbit using the Moon’s gravity to gain speed and propel itself almost half a million km from Earth – farther than any human-rated spacecraft has ever travelled.
The second Artemis mission will see four astronauts travel around the Moon on a flyby voyage around our natural satellite.
Mission duration depends on the launch date and even time. It will last between 20 to 40 days, depending on how many orbits of the Moon mission designers decide to make.
This flexibility in mission length is necessary to allow the mission to end as intended with a splashdown during daylight hours in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of California, USA.
Two more dates are available if a launch on 29 August is not possible. The Artemis Moon mission can also be launched on 2 September and 5 September. Check all the possible launch options on ESA’s Orion blog.
Orion is the only spacecraft capable of human spaceflight outside Earth orbit and high-speed reentry from the vicinity of the Moon. More than just a crew module, Orion includes the European Service Module (ESM), the powerhouse that fuels and propels Orion.
ESM provides for all astronauts’ basic needs, such as water, oxygen, nitrogen, temperature control, power and propulsion. Much like a train engine pulls passenger carriages and supplies power, the European Service Module will take the Orion capsule to its destination and back.
Watch launch coverage on ESA Web TV starting at 12:30 CEST here. Follow @esaspaceflight for updates and live Twitter coverage.
Credits: ESA-A. Conigli
The pressure vessel is the primary structure for Orion’s crew module, joined together using state-of-the-art welding by technicians from lead contractor Lockheed Martin.
Both the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket are making progress towards Artemis missions to the Moon. With the spacecraft for the Artemis I and II missions manufactured as part of the design and development phase, the Artemis III pressure vessel is the first crew module structure off the line in the long-term production phase. Next, it will ship to NASA's Kennedy Space Center where teams will begin integration of Orion's systems.
Orion, SLS, and the Exploration Ground Systems are foundational elements of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach. Artemis I will be the first integrated flight test of Orion and SLS and is targeted to launch later this year. Artemis II will follow as the first crewed mission, taking humans around the Moon and back to Earth to pave the way for future missions to the Gateway and the lunar surface aboard a commercial human landing system. Through Artemis, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the Moon, establish a long-term presence on the lunar surface, and prepare for human missions to Mars.
Image Credit: NASA/Eric Bordelon
#NASA #space #moon #Mars #Moon2Mars #MoontoMars #NASAMarshall #msfc #sls #spacelaunchsystem #nasasls #rockets #exploration #engineering #explore #rocketscience #artemis #Orion #KSC #KennedySpaceCenter #ArtemisIII
As crews at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida assemble the Moon rocket for the Artemis I mission, teams have installed the flight software that will help steer, fly, track, and guide the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket during launch and ascent to space. Engineers loaded the flight software onto the rocket on Aug. 6 after powering up the core stage that contains the flight computers for the first time since stacking began.
With the software installed, the engineers that developed the flight software at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, are supporting final checkouts and completing tests to certify the software for the mission.
In this image, crews with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems and contractor Jacobs at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida are assembling the Space Launch System rocket that will power NASA’s Artemis I mission to the Moon. The largest piece of SLS is the 212-foot orange core stage that forms the backbone of the rocket. At launch, the SLS rocket’s two solid rocket boosters, seen here mounted on the side of the core stage, and the core stage’s four RS-25 engines fire together to produce more than 8.8 million pounds of thrust. Inside the core stage are the flight computers and avionics systems that steer, fly, track, and guide the rocket during its launch and ascent to space.
Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
#NASA #space #moon #Mars #NASAMarshall #msfc #sls #spacelaunchsystem #nasasls #rockets #exploration #engineering #explore #rocketscience #artemis #ArtemisI
NASA delivered upgraded life support hardware to the International Space Station March 9 aboard SpaceX’s 20th resupply mission.
Improving life support with reliable systems will help enable human exploration to the Moon and Mars. Building on experience gained at the space station over the last 20 years, NASA will land the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024 through the Artemis program and prepare to extend humanity farther into the solar system.
The station’s water recovery system provides clean water by reclaiming wastewater -- including water from crew members’ urine, cabin humidity condensate and water from the hydration system inside crew members’ spacesuits. The redesigned urine distillation assembly -- which boils astronauts' urine to begin purification -- will be installed into the space station's urine processor assembly and tested to ensure the hardware functions as intended.
Image credit: NASA
More about the Orion spacecraft
More about Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS)
NASA marked a significant milestone Sept. 30 in its plans for future missions to the Moon and, eventually, Mars with completion of an RS-25 single-engine Retrofit-2 test series at Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.
A full-duration hot fire of RS-25 developmental engine No. 0528 on the A-1 Test Stand at Stennis culminated a seven-test series to support development and production of new engines for the agency's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket on future missions.
Credit: NASA
#NASA #space #moon #Mars #NASAMarshall #msfc #sls #spacelaunchsystem #nasasls #rockets #exploration #engineering #explore #rocketscience #artemis #SSC #StennisSpaceCenter
On International Women's Day, March 8, 2023, NASA celebrated the women responsible for helping return humanity to the Moon, including the first woman and first person of color under NASA's Artemis missions. Artemis launch director – and NASA's first woman launch director – Charlie Blackwell-Thompson leads her launch team, which is composed of about 30% women, into a new era of space exploration.
Since the early days at NASA, starting with the Mercury Program, women have helped pave the way for some of the agency's greatest achievements, and their roles continue to grow today. When Apollo 11 lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA's JoAnn Morgan was the only woman engineer working in Firing Room 1 of Kennedy's Launch Control Center. The number of women holding positions within Artemis has grown exponentially across the agency and NASA remains dedicated to maintaining a diverse and inclusive workforce.
Through Artemis, NASA will establish long-term lunar science and exploration capabilities on the Moon and inspire the next generation of explorers – the Artemis Generation.
Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
#NASA #NASAMarshall #sls #spacelaunchsystem #nasasls #exploration #rocket #artemis #KSC #KennedySpaceCenter #@WHM
Technicians at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans moved the engine section of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket for Artemis II, the first crewed mission to the Moon, into position for the final join of the core stage Feb. 22. The engine section is the bottom-most portion of the 212-foot-tall core stage. It is the last of five major elements that is needed to connect the stage into one major structure. In addition to its miles of cabling and hundreds of sensors, the engine section is a crucial attachment point for the four RS-25 engines and two solid rocket boosters that produce a combined 8.8 million pounds of thrust at liftoff and flight. During launch and flight, liquid propellants from the liquid hydrogen tank and liquid oxygen tanks are delivered through the engine section to the four RS-25 engines. The engine section also includes the avionics that help steer the engines after liftoff.
Next, teams will join the engine section to the core stage for the second SLS rocket. After the join is complete, teams will begin to add each of the four RS-25 engines one by one to complete the stage. The completely assembled stage with its four RS-25 engines will be shipped to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida later this year. The SLS rocket is the only rocket capable of carrying astronauts in Orion around the Moon in a single mission.
Image credit: NASA/Eric Bordelon
#NASA #NASAMarshall #sls #spacelaunchsystem #nasasls #exploration #rocket #Artemis #NASAMichoud #ArtemisII
The largest rocket stage in the world is coming together piece by piece at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. Large elements for NASA's Space Launch System are in production and will be joined together to create the rocket's 212-foot-tall core stage, the backbone of the SLS rocket.
Why is NASA building the world’s most powerful rocket? Because SLS is ready to support both near-term missions in the proving ground around the moon starting in 2018, while at the same time being capable of carrying the very large hardware like landers, habitats and other supplies and equipment needed to explore Mars and other deep space destinations in the 2030s and beyond.
To power a Mars rocket, the core stage carries around 2.3 million pounds of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to fuel the four RS-25 engines. Engineers just completed welding the largest part of the core stage, the 130-foot-tall liquid hydrogen tank that will provide fuel for the first SLS flight in 2018, but there’s still work to ready the tank for its maiden voyage.
To read the full article, click here.
With Artemis teammates and media watching, United Launch Alliance (ULA) crews guide the interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS) for NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket for Artemis III to the loading dock at ULA’s facility in Decatur, Alabama, July 31. ULA’s R/S RocketShip will transport the flight hardware to ULA’s sister facility in Florida near NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, where it will undergo final checkouts.
The ICPS and its single RL10 engine provides in-space propulsion during Artemis III, firing to send astronauts inside NASA’s Orion spacecraft on a precise trajectory to the Moon. This ICPS for Artemis III is the last of its kind as SLS transitions to its next, more powerful Block 1B configuration with an upgraded upper stage beginning with Artemis IV.
Here, ULA technicians in Decatur, Alabama, prepare the ICPS (interim cryogenic propulsion stage) for boxing July 29. The SLS upper stage is raised and lowered into a container for shipment to the Space Coast.
Image credit: NASA/Brandon Hancock
#NASA #NASAMarshall #sls #spacelaunchsystem #nasasls #exploration #rocket #artemis #ArtemisIII #ICPS
NASA completed manufacturing of a hydrogen tank barrel that will be tested as a weld confidence article for the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket’s Exploration Upper Stage (EUS). Weld confidence articles help establish welding procedures and interfaces between the tooling and hardware and ensure the structural integrity of the welds. Starting with the Artemis IV mission, the EUS will provide the power to send astronauts in NASA’s Orion spacecraft and heavy cargo on a precise trajectory to the Moon.
After NASA and lead contractor Boeing completed manufacturing of the test tank barrel at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, technicians moved it from the Vertical Weld Center where it was built to the Vertical Assembly Center for further processing. Engineers will cut the barrel into small sections for mechanical testing and analysis that will help verify the parameters that will be used to build the rocket stage.
For NASA’s first three Artemis missions, the SLS rocket will use an interim cryogenic propulsion stage with one RL10 engine to send Orion to the Moon. The EUS will be used on the rocket’s Block IB evolved configuration for flights beyond Artemis III.
The upper stage has larger propellant tanks and four RL10 engines. The evolution of the rocket to SLS Block 1B configuration with EUS enables SLS to launch 40% more cargo to the Moon along with the crew. SLS is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts, and heavy cargos to the Moon in a single mission. The SLS rocket, NASA’s Orion spacecraft, Gateway, and commercial human landing systems are part of NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration.
Through Artemis 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.
Image Credit: NASA
#MoontoMars #NASAMarshall #nasasls #artemis #NASA
The last piece of Space Launch System (SLS) rocket hardware has been added to the stack at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Crews with NASA's Exploration Ground Systems and contractor Jacobs added the Orion stage adapter to the top of the rocket inside the spaceport’s Vehicle Assembly Building. To complete the Artemis I stack, crews will soon add the Orion spacecraft and its launch abort system on top of Orion stage adapter.
The Orion stage adapter, built at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama connects Orion to the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS), which was built by Boeing and United Launch Alliance at ULA’s factory in Decatur, Alabama. During the mission, the ICPS will fire one RL10 engine in a maneuver called trans-lunar injection, or TLI, to send Orion speeding toward the Moon.
Image Credit: NASA
#NASA #space #moon #Mars #Moon2Mars #MoontoMars #NASAMarshall #msfc #sls #spacelaunchsystem #nasasls #rockets #exploration #engineering #explore #rocketscience #artemis #Orion #KSC #KennedySpaceCenter #ArtemisI #SecondaryPayloads #CubeSat #TLI #translunarinjection
NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems team at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida has completed stacking the solid rocket boosters that will help power NASA’s Space Launch System rocket for Artemis I, the first integrated lunar mission of SLS and NASA’s Orion spacecraft through the agency’s Artemis program. Technicians placed the forward nose assemblies on top of the forward booster motor segments of each booster March 2 and 3. The fully assembled boosters are the largest, most powerful solid rocket boosters ever built for spaceflight. Each five-segment solid rocket booster will produce more than 3.6 million pounds of thrust to propel NASA’s Artemis missions beyond Earth’s orbit to the Moon. The solid rocket boosters are the first elements of the SLS rocket to be stacked on top of the mobile launcher inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy. Together, each 17-story-tall booster, which features the NASA “Worm” logotype, bear the full weight of the SLS rocket. Next, teams will finish outfitting the boosters and prepare for the arrival of the SLS core stage following completion of the core stage Green Run test series at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. The core stage will be integrated with the boosters on the mobile launcher, then the interim cryogenic propulsion stage and Orion spacecraft will be stacked on top and readied for launch.
NASA is working to land the first woman and the next man on the Moon. SLS and Orion, along with the human landing system and the Gateway in orbit around the Moon, are NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration. SLS is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts, and supplies to the Moon in a single mission.
Credit: NASA
#NASA #space #moon #Mars #NASAMarshall #msfc #sls #spacelaunchsystem #nasasls #rockets #exploration #engineering #explore #rocketscience #artemis #KSC #KennedySpaceCenter
Technicians continue to prepare small satellites, called CubeSats, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for their upcoming launch on the Artemis I mission. Technicians from the agency's Exploration Ground Systems and contractor Jacobs worked with developers of the shoebox-sized secondary payloads as they underwent final processing and were secured inside the Orion stage adapter.
The ring-shaped stage adapter will be connected to the Space Launch System (SLS) Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage, and the Orion spacecraft will be secured on top. All CubeSats will be deployed after SLS completes its primary mission, launching the Orion spacecraft on a trajectory toward the Moon. Although small in size, the CubeSats will conduct a variety of science experiments and technology demonstrations including some that will expand our knowledge of the lunar surface during the Artemis I mission.
Artemis I will be the first integrated flight test of NASA’s deep space exploration system: the Orion spacecraft, SLS rocket, and the ground systems at Kennedy. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration, and demonstrate commitment and capability to extend human existence to the Moon and beyond.
Credit: NASA/Cory Huston
#NASA #space #moon #Mars #NASAMarshall #msfc #sls #spacelaunchsystem #nasasls #rockets #exploration #engineering #explore #rocketscience #artemis #ArtemisI #KSC #KennedySpaceCenter
A booster for the most powerful rocket in the world, NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), successfully fired up Tuesday for its second qualification ground test at Orbital ATK's test facilities in Promontory, Utah. This was the last full-scale test for the booster before SLS’s first uncrewed test flight with NASA’s Orion spacecraft in late 2018, a key milestone on the agency’s Journey to Mars.
“This final qualification test of the booster system shows real progress in the development of the Space Launch System,” said William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Seeing this test today, and experiencing the sound and feel of approximately 3.6 million pounds of thrust, helps us appreciate the progress we’re making to advance human exploration and open new frontiers for science and technology missions in deep space.”
The booster was tested at a cold motor conditioning target of 40 degrees Fahrenheit –the colder end of its accepted propellant temperature range. When ignited, temperatures inside the booster reached nearly 6,000 degrees. The two-minute, full-duration ground qualification test provided NASA with critical data on 82 qualification objectives that will support certification of the booster for flight. Engineers now will evaluate these data, captured by more than 530 instrumentation channels on the booster.
To read the full article, click here.
Click here to view more photos on NASA's QM-2 Flickr Album.
_____________________________________________
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, click here.
NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) core stage for the Artemis I mission arrived on April 27, 2021, at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The core stage arrived aboard the Pegasus barge from NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi to Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39 turn basin wharf.
The core stage is shown being transported into the iconic Vehicle Assembly Building on a self-propelled module transporter on April 29, 2021. Teams from the center’s Exploration Ground Systems and contractor Jacobs will perform checkouts ahead of integrating the massive rocket stage with the twin solid rocket boosters, Orion spacecraft, and additional flight hardware ahead of the Artemis I launch.
Artemis I will be the first integrated test of SLS and Orion and will pave the way for landing the first woman and first person of color on the lunar surface. It will be a proving ground for deep space exploration, leading the agency’s efforts under the Artemis program for a sustainable presence on the Moon and preparing for human missions to Mars.
Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
#NASA #space #moon #Mars #NASAMarshall #msfc #sls #spacelaunchsystem #nasasls #rockets #exploration #engineering #explore #rocketscience #artemis #KSC #KennedySpaceCenter
The full "Pink Moon" sets over NASA's Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39B. The Space Launch System ("SLS") and Orion spacecraft sit atop the pad, undergoing testing in advance of the Artemis I mission. The mission will send the Orion spacecraft to orbit the Moon and return to Earth in advance of future crewed missions to the Moon. Shortly after this picture was captured, NASA determined the SLS needed to be rolled back to the Vehicle Assembly Building to repair a faulty valve, a move that might delay the Summer-2022 launch date.
For this photo, I was on a boat 7-miles (11.25 km) off-shore, shooting with a 700mm focal length, creating the effect of the rocket looking large compared to the Moon, approximately 240,000 miles (386,000 km) away.
Fully loading the propellant and detecting no leaks is a major milestone for the Green Run test series. A total of 114 tanker trucks delivered propellant to six propellant barges next to the B-2 Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. The barges deliver more than 733,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to the core stage for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket as part of the seventh test in the Green Run test series. The wet dress rehearsal test marks the first time propellant is loaded and drained from the propellant tanks of the stage that will help power Artemis I. Six propellant barges send fuel through a special feed system and lines in the test stand to the rocket stage.
Image Credit: NASA
#NASA #space #moon #Mars #NASAMarshall #msfc #sls #spacelaunchsystem #nasasls #rockets #exploration #engineering #explore #rocketscience #artemis #StennisSpaceCenter #SSC #GreenRun #rocketengine
NASA conducted its sixth RS-25 single-engine hot fire Aug. 5 on the A-1 Test Stand at Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, a continuation of its seven-part test series to support development and production of engines for the agency's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket on future missions to the Moon. Operators fired the engine for more than eight minutes (500 seconds), the same amount of time RS-25 engines need to fire for launch of the SLS rocket. Four RS-25 engines, with a pair of solid rocket boosters, will help power SLS at launch. NASA already has tested engines for the rocket's first four Artemis missions to the Moon, allowing operators to turn their focus towards collecting data to demonstrate and verify various engine capabilities for future engines. Along with providing performance data to Aerojet Rocketdyne, lead contractor for the SLS engines, the Aug. 5 test enabled the team to evaluate new engine components manufactured with cutting-edge and cost-saving technologies, eliminate operating risks, and enhance engine production. In addition to operating the engine at 109% of its original power level for extended periods during the hot fire, NASA verified new manufacturing processes while evaluating the performance of the engine's low-pressure fuel turbopump. The pump significantly boosts the pressure of liquid hydrogen delivered to the high-pressure fuel turbopump to help prevent cavitating, the forming of "bubbles" or "voids", which can collapse or cause shock waves that may damage machinery. NASA is building SLS as the world's most powerful rocket to send the agency's Orion spacecraft to the Moon. With Artemis, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the lunar surface and establish long-term exploration at the Moon in preparation for human missions to Mars. SLS and Orion, along with the commercial human landing system and the Gateway outpost in orbit around the Moon, are NASA's backbone for deep space exploration. SLS is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts, and supplies to the Moon in a single mission. An integrated team conducts RS-25 tests at Stennis Space Center, including NASA, Aerojet Rocketdyne, and Syncom Space Services, the prime contractor of Stennis facilities and operations.
Credit: NASA
#NASA #space #moon #Mars #NASAMarshall #msfc #sls #spacelaunchsystem #nasasls #rockets #exploration #engineering #explore #rocketscience #artemis #SSC #StennisSpaceCenter
Thursday (8/25) sunset captured from Kennedy Space Centerâs LC-39B as NASAâs Space Launch System (âSLSâ) and the Orion spacecraft await the scheduled 8/29 launch of the #Artemis1 mission.
#WeAreGoing
NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion spacecraft with its European Service Module, at Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, on 12 November, 2022. The Artemis I mission will be the first test of SLS, Orion and the European Service Module.
The Orion spacecraft with European Service Module will fly farther from Earth than any human-rated vehicle has ever flown before.
The spacecraft will perform a flyby of the Moon, using lunar gravity to gain speed and propel itself 70 000 km beyond the Moon, almost half a million km from Earth – further than any human has ever travelled, where it will inject itself in a Distant Retrograde Orbit around the Moon.
On its return journey, Orion will do another flyby of the Moon before heading back to Earth.
The total trip will take around 20 days, ending with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean without the European Service Module – it separates and burns up harmlessly in the atmosphere.
Credits: ESA - S. Corvaja
At NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, technicians from Orion prime contractor Lockheed Martin have welded together three cone-shaped panels on Orion’s crew module for the Artemis III mission that will land the first woman and next man on the Moon.
The crew module’s primary structure, the pressure vessel, is comprised of seven machined aluminum alloy pieces that are welded together through a weld process that produces a strong, air-tight habitable space for astronauts during the mission. The pressure vessel is designed to withstand the harsh and demanding environment of deep space, and is the core structure upon which all the other elements of Orion’s crew module are integrated.
Credit: NASA
#NASA #space #moon #Mars #NASAMarshall #msfc #sls #spacelaunchsystem #nasasls #rockets #exploration #engineering #explore #rocketscience #artemis #orion #MAF #MichoudAssemblyFacility
NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket’s launch vehicle stage adapter is loaded on the Pegasus barge at the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, July 17. The launch vehicle stage adapter, which connects the rocket’s 212-foot-tall core stage to the upper stage of the rocket, will be shipped to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for Artemis I launch preparations.
Image Credit: NASA/Fred Deaton
Inside NASA’s historic Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at Kennedy Space Center, towering steel gantries and massive cranes dominate the cavernous interior. This is one of the largest single-story buildings in the world, designed in the 1960s to stack the Saturn V rockets of the Apollo program and now used for assembling the Space Launch System (SLS) for the Artemis missions. The central high-bay area, seen here from above, includes multiple platforms and access decks allowing engineers to integrate and inspect rocket stages with millimeter precision. The structure’s immense scale—capable of accommodating vehicles over 500 feet tall—remains a defining symbol of America’s spaceflight engineering capability.
NASA conducts the first hot fire Jan. 28 in a new series of tests for production of RS-25 engines that will help power the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket on future deep space missions. The test of RS-25 developmental engine No. 0528 on the A-1 Test Stand at Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Miss., marks the beginning of a seven-test series designed to provide valuable data to Aerojet Rocketdyne, leadcontractor for SLS engines, as the company begins production of new RS-25 engines. Four RS-25 engines help power SLS at launch, firing simultaneously to generate a combined 1.6 million pounds of thrust at launch and 2 million pounds of thrust during ascent. NASA is building SLS as the world’s most powerful rocket. Initial SLS missions will fly to the Moon as part of NASA’s Artemis program, including the Artemis I uncrewed test flight this year that will pave the way for future flights with astronauts to explore the lunar surface and prepare for missions to Mars.
Credit: NASA
#NASA #space #moon #Mars #NASAMarshall #msfc #sls #spacelaunchsystem #nasasls #rockets #exploration #engineering #explore #rocketscience #artemis #SSC #StennisSpaceCenter
Teams at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans have fully integrated all five major structures of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket’s core stage for Artemis II, the first crewed Artemis mission that will send four astronauts around the Moon and return them home. Technicians joined the engine section to the rest of the rocket stage March 17. Next, teams will integrate the four RS-25 engines to the engine section to complete the stage.
Located at the bottom of the 212-foot-tall core stage, the engine section is the most complex and intricate part of the rocket stage, helping to power Artemis missions to the Moon. In addition to its miles of cabling and hundreds of sensors, the engine section is a crucial attachment point for the RS-25 engines and two solid rocket boosters that produce a combined 8.8 million pounds of thrust at liftoff. It houses the engines and includes vital systems for mounting, controlling, and delivering fuel from the propellant tanks to the engines.
The core stage for Artemis II is built, outfitted, and assembled at Michoud. Through Artemis missions, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone for astronauts on the way to Mars.
Image credit: NASA/Michael DeMocker
#NASA #NASAMarshall #sls #spacelaunchsystem #nasasls #exploration #rocket #artemis #MichoudAssemblyFacility #ArtemisII
Engineers completed almost 200 tests on the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket by breaking the liquid oxygen tank test article. This test was the last in a 3-year structural campaign to ensure the rocket’s structure was designed to endure the rigors of spacefllight. The tests were essential for safely sending astronauts to space on the Artemis missions the Moon. First, engineers used computer modeling to design the rocket’s major structures to specific factors of safety. Then, they anchored those models with testing to see if the model’s predictions are correct. More than 20 SLS structural tests showed that the liquid oxygen tank would survive the forces predicted to occur during launch and flight. The June 24 test pushed the tank beyond its limits to see how much force it would take to break the tank’s structure. This image shows water gushing out of the tank as it failed. The resulted circumferential buckling of the structure occurred within 2% of the predicted failure value. The test results will provide rocket designers with valuable information for making the SLS tanks lighter and for informing the designs of other government and commercial rockets.
Image credit: NASA/David Olive
NASA astronaut Drew Feustel and SLS (Space Launch System) employees from Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, interact with racegoers during the Miami Grand Prix race weekend May 6-8. Feustel is a veteran of three spaceflights, including the final servicing mission of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. The avid auto racing fan is a nine-time spacewalker and has logged 226 days in space throughout his career. Students and members of the public were invited to walk through the exhibit area to learn more about Artemis throughout race weekend. While there, NASA discussed the physics behind the SLS rocket that will power the Artemis missions to the Moon in comparison to the world-famous racecars.
With Artemis, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the lunar surface and establish long-term exploration and science capabilities at the Moon in preparation for human missions to Mars. SLS and NASA’s Orion spacecraft, along with the human landing system and the Gateway in orbit around the Moon, are NASA’s foundation for deep space exploration.
Image Credit: NASA/Brandon Hancock
#NASA #NASAMarshall #sls #spacelaunchsystem #nasasls #exploration #rocket #artemis #grandprix
Thursday morning on the Space Coast: The crescent Moon finds its way through the clouds, rising behind NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) & the Orion spacecraft.
Alternate title: Orion, meet your destination.
The ArtemisI launch is (currently) scheduled for September 27 with a window that opens at 11:37am (EDT).
NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen atop a mobile launcher at Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Image Credit: NASA
#MoontoMars #NASAMarshall #nasasls #artemis #NASA
NASA started rolling the Artemis I Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft with its European Service Module back to the Vehicle Assembly Building on 26 September at 05:21 CEST (04:21 BST).
The return to hangar was based on weather predictions associated with Hurricane Ian, that were not improving around the launchpad at the Kennedy Space Center area in Florida, USA. The decision allows time for employees to address the needs of their families and protect the integrated rocket and spacecraft system.
NASA’s Artemis I flight test will be the first integrated test of the agency’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, SLS rocket, and supporting ground systems.
ESA’s European Service Module will be powering the Orion spacecraft to the Moon and back.
The European Service Module – or ESM – provides for all astronauts’ basic needs, such as water, oxygen, nitrogen, temperature control, power and propulsion. Much like a train engine pulls passenger carriages and supplies power, the European Service Module will take the Orion capsule to its destination and back.
Credits: ESA - S. Corvaja