A radome has been installed over an S-band antenna at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The antenna, seen from the inside, is designed to provide a crucial tracking capability following liftoff of the agency's Space Launch System rocket. A radome is a weatherproof structural enclosure designed to protect an antenna or radar system and is constructed of material that interferes minimally with the electromagnetic signal transmitted or received. The S-band portion of the microwave spectrum combines voice, television, telemetry, command, tracking and ranging into a single system.

Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

NASA image use policy.

Inside the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility high bay at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the first of two pathfinders, or test versions, of solid rocket booster segments for NASA’s Space Launch System rocket has been lifted into the vertical position and is being lowered onto a test stand. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program and Jacobs Engineering, on the Test and Operations Support Contract, will conduct a series of lifts, moves and stacking operations using the booster segments, which are inert, to prepare for Exploration Mission-1, deep-space missions and the journey to Mars. The pathfinder boosters arrived at Kennedy from Orbital ATK in Utah aboard an Iowa Northern train contracted by Goodloe Transportation of Chicago. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

NASA image use policy.

Inside the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility high bay at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, engineers and technicians with Jacobs Engineering on the Test and Operations Support Contract prepare to remove the environmental cover from the first of two pathfinders, or test versions, of solid rocket booster segments for NASA’s Space Launch System rocket. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program along with Jacobs will conduct a series of lifts, moves and stacking operations using the booster segments, which are inert, to prepare for Exploration Mission-1, deep-space missions and the journey to Mars. The pathfinder boosters arrived at Kennedy from Orbital ATK in Utah aboard an Iowa Northern train contracted by Goodloe Transportation of Chicago. Photo credit: NASA/Bill White

NASA image use policy.

Inside the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility high bay at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, engineers and technicians with Jacobs Engineering on the Test and Operations Support Contract have removed the environmental cover from the first of two pathfinders, or test versions, of solid rocket booster segments for NASA’s Space Launch System rocket. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program and Jacobs will conduct a series of lifts, moves and stacking operations using the booster segments, which are inert, to prepare for Exploration Mission-1, deep-space missions and the journey to Mars. The pathfinder boosters arrived at Kennedy from Orbital ATK in Utah aboard an Iowa Northern train contracted by Goodloe Transportation of Chicago. Photo credit: NASA/Bill White

NASA image use policy.

Main Propulsion System Engineers Krista Riggs, left, and Joe Pavicic, both with Jacobs, monitor operations from their consoles in Firing Room 1 at the Kennedy Space Center's Launch Control Center during a countdown simulation for Exploration Mission-1. It was the agency's first simulation of a portion of the countdown for the first launch of a Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft that will eventually take astronauts beyond low-Earth orbit to destinations such as the Moon and Mars.

Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston

NASA image use policy.

NASA’s crawler-transporter 2 carrying the agency’s Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft, secured to the mobile launcher, begins the 4.2-mile journey toward Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. The Artemis II test flight will take Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialist Christina Koch from NASA, and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen from the CSA (Canadian Space Agency), around the Moon and back to Earth no later than April 2026. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

NASA image use policy.

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.

A new service platform for NASA's Space Launch System (SLS), secured on a flatbed truck, is on its way to the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It was transported from fabricator Met-Con Inc. in Cocoa, Florida. The Core Engine Service Platform is a large work platform that is designed to provide unrestricted access to the RS-25 engines on the SLS core stage from the mobile launcher. The platform will be delivered to the Vehicle Assembly Building, where it will be used for processing and checkout. During Exploration Mission-1, an uncrewed Orion spacecraft will launch on the SLS to a stable orbit beyond the Moon and return to Earth for a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

NASA image use policy.

A new service platform for NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) has arrived at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and is being transported to the Vehicle Assembly (VAB). It was transported from fabricator Met-Con Inc. in Cocoa, Florida. The Core Engine Service Platform is a large work platform that is designed to provide unrestricted access to the RS-25 engines on the SLS core stage from the mobile launcher. It will be stored in the VAB, and used for processing and checkout. Exploration Mission-1 will launch an uncrewed Orion spacecraft to a stable orbit beyond the Moon and bring it back to Earth for a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

NASA image use policy.

A new service platform for NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) is transported to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It was transported from fabricator Met-Con Inc. in Cocoa, Florida. The Core Engine Service Platform is a large work platform that is designed to provide unrestricted access to the RS-25 engines on the SLS core stage from the mobile launcher. It will be stored in the VAB, and used for processing and checkout. Exploration Mission-1 will launch an uncrewed Orion spacecraft to a stable orbit beyond the Moon and bring it back to Earth for a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

NASA image use policy.

The left hand aft skirt for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket is moved inside the Booster Fabrication Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The aft skirt arrived from the Hangar AF facility at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The space shuttle-era aft skirt, was inspected, resurfaced, primed and painted for use on the left hand booster of the SLS rocket for Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1). NASA is preparing for EM-1, deep-space missions, and the journey to Mars. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

NASA image use policy.

NASA Astronaut Mike Barratt

A heavy load transport truck proceeds along the road to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying the second half of the F-level work platforms for the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. The platform will be delivered to the VAB staging area in the west parking lot. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to VAB 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. Delivery of this platform brings the total to 10 platforms, or half of the work platforms delivered to Kennedy. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

NASA image use policy.

A 250-ton crane is used to lift the second half of the K-level work platforms for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket up from High Bay 4 inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The platform is being lifted up and over the transfer aisle and will be lowered into High Bay 3 for installation. It will be secured about 86 feet above the VAB floor, on tower E of the high bay. 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. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

NASA image use policy.

An over-sized load, heavy transport trailer carrying the first half of the G-level work platforms for the Vehicle Assembly at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, proceeds along the route to the center after departing Sauer Co. in Oak Hill, Florida, The platform, one-half of the "G" platforms, was fabricated by Steel LLC of Scottdale, Georgia, and assembled by Sauer Co. 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 and Orion spacecraft, and other exploration vehicles. 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.

Inside the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility high bay at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, engineers and technicians with Jacobs Engineering on the Test and Operations Support Contract monitor the progress as a crane and lifting mechanism are used to lift the first of two pathfinders, or test versions, of solid rocket booster segments for NASA’s Space Launch System rocket away from the railcar. The booster segment will be lifted into the vertical position. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program and Jacobs will conduct a series of lifts, moves and stacking operations using the booster segments, which are inert, to prepare for Exploration Mission-1, deep-space missions and the journey to Mars. The pathfinder boosters arrived at Kennedy from Orbital ATK in Utah aboard an Iowa Northern train contracted by Goodloe Transportation of Chicago. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

NASA image use policy.

Inside the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility high bay at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the first of two pathfinders, or test versions, of solid rocket booster segments for NASA’s Space Launch System rocket has been lifted into the vertical position. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program and Jacobs Engineering, on the Test and Operations Support Contract, will conduct a series of lifts, moves and stacking operations using the booster segments, which are inert, to prepare for Exploration Mission-1, deep-space missions and the journey to Mars. The pathfinder boosters arrived at Kennedy from Orbital ATK in Utah aboard an Iowa Northern train contracted by Goodloe Transportation of Chicago. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

NASA image use policy.

NASA Launch Director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, above, confers with Senior NASA Test Director Jeff Spaulding, left, and Chief NASA Test Director Jeremy Graeber in Firing Room 1 at the Kennedy Space Center's Launch Control Center during a countdown simulation for Exploration Mission-1. It was the agency's first simulation of a portion of the countdown for the first launch of a Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft that will eventually take astronauts beyond low-Earth orbit to destinations such as the Moon and Mars.

Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston

NASA image use policy.

Jacobs Test Project Engineer Don Vinton, left and NASA Operations Project Engineer Doug Robertson, monitor operations from his position in Firing Room 1 at the Kennedy Space Center's Launch Control Center during a countdown simulation for Exploration Mission-1. It was the agency's first simulation of a portion of the countdown for the first launch of a Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft that will eventually take astronauts beyond low-Earth orbit to destinations such as the Moon and Mars.

Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston

NASA image use policy.

Under the watchful eye of technicians and engineers, a crane begins lifting 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 (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/Bill White

NASA image use policy.

Members of the critical design review board for NASA's Ground Systems Development and Operations Program meet in a facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Members of the review board completed their in-depth assessment of the plans for Kennedy's facilities and ground support systems that will be needed to process NASA's Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft for deep-space exploration missions. Successful completion of the CDR is one of the steps on the path to preparing for the agency's journey to Mars. The CDR is the final review before moving into fabrication, installation and testing of Kennedy's ground systems. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

Boeing engineer Myron Fletcher works on the Space Launch System, which will proper humans into deep space on NASA's Journey to Mars.

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

A freshly painted NASA’s Artemis logo is unveiled on the White Room connected to the crew access arm and mobile launcher inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. The White Room is the area where the Artemis II crew Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen will enter the Orion spacecraft ahead of launch from Launch Complex 39B at NASA Kennedy in early 2026. Photo credit: NASA/Frank Michaux

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/

At NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Orion's newly completed pressure vessel for the Artemis III mission is lifted out of the welding tool. 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.

Image credit: NASA/Michael DeMocker

Inside the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility high bay at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, engineers and technicians with Jacobs Engineering on the Test and Operations Support Contract have removed the environmental cover from the first of two pathfinders, or test versions, of solid rocket booster segments for NASA’s Space Launch System rocket. Preparations are underway to perform a simulated grain inspection of the booster’s interior. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program and Jacobs will conduct a series of lifts, moves and stacking operations using the booster segments, which are inert, to prepare for Exploration Mission-1, deep-space missions and the journey to Mars. The pathfinder boosters arrived at Kennedy from Orbital ATK in Utah aboard an Iowa Northern train contracted by Goodloe Transportation of Chicago. Photo credit: NASA/Bill White

NASA image use policy.

NASA Launch Director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, center, stands next to her console in Firing Room 1 at the Kennedy Space Center's Launch Control Center. With her, from the left, are NASA intern Justin Connolly, NASA Engineering Project Manager Dan Tran, Blackwell-Thompson, Shawn Reverter, Project Manager for Red Canyon Software, Inc., and NASA Structures and Mechanisms Design Branch Chief Adam Dokos, during a countdown simulation for Exploration Mission-1. It was the agency's first simulation of a portion of the countdown for the first launch of a Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft that will eventually take astronauts beyond low-Earth orbit to destinations such as the Moon and Mars.

Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston

NASA image use policy.

The engine vertical installer for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) is being lifted by crane in the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 25, 2019. The engine installer arrived from the manufacturer, Precision Fabrication and Cleaning in Canaveral Groves, Florida. The new ground support equipment will be transferred into High Bay 3 where it will be ready for preflight processing in the event one of the four RS-25 engines on the core stage of the SLS rocket needs to be replaced. During launch of the SLS and Orion spacecraft, the four core stage engines will provide the thrust needed to lift the rocket and Orion spacecraft off Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy for Exploration Mission-1. The uncrewed Orion will travel on a three-week test mission thousands of miles beyond the Moon and back to Earth for a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston

NASA image use policy.

At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a completed radome has been installed over an S-band antenna. The antenna is designed to provide a crucial tracking capability following liftoff of the agency's Space Launch System rocket. A radome is a weatherproof structural enclosure designed to protect an antenna or radar system and is constructed of material that interferes minimally with the electromagnetic signal transmitted or received. The S-band portion of the microwave spectrum combines voice, television, telemetry, command, tracking and ranging into a single system.

Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

NASA image use policy.

At NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida, engineers and technicians have just completed positioning an S-band antenna on its support pedestal. The antenna will provide a crucial tracking capability following liftoff of the agency's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. The S-band portion of the microwave spectrum combines command, voice and television signals though a single antenna.

Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

NASA image use policy.

At NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Orion's newly completed pressure vessel for the Artemis III mission is lifted out of the welding tool. 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.

Image credit: NASA/Michael DeMocker

Inside the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility high bay at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, engineers and technicians with Jacobs Engineering on the Test and Operations Support Contract prepare to remove the environmental cover from the first of two pathfinders, or test versions, of solid rocket booster segments for NASA’s Space Launch System rocket. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program and Jacobs will conduct a series of lifts, moves and stacking operations using the booster segments, which are inert, to prepare for Exploration Mission-1, deep-space missions and the journey to Mars. The pathfinder boosters arrived at Kennedy from Orbital ATK in Utah aboard an Iowa Northern train contracted by Goodloe Transportation of Chicago. Photo credit: NASA/Bill White

NASA image use policy.

NASA Operation Project Engineer Rommel Rubio monitors operations from his position in Firing Room 1 at the Kennedy Space Center's Launch Control Center during a countdown simulation for Exploration Mission-1. It was the agency's first simulation of a portion of the countdown for the first launch of a Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft that will eventually take astronauts beyond low-Earth orbit to destinations such as the Moon and Mars.

Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston

NASA image use policy.

NASA Launch Director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson stands next to her console in Firing Room 1 at the Kennedy Space Center's Launch Control Center during a countdown simulation for Exploration Mission-1. It was the agency's first simulation of a portion of the countdown for the first launch of a Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft that will eventually take astronauts beyond low-Earth orbit to destinations such as the Moon and Mars.

Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston

NASA image use policy.

The engine vertical installer for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) arrives by large transport truck at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 25, 2019. The engine installer arrived from the manufacturer, Precision Fabrication and Cleaning in Canaveral Groves, Florida. The new ground support equipment will be delivered to the Vehicle Assembly where it will be ready for preflight processing in the event one of the four RS-25 engines on the core stage of the SLS rocket needs to be replaced. During launch of the SLS and Orion spacecraft, the four core stage engines will provide the thrust needed to lift the rocket and Orion spacecraft off Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy for Exploration Mission-1. The uncrewed Orion will travel on a three-week test mission thousands of miles beyond the Moon and back to Earth for a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston

NASA image use policy.

Boeing engineer Tony Castilleja chats about space with Raisbeck Aviation High School students.

Tony 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...

Senior NASA Test Director Jeff Spaulding monitors operations from his position in Firing Room 1 at the Kennedy Space Center's Launch Control Center during a countdown simulation for Exploration Mission-1. It was the agency's first simulation of a portion of the countdown for the first launch of a Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft that will eventually take astronauts beyond low-Earth orbit to destinations such as the Moon and Mars.

Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston

NASA image use policy.

On September 8, 2018, the ML moved into High Bay 3 in NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building, where it will stay 7 months for fit tests. (Pics: Michael Seeley / We Report Space)

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.

A 250-ton crane is used to lift the second half of the K-level work platforms for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket up from High Bay 4 inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The platform is being lifted up and over the transfer aisle and will be lowered into High Bay 3 for installation. It will be secured about 86 feet above the VAB floor, on tower E of the high bay. 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. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

NASA image use policy.

Just north of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians prepare a crane to lift the core stage forward skirt umbilical for installation onto 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/Bill White

NASA image use policy.

Space Launch System rocket ready for night launch at KSC LC39B.

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

DSC_0274proc

NASA's Super Guppy aircraft taxies onto the tarmac after touching down at the Shuttle Landing Facility at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Super Guppy is carrying the Orion Stage Adapter (OSA), the second flight-hardware section of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket that has arrived at Kennedy. The OSA will connect the Orion spacecraft to the upper part of the SLS rocket, 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.

Happy Friday, Flickr friends. Found one more really good "smoke and fire image" from the Jan. 10 test. Have a great weekend.

On Jan. 10, 2013, the Saturn V F-1 gas generator completed a 20-second hot-fire test. Engineers are completing a series of tests at Test Stand 116 located in the East Test Area at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. The primary test objectives are to gather performance data from the refurbished gas generator and to demonstrate new test stand capabilities for conducting future tests with liquid oxygen and rocket grade kerosene fuel, known as Rocket Propellant 1. This digital data also will help engineers refine engine combustion computer models and analyze different fuel mixture ratios and soot production. All data will be valuable for the development of advanced propulsion systems.

Image credit: NASA/MSFC

Read more:

www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/f1_sls.html

Original image:

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

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...

At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane is prepared to lift the Orion crew access arm (CAA) so it can be attached to the mobile launcher (ML). 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.

The core stage for NASA's first Artemis mission to the Moon moved to the agency’s Pegasus barge on Jan. 8, 2020. The 212-foot Space Launch System rocket stage, built by NASA and lead contractor Boeing at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility, rolled the onto Pegasus, which shipped it to NASA's Stennis Space Center on Jan. 12. Here, it will undergo a comprehensive series of engineering tests called the Green Run. After Green Run is complete, the core stage will be sent to NASA's Kennedy Space Center, where it will join with SLS's giant boosters and the Orion spacecraft to launch into space on Artemis I.

Image credit: Eric Bordelon

Read more

More about Artemis

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Upgrades and modifications continue to the flame trench at Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Pad B 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 the journey to Mars. For more information about GSDO, visit: www.nasa.gov/groundsystems. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

NASA image use policy.

Lockheed Martin technicians at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Louisiana, complete the final weld on the pressure vessel of the Orion crew module for Exploration Mission-2, the first flight of Orion with astronauts which will carry them farther into the solar system than ever before.

Just north of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane is prepared to lift the core stage forward skirt umbilical for installation onto 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/Bill White

NASA image use policy.