NASA finishes assembling Artemis mission rocket to take humans to moon

NASA has assembled “most powerful rocket ever built” Launch System (SLS) that will enable astronauts to begin ir journey to moon under ncy’s Artemis program. On June 13, administration’s Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) and Jacobs teams at port’s High Bay 3 finally stacked various elements of SLS rocket on top of mobile launcher inside iconic Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB, at NASA’s Kennedy Center in Florida. Weighing more than 188,000 lbs without fuel, and an estimated 212 feet tall, super-heavy-lift launch vehicle SLS’s giant core st consists of 4 propellant engines and is only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts, and cargo to Moon on a single mission. 

On June 14, SLS was placed on its path to pad for Artemis I, first integrated mission that would land first woman and first person of colour on Moon. NASA’s SLS and Orion craft, along with commercial human landing system and Gateway in orbit around Moon, are backbone for deep exploration for astronauts.  stacking and assembly activities for NASA’s Artemis I mission have been underway since Friday. port’s Exploration Ground Systems crew has been working at LaunchPad 39B, where NASA's Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion craft will lift off. 

[Credit: NASA]

[Credit: NASA]

SLS Program delivered core st rocket to center’s Launch Complex 39 turn basin wharf after completing a successful series of Green Run tests at Stennis Center in Mississippi.  212-foot-tall core st completed its 900-mile journey aboard ncy’s Pegasus barge on April 27. John Honeycutt, SLS program manr at NASA’s Marshall Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, had informed that with delivery of SLS core st for Artemis I, NASA has all parts of rocket at Kennedy for first Artemis mission.  NASA would work with Exploration Ground Systems team to put huge pieces for SLS toger to build America’s Moon rocket, he had added.

[ Launch System (SLS) core st arrives at ncy’s Kennedy Center in Florida. Credit: NASA]

'Invative techlogies' to explore moon

On Monday, team completed integration of SLS on  twin solid rocket boosters that were fully stacked atop mobile launcher and  launch vehicle st adapter which was housed inside High Bay 4. During Artemis program, NASA will use invative techlogies to explore more of lunar surface than ever before. “We will collaborate with our commercial and international partners and establish sustainable exploration for first time. n, we will use what we learn on and around Moon to take next giant leap – sending astronauts to Mars,” NASA said in a release.