\n<\/p>\n
NASA rolled out a key piece of space flight hardware for the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket for the first crewed mission of NASA\u2019s Artemis campaign from Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, on Wednesday, Aug. 21 for shipment to the agency\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The cone-shaped launch vehicle stage adapter connects the rocket\u2019s core stage to the upper stage and helps protect the upper stage\u2019s engine that will help propel the Artemis II test flight around the Moon, slated for 2025.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe launch vehicle stage adapter is the largest SLS component for Artemis II that is made at the center,\u201d said Chris Calfee, SLS Spacecraft Payload Integration and Evolution element manager. \u201cBoth the adapters for the SLS rocket that will power the Artemis II and Artemis III missions are fully produced at NASA Marshall. Alabama plays a key role in returning astronauts to the Moon.\u201d<\/p>\n
Crews moved the adapter out of NASA Marshall\u2019s Building 4708 to the agency\u2019s Pegasus barge Aug. 21. The barge will ferry the adapter first to NASA\u2019s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, where crews will pick up additional SLS hardware for future Artemis missions, before traveling to NASA Kennedy. Once in Florida, the adapter will join the recently delivered core stage. There, teams with NASA\u2019s Exploration Ground Systems will prepare the adapter for stacking and launch.<\/p>\n
Engineering teams at NASA Marshall are in the final phase of integration work on the\u00a0launch vehicle stage adapter for Artemis III.\u00a0The stage adapter is manufactured by prime contractor Teledyne Brown Engineering and the Jacobs Space Exploration Group\u2019s ESSCA (Engineering Services and Science Capability Augmentation) contract using NASA Marshall\u2019s self-reacting friction-stir robotic and vertical weld tools.<\/p>\n
Through the Artemis campaign, NASA will land the first woman, first person of color, and its first international partner astronaut on the Moon. The rocket is part of NASA\u2019s deep space exploration plans, along with the Orion spacecraft, supporting ground systems, advanced spacesuits and rovers, Gateway in orbit around the Moon, and commercial human landing systems. NASA\u2019s SLS is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts, and supplies to the Moon in a single launch.<\/p>\n
For more on SLS, visit:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n
Jonathan Deal
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.\u00a0
256-544-0034 \u00a0
jonathan.e.deal@nasa.gov<\/p>\n<\/div>\n