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From across the Atlantic Ocean and through the Gulf of Mexico, two ships converged, delivering key spacecraft and rocket components of NASA\u2019s Artemis campaign to the agency\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.<\/p>\n
On Sept. 3, ESA (European Space Agency) marked a milestone in the Artemis III mission as its European-built service module for NASA\u2019s Orion spacecraft completed a transatlantic journey from Bremen, Germany, to Port Canaveral, Florida, where technicians moved it to nearby NASA Kennedy. Transported aboard the Canop\u00e9e cargo ship, the European Service Module\u2014assembled by Airbus with components from 10 European countries and the U.S.\u2014provides propulsion, thermal control, electrical power, and water and oxygen for its crews.<\/p>\n
\u201cSeeing multi-mission hardware arrive at the same time demonstrates the progress we are making on our Artemis missions,\u201d said Amit Kshatriya, deputy associate administrator, Moon to Mars Program, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. \u201cWe are going to the Moon together with our industry and international partners and we are manufacturing, assembling, building, and integrating elements for Artemis flights.\u201d<\/p>\n
NASA\u2019s Pegasus barge, the agency\u2019s waterway workhorse for transporting large hardware by sea, ferried multi-mission hardware for the agency\u2019s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket, the Artemis II launch vehicle stage adapter, the \u201cboat-tail\u201d of the core stage for Artemis III, the core stage engine section for Artemis IV, along with ground support equipment needed to move and assemble the large components. The barge pulled into NASA Kennedy\u2019s Launch Complex 39B Turn Basin Thursday.<\/p>\n
The spacecraft factory inside NASA Kennedy\u2019s Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building is set to buzz with additional activity in the coming months. With the Artemis II Orion crew and service modules stacked together and undergoing testing, and engineers outfitting the Artemis III and IV crew modules, engineers soon will connect the newly arrived European Service Module to the crew module adapter, which houses electronic equipment for communications, power, and control, and includes an umbilical connector that bridges the electrical, data, and fluid systems between the crew and service modules.<\/p>\n
The SLS rocket\u2019s cone-shaped launch vehicle stage adapter connects the core stage to the upper stage and protects the rocket\u2019s flight computers, avionics, and electrical devices in the upper stage system during launch and ascent. The adapter will be taken to Kennedy\u2019s Vehicle Assembly Building in preparation for Artemis II rocket stacking operations.<\/p>\n
The boat-tail, which will be used during the assembly of the SLS core stage for Artemis III, is a fairing-like structure that protects the bottom end of the core stage and RS-25 engines. This hardware, picked up at NASA\u2019s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, will join the Artemis III core stage engine section housed in the spaceport\u2019s Space Systems Processing Facility.<\/p>\n
The Artemis IV SLS core stage engine section arrived from NASA Michoud and also will transfer to the center\u2019s processing facility ahead of final assembly.<\/p>\n
Under the Artemis campaign, NASA will land the first woman, first person of color, and its first international partner astronaut on the lunar surface, establishing long-term exploration for scientific discovery and preparing for human missions to Mars. The agency\u2019s SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft, and supporting ground systems, along with the human landing system, next-generation spacesuits and rovers, and Gateway, serve as NASA\u2019s foundation for deep space exploration.<\/p>\n
For more information on NASA\u2019s Artemis missions, visit:<\/p>\n
<\/strong><\/p>\n -end-<\/p>\n Rachel Kraft Allison Tankersley, Antonia Jaramillo Botero
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
Rachel.h.kraft@nasa.gov<\/p>\n
Kennedy Space Center, Florida
321-867-2468
Allison.p.tankersley@nasa.gov\/ antonia.jaramillobotero@nasa.gov<\/p>\n<\/div>\n