QuoteOct 27, 2024In this video recap of Artemis news from the past week, I'll cover Bechtel's assembly of the Mobile Launcher-2 umbilical tower "chair" structure. The chair is the base of the tower and it connects to the ML-2 launch platform or "base."The NASA SLS Stages Element office manages the Core Stage of the vehicle and they provided updates in both visual and interview form. I'll go over the new footage from New Orleans and Michoud Assembly Facility of the Artemis III build and provide initial takeaways from the interview with SLS Stages manager Steve Wofford.During the week NASA also provided imagery of recent training and site visits by the Artemis II flight crew; the video covers Orion side hatch training and a visit to the Northrop Grumman facility where the SLS solid rocket booster assemblies are processed.Imagery is courtesy of NASA, except where noted.00:00 Intro00:57 SLS Core Stage-3 LOX tank processing continues04:32 Initial takeaways from interview with NASA SLS Stages Element manager Steve Wofford07:51 Mobile Launcher-2 construction milestone: assembly of the umbilical tower "chair"09:35 A short-ish Gateway schedule update on HALO assembly and test...and a non-update11:47 Other news and notes: Artemis II flight crew training and site visits14:20 The big picture: waiting for big decisions, announcements, updates17:31 Thanks for watching!
Oct 27, 2024In this video recap of Artemis news from the past week, I'll cover Bechtel's assembly of the Mobile Launcher-2 umbilical tower "chair" structure. The chair is the base of the tower and it connects to the ML-2 launch platform or "base."The NASA SLS Stages Element office manages the Core Stage of the vehicle and they provided updates in both visual and interview form. I'll go over the new footage from New Orleans and Michoud Assembly Facility of the Artemis III build and provide initial takeaways from the interview with SLS Stages manager Steve Wofford.During the week NASA also provided imagery of recent training and site visits by the Artemis II flight crew; the video covers Orion side hatch training and a visit to the Northrop Grumman facility where the SLS solid rocket booster assemblies are processed.Imagery is courtesy of NASA, except where noted.00:00 Intro00:57 SLS Core Stage-3 LOX tank processing continues04:32 Initial takeaways from interview with NASA SLS Stages Element manager Steve Wofford07:51 Mobile Launcher-2 construction milestone: assembly of the umbilical tower "chair"09:35 A short-ish Gateway schedule update on HALO assembly and test...and a non-update11:47 Other news and notes: Artemis II flight crew training and site visits14:20 The big picture: waiting for big decisions, announcements, updates17:31 Thanks for watching!
As NASA prepares for the first crewed Moon landing in more than five decades, the agency has identified an updated set of nine potential landing regions near the lunar South Pole for its Artemis III mission. These areas will be further investigated through scientific and engineering study. NASA will continue to survey potential areas for missions following Artemis III, including areas beyond these nine regions.“Artemis will return humanity to the Moon and visit unexplored areas. NASA’s selection of these regions shows our commitment to landing crew safely near the lunar South Pole, where they will help uncover new scientific discoveries and learn to live on the lunar surface,” said Lakiesha Hawkins, assistant deputy associate administrator, Moon to Mars Program Office.NASA’s Cross Agency Site Selection Analysis team, working closely with science and industry partners, added, and excluded potential landing regions, which were assessed for their science value and mission availability.The refined candidate Artemis III lunar landing regions are, in no priority order: • Peak near Cabeus B • Haworth • Malapert Massif • Mons Mouton Plateau • Mons Mouton • Nobile Rim 1 • Nobile Rim 2 • de Gerlache Rim 2 • Slater PlainThese regions contain diverse geological characteristics and offer flexibility for mission availability. The lunar South Pole has never been explored by a crewed mission and contains permanently shadowed areas that can preserve resources, including water.“The Moon’s South Pole is a completely different environment than where we landed during the Apollo missions,” said Sarah Noble, Artemis lunar science lead at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “It offers access to some of the Moon’s oldest terrain, as well as cold, shadowed regions that may contain water and other compounds. Any of these landing regions will enable us to do amazing science and make new discoveries.”To select these landing regions, a multidisciplinary team of scientists and engineers analyzed the lunar South Pole region using data from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and a vast body of lunar science research. Factors in the selection process included science potential, launch window availability, terrain suitability, communication capabilities with Earth, and lighting conditions. Additionally, the team assessed the combined trajectory capabilities of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket, the Orion spacecraft, and Starship HLS (Human Landing System) to ensure safe and accessible landing sites.The Artemis III geology team evaluated the landing regions for their scientific promise. Sites within each of the nine identified regions have the potential to provide key new insights into our understanding of rocky planets, lunar resources, and the history of our solar system.“Artemis III will be the first time that astronauts will land in the south polar region of the Moon. They will be flying on a new lander into a terrain that is unique from our past Apollo experience,” said Jacob Bleacher, NASA’s chief exploration scientist. “Finding the right locations for this historic moment begins with identifying safe places for this first landing, and then trying to match that with opportunities for science from this new place on the Moon.”
May 13, 2025 #Artemis #NASA #SLSIn February, Michoud crews with NASA and Boeing, the SLS core stage prime contractor, completed the thermal protection system on the external structure of the rocket’s liquid hydrogen propellant fuel tank, using a robotic tool in what is now the largest single application in spaceflight history. The robotically controlled operation coated the tank with spray-on foam insulation, distributing 107 feet of the foam to the tank in 102 minutes. When the foam is applied to the core stage, it gives the rocket a canary yellow color. The Sun's ultraviolet rays naturally “tan” the thermal protection, giving the SLS core stage its signature orange color, like the space shuttle external tank. Overall, the rocket’s core stage is 212 feet with a diameter of 27.6 feet, the same diameter as the space shuttle’s external tank. The liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen tanks feed four RS-25 engines for approximately 500 seconds before SLS reaches low Earth orbit and the core stage separates from the upper stage and NASA’s Orion spacecraft. The core stage of SLS is the largest NASA has ever built by length and volume, and it was manufactured at Michoud using state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment.
For Artemis III, EGS will conduct integrated operations including flight software sustainment releases, booster stacking, core stage 3 mate and stacking of Orion, and emergency egress system crew training and certification.
Teams at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility recently lifted the Artemis III liquid oxygen tank into a vertical position. Technicians will now be able to rappel inside and complete internal assembly.This tank is one of five pieces that make up the Space Launch System core stage.
Watch as teams at #NASAMichoud move a liquid oxygen tank for the @NASAArtemis III mission. 🏗️The massive hardware will form part of the SLS rocket's core stage. Seen here from earlier this month, it was positioned into a production cell in preparation for the next phase of assembly.
The boat tail for the Artemis III engine section has arrived at the VAB!!!
NASA Marshall@NASA_MarshallSpecial delivery! 📫The first pieces of flight hardware for @NASAArtemis III are now in the Vehicle Assembly Building at @NASAKennedy - the SLS rocket's boattail and engine section.This marks the first time two SLS rockets are being assembled simultaneously at the VAB. 🚀
As the @NASAArtemis II Moon rocket nears its fully-stacked configuration in High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building, the Artemis III core stage engine section will take its place in High Bay 2 marking the first time two SLS rockets are being processed at the same time!
After briefly being detached to allow for transport to the VAB, Boeing has re-integrated the Boat Tail onto Core Stage 3's Engine Section. This is the first major component of the stage to be worked on here at Kennedy Space Center.📸NASA/Ronald Beard
NASA Marshall@NASA_Marshall#ICYMI: The Artemis III SLS engine section and boat-tail have been integrated and lifted into High Bay 2 in the Vehicle Assembly Building.
Move crews at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans perform “breakover” operations on a liquid oxygen tank in the facility’s vertical assembly building on Aug. 22, 2025. During the breakover, teams lifted the tank from its vertical configuration inside of a production cell and set it horizontally atop self-propelled mobile transporters for transfer to the final assembly production area. There, it will undergo integration of the forward dome by SLS (Space Launch System) prime contractor, Boeing. Eventually, the liquid oxygen tank will be moved back to the high bay where it will be mated with the intertank and forward skirt to complete the forward join of the Artemis III core stage.
While it’s not ready to ship to Kennedy yet, the MSFC also built and assembled the OSA for Artemis III. According to Gallemore, the Artemis III OSA is ready for the next phase of the process, integrating items such as the secondary payload brackets, the composite diaphragm, and other wiring and instrumentation.
At a Sept. 19 public meeting, members of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel said they believed the Human Landing System, or HLS, version of Starship could be “years late.”[...]“The HLS schedule is significantly challenged and, in our estimation, could be years late for a 2027 Artemis 3 moon landing,” Hill said.A major issue, he said, is demonstrating cryogenic propellant transfer, needed to refuel Starship in low Earth orbit before heading to the moon. That work has been slowed by delays in version 3 of Starship — the first capable of such transfers — and by ongoing improvements to the version 3 Raptor engine.[...]Later in the meeting, panel member Bill Bray raised broader concerns about the Artemis program. Preparations for Artemis 2, set to launch in early 2026, are on track, he said.However, “the panel also sees the path for Artemis 3 and beyond as uncertain and a little murky,” he said, “which is not good for the program’s safety and risk posture going forward.”
NASA Marshall@NASA_Marshall·Sep 20⏩Teams at #NASAMichoud recently moved the SLS liquid oxygen tank for @NASAArtemis III into the final assembly production area where it will undergo integration of the forward dome.Then, the tank will be mated with other hardware to complete the forward join of the core stage.
The liquid oxygen tank for NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket core stage for the Artemis III mission is lifted into a production cell at the agency’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans on Nov. 7. Move crews use an overhead crane system to lift the tank from the mobile transporter, which carried it from another area of the factory and set it atop the previously loaded intertank. Once the liquid oxygen tank is mated to the intertank, team will mate the stage’s forward skirt atop the tank to complete the forward join.
