All articles tagged with #space launch system
NASA uses the Pegasus barge to move the Space Launch System's 212-foot core stage and other enormous rocket components by water from Louisiana to Florida, a ship lengthened in 1999 to accommodate heavier hardware and already supporting Artemis II and Artemis III with future missions on the horizon.
NASA has begun assembling Artemis III’s Space Launch System at Kennedy Space Center, raising the rocket’s core stage inside the Vehicle Assembly Building ahead of a planned 2027 liftoff. The mission will test critical rendezvous and docking with lunar landers and will gauge performance alongside SpaceX’s Starship and Blue Origin’s Blue Moon as a stepping stone to crewed lunar exploration.
NASA Ames contributed to Artemis II by refining Orion’s reentry physics with new aerothermal sensors and modeling, advancing 3D-MAT compression pads, validating SLS aerodynamics and debris analyses, supporting mission assurance with real-time tools, and guiding crew-led lunar science observations.
NASA rolled out the Space Launch System core stage for Artemis III, a 212-foot-tall rocket section built by Boring and L3Harris, marking a key step toward the first crewed lunar landing in more than 50 years. The core stage will power Artemis III’s mission, slated for 2027, with final assembly on Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center after its transport from Michoud.
NASA's Artemis II postflight analyses show Orion and SLS performed as expected, with ongoing inspections at Kennedy and Marshall to support Artemis III and future Moon missions.
NASA's final pre-launch briefing for Artemis II says countdown and tanking are on track, with weather looking favorable (about 80% acceptable) though cumulus clouds could threaten the launch. The two‑hour window at Kennedy Space Center remains, and the four‑astronaut crew—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen—will fly the Space Launch System and Orion around the Moon for about 10 days, paving the way for future lunar missions. Updates will continue ahead of launch day.
Artemis II’s four astronauts (Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, Jeremy Hansen) are in final quarantine ahead of a planned 6:24 p.m. ET liftoff from Kennedy Space Center, targeting a free-return lunar trajectory. Weather remains a key factor with an 80% go forecast despite onshore showers; launch decisions hinge on cloud thickness, winds, lightning rules, and space weather, as NASA holds a final prelaunch briefing and Space Coast spectators prepare for a historic mission.
New Orleans' Michoud Assembly Facility has long produced major rocket stages for NASA—from Saturn V and Space Shuttle external tanks to the Space Launch System core stages for Artemis. With Artemis II crewed and Artemis III targeting mid-2027, production workflows have evolved to complete more of the core stage at Michoud before final assembly at Kennedy Space Center, underscoring the facility's central role in America's lunar ambitions while its workforce weather the program's ups and downs.
NASA says Artemis 2 is on track for an April 1 liftoff from Cape Canaveral with a two-hour window and about a 20% weather risk, carrying Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen aboard Orion for a 10-day flight that will loop around the Moon (not land) before returning to Earth, a critical test paving the way for Artemis 3 and beyond.
Artemis II plans a 10-day crewed loop around the Moon in April 2026 aboard SLS/Orion; space policy expert Scott Pace outlines the decades-long path to this mission, highlights key risk checks (boosters, translunar injection, life support, heat shield), discusses cost and flight-rate challenges, and explains Artemis as an international, commercial effort aimed at establishing a sustainable lunar presence that could eventually be led by the private sector if economics support it.
NASA is targeting April 1 to launch Artemis 2, a four‑astronaut mission (Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, Jeremy Hansen) aboard the Space Launch System and Orion for a roughly 10‑day loop around the Moon; it would be the first crewed flight beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17. After fixing issues from a liquid hydrogen leak and a helium‑flow interruption, the Artemis 2 stack is on Launch Complex 39B at Kennedy Space Center. If April 1 slips, additional windows run through April 6, with a possible option on April 30, as NASA remains focused on an April liftoff.
NASA’s Artemis 2 rocket and Orion crew capsule were moved back to Launch Complex 39B at Kennedy Space Center after recent maintenance, with rollout completing ahead of the April launch window. Artemis 2 will carry a four-person crew—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen—for a 10-day loop around the Moon, as managers finalize systems and ground checks in case liftoff occurs starting April 1 (with potential extensions through April 6 and into late April if needed).
NASA is rolling the 322-foot Space Launch System rocket and its Orion crew capsule back to Kennedy Space Center's launch pad for Artemis II, a 10-day crewed lunar mission that could launch as early as April 1. The 4-mile crawl, using a crawler-transporter at about 1 mph, follows a prior rollback to repair a helium-flow blockage uncovered during a wet dress rehearsal. Engineers replaced a seal and batteries and conducted tests. The crew includes Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, Victor Glover, and Jeremy Hansen, who would travel farther from Earth than any humans to date.
NASA’s Artemis 2 mission’s Space Launch System rocket rolled back to the Vehicle Assembly Building for repairs after a helium-flow issue, with teams aiming to return it to Launch Pad 39B no earlier than April 1. The four astronauts remain in quarantine, and officials must complete fueling checks and other inspections before liftoff on a roughly 10‑day lunar mission from Kennedy Space Center.
NASA unveiled a major Artemis restructuring to shorten mission intervals and reduce hardware. The plan cancels the SLS Block 1B upgrade and Mobile Launcher 2, standardizes SLS to a single configuration, and contemplates using a Centaur V upper stage for all launches after Artemis 3, with Gateway’s fate left uncertain. Artemis 3 would fly to low Earth orbit for docking with contracted landers (Starship/Blue Moon) rather than a direct lunar landing, Artemis 4 targets the program’s first crewed Moon landing in 2028, and Artemis 5 would follow; Artemis 2 remains on track for its return mission amid repairs and scheduling moves.