The Orion crew module and its adapter for the first crewed Artemis mission are undergoing testing and maintenance at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. On Artemis II, Orion will launch atop the Space Launch System rocket and carry astronauts around the Moon and back to Earth.
The rocket booster segments that will help power NASA’s first Artemis flight test mission around the Moon arrived at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday for launch preparations.
All 10 segments for the inaugural flight of NASA’s first Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft were shipped by train from Promontory, Utah. The 10-day, cross-country journey is an important milestone toward the first launch for NASA’s Artemis program.
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Inside the Booster Fabrication Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Artemis I aft skirts for the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket’s twin solid rocket boosters are being readied for their move to the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility (RPSF). In view, the left aft skirt assembly is attached to a move vehicle and moved out of a test cell. The aft skirts were refurbished by Northrop Grumman. They house the thrust vector control system, which controls 70 percent of the steering during initial ascent of the SLS rocket. The segments will remain in the RPSF until ready for stacking with the forward and aft parts of the booster on the mobile launcher in High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building.
NASA has awarded Astrobotic of Pittsburgh $199.5 million to deliver NASA’s Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) to the Moon’s South Pole in late 2023.
The water-seeking mobile VIPER robot will help pave the way for astronaut missions to the lunar surface beginning in 2024 and will bring NASA a step closer to developing a sustainable, long-term presence on the Moon as part of the agency’s Artemis program.
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NASA has finalized the contract for the initial crew module of the agency’s Gateway lunar orbiting outpost.
Orbital Science Corporation of Dulles, Virginia, a wholly owned subsidiary of Northrop Grumman Space, has been awarded $187 million to design the habitation and logistics outpost (HALO) for the Gateway, which is part of NASA’s Artemis program and will help the agency build a sustainable presence at the Moon. This award funds HALO’s design through its preliminary design review, expected by the end of 2020.
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As it soars off the launch pad for the Artemis I missions, NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket is powered by two solid rocket boosters. Critical parts of the booster will soon head to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in preparation for the Artemis I launch. Specialized transporters move each of the 10 solid rocket motor segments from the Northrop Grumman facility in their Promontory Point, Utah, to a departure point where they will leave for NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The cross-country journey is an important milestone toward the first launch of NASA’s Artemis lunar program.
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Parts of Orion’s Artemis III crew module that will carry the first woman and next man to land on the Moon are taking shape at AMRO Fabricating Corp. in California and Ingersoll Machine Tools Inc. in Illinois.
NASA’s Artemis program is a new era of lunar exploration – one where we will send robots and humans to explore more of the Moon than ever before – this time to stay.
This blog will be a source of information on Artemis launch and exploration progress, covering changes and information across our science, technology and human exploration programs. We may feature guest posts from a variety of sources, take a deep dive into technical matters, address common questions and misconceptions, and more. Once we’re ready to fly, check out this blog for launch updates and other mission operations.
First up for Artemis includes sending a suite of science instruments and technology experiments to the lunar surface beginning in 2021. As part of our Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative, NASA will rely on American companies to deliver these payloads to the Moon about twice per year. Deliveries are already slated for multiple locations including the lunar South Pole.
These missions will help us set the stage for a human return. NASA and our partners are preparing to land the first woman and next man on the Moon in 2024, and establish sustainable exploration by the end of the decade.
The agency is finalizing development and testing of our powerful new Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft, which will launch from a modernized Kennedy Space Center in Florida. After launch, Orion will transport crew to lunar orbit where astronauts will transfer to a modern human landing system for missions to the surface of the Moon. On the surface, they’ll wear our new extravehicular mobility unit or xEMU spacesuit, which will allow them greater flexibility to move and conduct science. There we’ll build a base camp at the South Pole and look for resources like water to help further our exploration.
Operating in lunar orbit with and without crew will be the Gateway – a new outpost supporting lunar science, sustainable surface operations and missions farther into the solar system, including Mars.
We are the Artemis Generation, and we are going. Ad lunam!
