Exploration Ground Systems – Kennedy Space Center

NASA Stacks First Artemis II Segment on Mobile Launcher

Engineers and technicians with the Exploration Ground Systems Program stack the first Moon rocket segment – the left aft assembly for the Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) solid rocket booster onto mobile launcher 1 inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024.

Engineers and technicians inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida stacked the first segment of the Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket boosters onto mobile launcher 1.

Comprising 10 segments total – five segments for each booster – the SLS solid rocket boosters arrived via train to NASA Kennedy in September 2023 from Northrop Grumman’s manufacturing facility in Utah. The booster segments underwent processing in the spaceport’s Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility before being transferred to the NASA’s iconic VAB for stacking operations.

Technicians inside the 525-foot-tall facility used an overhead crane to lift the left aft assembly onto the mobile launcher. Up next, workers will install the right aft assembly, placing it carefully onto the 380-foot-tall structure used to process, assemble, and launch the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft.

The first components of the Artemis II Moon rocket to be stacked, the solid rocket boosters will help support the remaining rocket segments and the Orion spacecraft during final assembly. At launch, the 177-foot-tall twin solid rocket boosters provide more than 75 percent of the total SLS thrust during liftoff from NASA Kennedy’s Launch Pad 39B.

NASA Prepares for Artemis II Rocket Integration

Since the mobile launcher returned in October from Launch Pad 39B to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, work has been underway for upcoming stacking operations of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) Moon rocket.

To prepare for launch, the mobile launcher is undergoing optical scans, system checkouts, and umbilical refurbishment, including installation of the aft skirt electrical umbilicals.

The booster segments soon will move from the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility to the VAB via a transporter. The aft assemblies, or bottom portions of the five segment boosters, will be situated in the facility’s transfer aisle then lifted atop the mobile launcher in High Bay 3.

The examinations and preparations of the mobile launcher and rocket elements lay the groundwork for Artemis II crewed test flight around the Moon.

NASA’s Mobile Launcher Rolls Ahead of Artemis II Preparation

Image shows NASA's mobile launcher 1 prepare to move from Launch Pad 39B to the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. — Teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems Program at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida prepare to move mobile launcher 1 atop the agency’s crawler-transporter 2 from Launch Complex 39B to the Vehicle Assembly Building on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. The crawler recently reached 2,500 miles traveling to the launch pad since its construction in 1965. The mobile launcher has been at the launch pad since August 2023 undergoing upgrades and tests in preparation for NASA’s Artemis II mission. The mobile launcher will be used to assemble, process, and launch NASA’s SLS (Space Launch Systems) and Orion spacecraft to the Moon and beyond.

NASA rolled closer to integrating elements of the Artemis II Moon rocket together as teams with the agency’s Exploration Ground Systems Program at Kennedy Space Center in Florida began moving the mobile launcher 1 from Launch Complex 39B along a 4.2 mile stretch back to the Vehicle Assembly Building. First motion of the mobile launcher, atop NASA’s crawler-transporter 2, occurred at 12:09 a.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 3.

Teams rolled the mobile launcher out to Kennedy’s Pad 39B in August 2023 for upgrades and a series of ground demonstration tests in preparation for NASA’s Artemis II mission. These preparations ranged from a launch day demonstration for the crew, closeout crew, and the pad rescue team, to testing the emergency egress system, water flow system, and the new liquid hydrogen sphere at the launch pad.

On its way to transport the mobile launcher back from the pad, NASA’s crawler-transporter 2 also achieved a milestone nearly 60 years in the making. Already designated by Guinness World Records as the heaviest self-powered vehicle – larger than a baseball infield and weighing approximately 6.65 million pounds – the crawler reached 2,500 miles traveled since its construction in 1965.

The mobile launcher is expected to arrive outside the Vehicle Assembly Building around 10 a.m. Thursday, Oct.3, before the Exploration Ground Systems teams move it into High Bay 3 on Friday, Oct.4.

Follow the livestream of the mobile launcher on the move.

Orion’s Artemis III European Service Module Joined with Crew Module Adapter

Image shows European Service Module 3 preparing to be connected to the crew module adapter — Teams began connecting the European Service Module 3 to the crew module adapter on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, inside the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The integrated hardware will provide propulsion, thermal control, and electrical power for NASA’s Orion spacecraft set to carry four NASA astronauts to the lunar South Pole region of the Moon for the agency’s Artemis III campaign. NASA/Kim Shiflett

Teams have joined the Artemis III European Service Module and crew module adapter for NASA’s Orion spacecraft inside the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout (O&C) Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, following the completion of the Integration Readiness Review on Sept. 17.

The ESA (European Space Agency)-provided European Service Module is assembled by Airbus in Bremen, Germany, from parts made in 10 European countries and the United States. It acts as the driving force behind the Orion spacecraft for deep space exploration, providing essential propulsion, thermal control, and electrical power. The module also will supply astronauts with vital resources like water and oxygen, ensuring they’re well-supported during their journey to the Moon.

The crew module adapter bridges electrical, data, and fluid systems between Orion’s crew and service modules with an umbilical connector, and it also houses electronic equipment for communications, power, and control.

The integrated European Service Module and crew module adapter, which together make the service module, will undergo final inspections before engineers move it to the clean room inside the spaceport’s O&C high bay for welding operations. Later in the production flow, the Artemis III crew module will be connected to the service module via the crew module adapter.

The European Service Module is managed by the Orion team at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. The arrival of the Artemis III hardware to Kennedy marks the first time two Orion service modules have been inside the O&C facility at the same time during the agency’s Artemis campaign. The Artemis II service module is already mated to the crew module, and engineers continue to process the integrated modules inside the facility ahead of the test flight.

NASA’s Rocket On Roll: Core Stage Arrives at Vehicle Assembly Building

After completing its journey from NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans aboard the Pegasus barge, teams with Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) transport the agency’s powerful SLS (Space Launch System) core stage to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center’s Vehicle Assembly Building in Florida on Tuesday, July 23, 2024. Once inside, SLS will be prepared for integration atop the mobile launcher ahead of the Artemis II launch. — After completing its journey from NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans aboard the Pegasus barge, teams with Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) transport the agency’s powerful SLS (Space Launch System) core stage to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center’s Vehicle Assembly Building in Florida on Tuesday, July 23, 2024. Photo credit: NASA/Isaac Watson

NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket core stage for the Artemis II mission is inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Tugboats and towing vessels moved the barge and core stage 900-miles to the Florida spaceport from NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, where it was manufactured and assembled.

Team members with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems Program safely transferred the 212-foot-tall core stage from the agency’s Pegasus barge, which arrived at NASA Kennedy’s Complex 39 turn basin wharf on July 23, onto the self-propelled module transporter, which is used to move large elements of hardware. It was then rolled to the Vehicle Assembly Building transfer aisle where teams will process it until it is ready for rocket stacking operations.

In the coming months, teams will integrate the rocket core stage atop the mobile launcher with the additional Artemis II flight hardware, including the twin solid rocket boosters, launch vehicle stage adapter, and the Orion spacecraft.

The Artemis II test flight will be NASA’s first mission with crew under the Artemis campaign, sending NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Reid Wiseman, as well as CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, on a 10-day journey around the Moon and back.

NASA’s Artemis II Orion Spacecraft Prepares for Vacuum Testing

The Artemis II Orion spacecraft is pictured surrounded by the metal walls of the altitude chamber — Technicians used a 30-ton crane to lift NASA’s Orion spacecraft on Friday, June 28, 2024, from the Final Assembly and System Testing (FAST) cell to the altitude chamber inside the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The spacecraft, which will be used for the Artemis II mission to orbit the Moon, underwent leak checks and end-to-end performance verification of the vehicle’s subsystems.

NASA’s Orion spacecraft for the Artemis II mission was lifted out of the Final Assembly and System Testing cell on June 28 inside the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The integrated spacecraft has been undergoing final rounds of testing and assembly, including end-to-end performance verification of its subsystems and checking for leaks in its propulsion systems.

A 30-ton crane returned Orion into the recently renovated altitude chamber where it underwent electromagnetic testing. The spacecraft now will undergo a series of vacuum chamber qualification testing. The tests will subject the spacecraft to a near-vacuum environment by removing air, thus creating a space where the pressure is extremely low. This results in no atmosphere, similar to the one the spacecraft will experience during future lunar missions.

Testing will span approximately a week, with technicians collecting data from the spacecraft’s chamber, cabin, and the environmental control and life support system to test spacesuit functionality. The data recorded during these tests will be used to qualify the spacecraft to safely fly the Artemis II astronauts through the harsh environment of space.

Artemis II Crew Visits Naval Base San Diego for Recovery Training

Artemis II astronauts inside the Vehicle Advanced Demonstrator for Emergency Recovery (VADR) during a tour of Naval Base San Diego. — From left (front to back), NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Christina Hammock Koch, and Reid Wiseman, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, pose inside the Vehicle Advanced Demonstrator for Emergency Recovery (VADR) during a tour of Naval Base San Diego on July 19, 2023. VADR is a replica of the Orion crew module that will carry the astronauts around the Moon on Artemis II. Photo credit: U.S. Navy/Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Joshua Samoluk

The Artemis II crew – NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Hammock Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen – visited Naval Base San Diego on July 19 ahead of the first Artemis II recovery test in the Pacific Ocean, Underway Recovery Test-10. The test will build on the success of Artemis I recovery and ensure NASA and the Department of Defense personnel can safely recover astronauts and their Orion spacecraft after their trip around the Moon on the first crewed Artemis mission.

The crew met with recovery team members from NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems Program and the Department of Defense to learn more about the recovery process for their mission, which includes being extracted from the spacecraft after splashing down in the Pacific Ocean and being lifted via helicopter to the recovery ship where they will undergo routine medical checks before returning to shore.

The visit included a walkdown of the ground equipment and facilities the team uses to practice recovery procedures along with a walkthrough of the recovery ship. The crew will participate in full recovery testing at sea next year.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 Flight Readiness Review Begins

NASA's SpaceX Crew-4 astronauts — NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 astronauts participate in a training session at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida late last year. From left, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, mission specialist; NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren, commander; NASA astronaut Bob Hines, pilot; and NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins, mission specialist. Photo credit: SpaceX

NASA and SpaceX managers have gathered at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to start the Crew-4 mission’s Flight Readiness Review (FRR). Over the next several hours, the FRR will focus on the preparedness of SpaceX’s crew transportation system, the International Space Station, and its international partners to support the flight, and the certification of flight readiness.

After the conclusion of the FRR, NASA will hold a media teleconference to discuss the outcome. While the teleconference will not be televised, media may call in to ask questions via phone. Contact the Kennedy newsroom no later than 4 p.m. EDT for connection details.

Participants in the teleconference include:

Kathy Lueders, associate administrator, Space Operations Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters
Steve Stich, manager, Commercial Crew Program, Kennedy
Joel Montalbano, manager, International Space Station, NASA’s Johnson Space Center
Zeb Scoville, chief flight director, Flight Operations Directorate, Johnson
Frank De Winne, program manager, International Space Station, ESA

NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Robert Hines, and Jessica Watkins, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti will launch on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft for the Crew-4 mission as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. They will arrive at the International Space Station approximately 24 hours after launch. Crew-4 will arrive at station for a short overlap with NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn, and Kayla Barron, and ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer, who flew to the station as part of the agency’s SpaceX Crew-3 mission in November 2021.

Final Certification Run for Orion Recovery

A test version of the Orion spacecraft is loaded into the well deck of a U.S. Navy ship. — A test version of NASA’s Orion spacecraft is loaded into the well deck of a U.S. Navy ship in preparation for the ninth in a series of tests to verify and validate procedures and hardware that will be used to recover the spacecraft after it splashes down in the Pacific Ocean following the agency’s Artemis I mission. The first in an increasingly complex series of missions, Artemis I will test the Space Launch System rocket and Orion as an integrated system prior to crewed flights to the Moon. Photo credit: NASA/Pete Reutt

NASA and the U.S. Navy are preparing to head out to sea for the ninth in a series of tests to verify and validate procedures and hardware that will be used to recover the Orion spacecraft after it splashes down in the Pacific Ocean following deep space exploration missions.

NASA’s Landing and Recovery team, managed by Exploration Ground Systems, is heading from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to Naval Base San Diego in California where they will have their final certification run for the Artemis I mission.

During the weeklong test, the joint team will conduct simulations that will exercise all the operational procedures, including nighttime, to support certification of team members for the Artemis I mission. The team will practice recovering a test version of an Orion capsule and bringing it into the well deck of a Navy ship, ensuring all personnel are properly trained before the real Orion splashes down.

Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to the Moon and destinations not yet explored by humans. It is slated to launch atop NASA’s Space Launch System rocket on its first deep space mission to pave the way for future flights with astronauts.

MLP-2 Demolition Creates Opportunities for Artemis Missions

Moblie launcher platform 2 — At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a truck sprays water along the crawlerway to reduce dust ahead of the crawler-transporter moving the mobile launcher platform 2 (MLP-2) from Launch Pad 39A to a nearby park site in Launch Complex 39. MLP-2 was demolished, making way for newer, more advanced technology to be used in NASA’s Artemis missions. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

By Jim Cawley
NASA’s Kennedy Space Center

The mobile launcher platform 2, or MLP-2, served NASA well, as it was used for more than 50 Apollo and space shuttle missions at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center from 1968 to 2011.

A nine-month demolition project for the 25-foot high, 160-foot long, and 135-foot-wide platform, which weighed 9.1 million pounds, was completed last month. Though MLP-2 was a historic piece of equipment, its removal makes way for newer, more advanced technology at the Florida spaceport.

Mobile launcher platform 2 demolition project — The two mobile launcher platforms are seen at the park site at Kennedy Space Center on Jan. 4, 2021. A nine-month demolition project for Mobile launcher platform 2, which used during the shuttle program, was recently completed. NASA/Kim Shiflett

“It was bittersweet having to dismantle MLP-2,” said John Giles, Exploration Ground Systems crawler transporter operations manager. “However, it allows us to make room for newer, more advanced assets to support Artemis missions that will return humans to the Moon and beyond.”

Mobile launcher platforms were used for shuttle missions lifting off from Launch Complex 39A and 39B. These structures did not require a tower since the launch pad had a tower and rotating service structure to allow access to the vehicle.

Since the retirement of the shuttle program, the historic Launch Complex 39A, once the site of Apollo and Saturn V missions, was leased to SpaceX and upgraded to support commercial launches carrying cargo and astronauts into space.

Launch Complex 39B also has changed with the times. It began as an Apollo era structure, was converted for shuttle launches, and now is a clean pad ready to support the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, carrying the Orion spacecraft as the agency returns to the Moon. When SLS lifts off from pad 39B carrying Orion for the Artemis I mission, it will use the new, advanced mobile launcher that comes with a built-in tower.

Click here to watch a time-lapse video of the MLP-2 demolition.