Tag: Michoud Assembly Facility

New Hardware for Future Artemis Moon Missions Arrive at NASA Kennedy

NeRD

On the left, the Canopee transport carrier containing the European Service Module for NASA’s Artemis III mission arrives at Port Canaveral in Florida, on Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024, before completing the last leg of its journey to the agency’s Kennedy Space Center’s Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout via truck. On the right, NASA’s Pegasus barge, carrying several pieces of hardware for Artemis II, III, and IV arrives at NASA Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39 turn basin wharf on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. Credit: NASA From across the Atlantic Ocean and…

Read More

NASA Invites Media to Watch Artemis II Rocket Adapter Roll Out

NeRD

Crews are preparing to move a key adapter for NASA’s Space Launch System rocket out of Marshall Space Flight Center’s Building 4708 to the agency’s Pegasus barge. The cone-shaped launch vehicle stage adapter connects the rocket’s core stage to the upper stage and helps protect the upper stage’s engine that will help propel the Artemis II mission around the Moon. Credits: Sam Lott/NASA To mark progress toward the first crewed flight test around the Moon in more than 50 years for the benefit of humanity, NASA will welcome media Wednesday,…

Read More

I am Artemis: John Campbell

NeRD

John Campbell, a logistics engineer at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, stands on NASA’s Pegasus barge July 15. NASA How do you move NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket’s massive 212-foot-long core stage across the country? You do it with a 300-foot-long barge. However, NASA’s Pegasus barge isn’t just any barge. It’s a vessel with a history, and John Campbell, a logistics engineer for the agency based at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, is one of the few people who get to be a part of its…

Read More

From One Crew to Another: Artemis II Astronauts Meet NASA Barge Crew

NeRD

Members of the Artemis II crew met with the crew of NASA’s Pegasus barge prior to their departure to deliver the core stage of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket to the Space Coast. NASA astronaut and pilot of the Artemis II mission Victor Glover met the crew July 15. From left to right: Ashley Marlar, Jamie Crews, Nick Owen, Jeffery Whitehead, Scott Ledet, Jason Dickerson, John Campbell, NASA astronaut Victor Glover, Farid Sayah, Kelton Hutchinson, Terry Fitzgerald, Bryan Jones, and Joe Robinson. NASA/Brandon Hancock NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman, commander,…

Read More

NASA Barge Preparations Underway for Artemis II Rocket Stage Delivery

NeRD

NASA/Eric Bordelon Team members are installing pedestals aboard NASA’s Pegasus barge to hold and secure the massive core stage of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket, indicating NASA barge crews are nearly ready for its first delivery to support the Artemis II test flight around the Moon. The barge will ferry the core stage on a 900-mile journey from the agency’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans to its Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Pegasus crew began installing the pedestals July 10.The barge, which previously was used to ferry…

Read More

NASA’s SLS Rocket: Block 1 vs. Block 1B Configuration

NeRD

NASA/Kevin O’Brien NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket in the Block 1B cargo configuration will launch for the first time beginning with Artemis IV. This upgraded and more powerful SLS rocket will enable SLS to send over 38 metric tons (83,700 lbs.) to the Moon, including NASA’s Orion spacecraft and its crew, along with heavy payloads for more ambitious missions to deep space. While every SLS rocket retains the core stage, booster, and RS-25 engine designs, the Block 1B features a more powerful exploration upper stage with four RL10 engines…

Read More

NASA Invites Media to Rollout Event for Artemis II Moon Rocket Stage

NeRD

The core stage is the backbone of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket that will help power NASA’s Artemis II mission to send a crew of four astronauts around the Moon in 2025. Here, the core stage is currently behind scaffolding to allow work to continue at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The stage’s two massive propellant tanks hold a collective 733,000 gallons of liquid propellant to power the four RS-25 engines at its base. Following hardware acceptance reviews and final checkouts, the stage will be readied for…

Read More

NASA Expanding Lunar Exploration with Upgraded SLS Mega Rocket Design

NeRD

A final round of certification testing for production of new RS-25 engines to power the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket, beginning with Artemis V, is underway at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.  Block 1B will also be built to house new-production RS-25 core stage engines that will operate routinely at 111% of their rated power versus the Block 1 RS-25 engines that operate at 109%, providing almost 2,000 more pounds of payload to the Moon. NASA By: Martin Burkey As NASA prepares for its first crewed…

Read More

Rocket Propellant Tanks for NASA’s Artemis III Mission Take Shape

NeRD

All the major structures that will form the core stage for NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket for the agency’s Artemis III mission are structurally complete. Technicians finished welding the 51-foot liquid oxygen tank structure, left, inside the Vertical Assembly Building at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans Jan. 8. The liquid hydrogen tank, right, completed internal cleaning Nov. 14. NASA/Michael DeMocker As NASA works to develop all the systems needed to return astronauts to the Moon under its Artemis campaign for the benefit of all, the SLS (Space…

Read More

NASA Administrator, Leaders to Discuss Artemis Moon Mission Plans

NeRD

An illustration of a suited Artemis astronaut looking out of a Moon lander hatch across the lunar surface, the Lunar Terrain Vehicle and other surface elements. NASA will hold a media teleconference at 1:30 p.m. EST Tuesday, Jan. 9, to provide an update on the agency’s lunar exploration plans for the benefit of all under Artemis. Audio of the briefing will stream live on NASA’s website. In addition to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, agency participants will include: NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free Catherine Koerner, associate administrator, Exploration Systems Development Mission…

Read More