NASA’s Pegasus Barge To Transport The Largest SLS Component For Artemis II Mission

NASA has shipped an essential component of its Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, a major step forward for the Artemis II mission, the first crewed mission in NASA’s Artemis program.

On August 21, 2024, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, rolled out the launch vehicle stage adapter, a vital piece of the spaceflight hardware.

The cone-shaped adapter connects the rocket’s core stage to its upper stage and is crucial for safeguarding the engine that will power the Artemis II test flight around the moon in 2025.

The launch vehicle stage adapter is essential to the Artemis II mission and the largest SLS component manufactured at NASA Marshall.

The SLS Spacecraft Payload Integration and Evolution element Manager, Chris Calfee, stated that Alabama plays a crucial role in returning astronauts to the moon.

The adapter was moved from Building 4708 and was put aboard NASA’s Pegasus Barge for shipment.

Video Credits: NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center/YouTube

The barge will first transport the adapter to NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, where it will be joined by additional SLS hardware for future Artemis missions.

The shipment will then travel to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Upon its arrival, the adapter will join the recently delivered core stage.

NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems team will prepare the adapter for stacking and launch.

NASA Marshall’s engineering teams are close to finishing the integration work for the Artemis III mission’s launch vehicle stage adapter.

Teledyne Brown Engineering, under the ESSCA contract with the Jacobs Space Exploration Group, made the stage adapter using NASA Marshall’s cutting-edge friction-stir welding equipment.

The Artemis campaign is essential to NASA’s deep space exploration plans. NASA’s aim with this program is to land the first woman, a person of colour, and an international partner astronaut on the Moon.

The SLS rocket, along with the Orion spacecraft, upgraded spacesuits, lunar rovers, and the Gateway lunar outpost, is the foundation of NASA’s aspirations to explore the Moon and beyond.

The SLS is the only rocket to transport Orion, astronauts, and essential supplies to the Moon in a single launch.

Reference: NASA

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