{"id":837,"date":"2023-02-07T23:15:31","date_gmt":"2023-02-07T23:15:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/?p=837"},"modified":"2023-02-07T23:15:33","modified_gmt":"2023-02-07T23:15:33","slug":"progress-underway-on-moon-rockets-for-nasas-crewed-artemis-missions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/news\/progress-underway-on-moon-rockets-for-nasas-crewed-artemis-missions\/","title":{"rendered":"Progress Underway on Moon Rockets for NASA\u2019s Crewed Artemis Missions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NASA and its partners across the country are continuing to make progress on the crewed Artemis missions with hardware for NASA\u2019s\u00a0Space Launch System\u00a0(SLS) rockets for Artemis II, III, and IV already in various phases of production, assembly, and testing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SLS proved to be the world\u2019s most powerful rocket, when its two solid rocket boosters and four RS-25 engines produced more than 8.8 million pounds of thrust at liftoff to send NASA\u2019s\u00a0Orion spacecraft\u00a0beyond the Moon and back on\u00a0Artemis I.\u00a0Data from the first flight\u00a0of SLS is helping engineers build confidence in the rocket\u2019s systems to safely fly crew on future lunar missions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe power that NASA\u2019s Space Launch System rocket provides will enable astronauts to explore further in our solar system than ever before and discover more about the Moon, Mars, and beyond,\u201d said John Honeycutt, SLS program manager at\u00a0NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center\u00a0in Huntsville, Alabama. \u201cNASA is on the brink of new age of deep space discovery, and the SLS team and our partners are more focused than ever to manufacture and produce SLS rockets for Artemis missions that will put boots on the Moon for decades to come.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like Artemis I, the SLS rockets that will power the\u00a0Artemis II\u00a0and III missions to the Moon will use the Block 1 configuration with the\u00a0interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS). Beginning with Artemis IV, the SLS rocket will evolve into a more powerful configuration called the Block 1B, which replaces the ICPS with the more dynamic Exploration Upper Stage (EUS) for in-space propulsion to send crew and large cargos to the Moon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NASA and Boeing, lead contractor for the\u00a0SLS core stage, are manufacturing the 212-foot-tall stages for Artemis II, III, and IV at\u00a0NASA\u2019s Michoud Assembly Facility\u00a0in New Orleans. The Artemis II core stage is in final assembly. Once the engine section is joined to the other four elements for the Artemis II core stage at Michoud, teams will uncrate and install each of the four\u00a0RS-25 engines\u00a0to the stage and then ready it for delivery to\u00a0NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center\u00a0in Florida. Technicians are simultaneously preparing for core stage assembly and outfitting activities for the Artemis III Moon rocket \u2013 the engine section for Artemis II\u00a0was delivered\u00a0to Kennedy in December 2022. In tandem, teams at Michoud are continuing all core stage manufacturing and production activities for the five major elements of the core stage for Artemis III and IV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMichoud is humming with activity as teams work on multiple SLS core stages for three different Artemis missions as well as the initial welds for the Exploration Upper Stage (EUS) for the fourth SLS flight,\u201d said Lonnie Dutreix, director of NASA\u2019s Michoud Assembly Facility. \u201cEverywhere you look, you see rocket hardware that will power missions to send the first woman and the first person of color to the Moon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"before\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"after\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In Mississippi, at\u00a0NASA\u2019s Stennis Space Center\u00a0near Bay St. Louis, Aerojet Rocketdyne, the RS-25 lead contractor, has completed work on the RS-25 engines for the third SLS flight and is working to complete the four RS-25 engines that will power the fourth flight of the rocket. Aerojet Rocketdyne is also preparing for a\u00a0series of RS-25 engine tests\u00a0for engines that will be used beginning with Artemis V.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"All<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The ICPS, powered by a single\u00a0RL10 engine, provides in-space propulsion to give Orion the big push it needs to fly beyond the Moon. Currently, the stage for Artemis II is in final assembly in the Horizontal Integration Facility at the contractors Boeing and United Launch Alliance\u2019s (ULA) facilities in Florida. Meanwhile, ULA is wrapping up manufacturing operations on the ICPS for Artemis III in its facility in Decatur, Alabama, where it will undergo a high-pressure test check this spring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two five-segment\u00a0solid rocket boosters\u00a0provide more than 75% of the thrust at launch for SLS and are produced by lead booster contractor Northrop Grumman. All 10 booster motor segments for both Artemis II and Artemis III are completed and awaiting shipment to Kennedy, where work on the forward and aft assemblies is currently in progress. The booster manufacturing for the Artemis IV mission is underway at the Northrop Grumman facility in Utah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Engineers<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Both the SLS adapters \u2013 the cone-shaped\u00a0launch vehicle stage adapter\u00a0(LVSA) and the\u00a0Orion stage adapter\u00a0(OSA) \u2013 are fully built and produced at Marshall. The adapters serve as vital connection points on the SLS rocket. With the Artemis II LVSA complete, teams are focusing efforts on the LVSA for Artemis III. The OSAs for Artemis II and III have completed painting and are being readied for final hardware installation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beginning with the\u00a0Block 1B configuration, the interim cryogenic propulsion stage, launch vehicle stage adapter, and Orion stage adapter are replaced by the Exploration Upper Stage and interstage, which includes the universal stage adapter (USA). Dynetics and Beyond Gravity, the prime contractors for the adapter, are finalizing a full-scale demonstration test article of the USA at facilities in Decatur, Alabama.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With\u00a0Artemis, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the lunar surface and establish long-term exploration at the Moon in preparation for human missions to Mars. SLS and NASA\u2019s Orion spacecraft, along with the human landing system and the Gateway in orbit around the Moon, are NASA\u2019s foundation for deep space exploration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We recommend you: NASA Selects Nine Technologies for Commercial Flight Tests<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source: NASA<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NASA and its partners across the country are continuing to make progress on the crewed Artemis missions with hardware for NASA\u2019s\u00a0Space Launch System\u00a0(SLS) rockets for Artemis II, III, and IV already in various phases of production, assembly, and testing. SLS proved to be the world\u2019s most powerful rocket, when its two solid rocket boosters and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":838,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[41,44,258,24],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=837"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":839,"href":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837\/revisions\/839"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}