An astronaut crew’s rocket recently concluded its final journey on Earth before embarking on a mission to the Moon.
The core stage of Artemis 2’s rocket arrived at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre (KSC) in Florida on Tuesday, July 23.
The rocket stage was unloaded from NASA’s Pegasus barge, which transported the 65-metre stage 1,450 km by sea from NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The unloading operation, lasting seven hours, was facilitated by remote controlled vehicles called self-propelled modular transporters.
at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre on July 23, 2024. (Image credit: NASA/X)
Following its sea journey, the core stage made a short 0.8 km trip to NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) where it will be integrated with the rest of the Space Launch System rocket for a scheduled launch no earlier than September 2025.
The core stage for Artemis 2’s Space Launch System arrives at the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre, nearby the launch pad, on July 24, 2024. (Image credit: NASA/Isaac Watson)
Sean Arrieta, KSC’s operations manager for integrated operations in exploration ground systems, expressed his team’s excitement during a livestream on Wednesday, July 24. He mentioned, “Our team has been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the flight hardware at KSC. We are grateful for the efforts of the Space Launch System team in preparing and manufacturing the vehicle, as well as Boeing, the stage manufacturer. Our team is fully prepared for the upcoming mission.”
Once inside the VAB, the stage will be placed on skids for a pre-processing period of at least one month before undergoing further operations.
Artemis 2 is set to send four astronauts around the Moon, marking the first human lunar mission since Apollo 17 in 1972.