We’re a couple of weeks or so away from the moment we’ll learn who will be sent on a trip around the Moon in the second Artemis mission. For space enthusiasts, that’s a long time still, so NASA decided this week to treat us to an image of the almost complete core stage of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket that will send them into space.
Unlike what SpaceX or Blue Origin have gotten us used to, the SLS is not reusable. That means the rocket we witnessed flying on the Artemis I mission in November last year was a one-time deal, and a new one will be needed for the second, crewed flight to the Moon.
Officially, Artemis II is not scheduled to lift off with its Orion spaceship until the end of next year, carrying with it three American and one Canadian astronauts. But in space exploration more than a year is a very short time, and that means work on the new rocket for this mission is already underway.
In fact, it’s pretty advanced, if we are to judge by the photo we have here, showing the core stage of the SLS lying on its side in the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. It is there where the core stage is being assembled.
What you’re looking at, that big orange cylinder with no distinctive features, is the almost complete core stage assembly. That means the two fuel tanks that hold the liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen tanks, the intertank, the engine section, and the forward skirt.
Photo: NASA/Michael DeMocker
The photo was snapped on March 17, when the engine section was paired to the rest of the assembly, but was just made public this week. It marks an important moment in the coming together of the Artemis II Moon rocket, with several more important steps to be taken in the coming months. The most important is the fitting of the four RS-25 engines to the assembly.
When fully assembled, this piece of the SLS will become the world’s tallest rocket stage (21 feet/65 meters high), but also the most powerful, being capable of developing enough thrust to push the rocket to a speed of close to Mach 23 (17,600 mph/28,000 kph). During the 500 seconds or so of operation, the core stage will burn through over half a million gallons (2 million liters) of fuel.
Artemis II is the first crewed mission of humanity’s new Moon exploration program. It will more or less follow the same path as Artemis I, but it will not land astronauts on the Moon. It’s a sort of dry run with humans on board meant to rehearse what the actual landing party will have to do, and test if the systems of the rocket and Orion spaceship can support humans and bring them safely back to Earth.
Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies. Full profile
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