With the historic Saturn I rocket that paved the way for America’s first lunar missions in the background, NASA moved the Space Launch System (SLS) launch vehicle stage adapter, which will be used for Artemis I. Engineers recently completed the application of thermal insulation to the adapter at a specialized facility at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. They moved the adapter to another facility where technicians will install systems to separate the SLS in-space stage, the interim cryogenic propulsion stage, from the core stage during Artemis I. The core stage provides 8.8 million pounds of thrust to send the rocket into orbit around Earth. After the separation from the core stage, the interim cryogenic propulsion stage fires its single engine to provide the power to send the Orion spacecraft beyond the Moon, farther than any spacecraft built for humans has ever ventured before.
Image credit: NASA/Tyler Martin