Space Launch System
134 articles
NASA to name astronauts this year for first Artemis moon mission
NASA will announce later this year the four astronauts who will slingshot around the far side of the moon on the Artemis lunar program's first crew mission, currently scheduled for launch in 2024, the head of the agency's human space exploration division recently said. The crew is expected to include three U.S. fliers and one Canadian astronaut.
NASA shows off finished SLS moon rocket, Webb telescope
Two of NASA's flagship missions finally nearing launch, representing more than $50 billion in U.S. government investment over multiple decades, were displayed to news media Friday at spaceports in Florida and French Guiana.
NASA targets February launch for Artemis 1 moon mission
With NASA's powerful new 322-foot-tall moon rocket fully stacked at Kennedy Space Center, managers said Friday that Feb. 12 is the soonest the unpiloted Artemis 1 mission could blast off toward lunar orbit, a date that hinges on the outcome of a critical fueling test on the launch pad in January.
Stacking of Orion spacecraft caps assembly of first Artemis moon rocket
Technicians at NASA's Kennedy Space Center worked overnight Wednesday to tighten 360 bolts connecting the Orion spacecraft for the Artemis 1 moon mission to the first Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket, hours after a crane hoisted the deep space capsule atop the booster inside the Vehicle Assembly Building.
VideoNASA moves Orion spacecraft to the Vehicle Assembly Building
Teams at NASA's Kennedy Space Center moved the Orion spacecraft for the Artemis 1 moon mission into the Vehicle Assembly Building Tuesday for stacking on top of the Space Launch System.
Adapter structure with 10 CubeSats installed on top of Artemis moon rocket
Workers at NASA's Kennedy Space Center have lifted the Orion Stage Adapter on top of the Space Launch System moon rocket, adding the structure housing 10 CubeSat rideshare payloads heading into deep space on the Artemis 1 mission. But three of the CubeSat missions missed their opportunity to fly on the first SLS mission.
VideoNASA completes swing arm test on SLS launch platform
The swing arms on the mobile launch tower for NASA's Space Launch System released and retracted Sunday night inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center, another key test on the march toward liftoff of the Artemis 1 moon mission.
NASA’s hopes waning for SLS test flight this year
The earliest NASA's first Space Launch System moon rocket could roll out from the Vehicle Assembly Building to its seaside launch complex in Florida is in late November, officials told Spaceflight Now, leaving little time to conduct a critical fueling test, roll the rocket back into the VAB for final closeouts, then return to the pad for liftoff before the end of the year.
Interstage adapter installed on Space Launch System
NASA has stacked the next piece of the agency's first Space Launch System moon rocket, adding an adapter structure to connect the launch vehicle's core stage and upper stage, which is scheduled to be installed next week.
NASA bolts Space Launch System core stage to solid rocket boosters
The core stage for NASA's first Space Launch System, the heavy-lift rocket designed to carry astronauts back to the moon, has been installed between two solid-fueled boosters on a mobile launch platform at the Kennedy Space Center for an unpiloted lunar test flight.