Space Launch System
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.
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.
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.
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.