TANKING 

PRACTICE 

IN PROGRESS

SPACE 

LAUNCH 

SYSTEM

National Aeronautics and

Space Administration

www.nasa.gov

JANUARY – APRIL 2022
NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion 

spacecraft aboard is seen on the way to Launch Complex 39B 

for the first time.

The Moon is seen rising behind NASA’s SLS rocket and Orion 

spacecraft atop the mobile launcher as it rolls out to Launch 

Complex 39B for the first time, Thursday, March 17, 2022, at 

NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Ahead of NASA’s 

Artemis I flight test, the fully stacked and integrated SLS rocket 

and Orion spacecraft will undergo a wet dress rehearsal at 

Launch Complex 39B to verify systems and practice countdown 

procedures for the first launch.

The Artemis I SLS, Orion, and mobile launcher are inside the VAB, 

following an initial wet dress rehearsal campaign and rollback 

from Launch Pad 39B.

ARTEMIS I MOON ROCKET 

ARRIVES AT LAUNCH PAD 

FOR FIRST TIME

ARTEMIS I
ARTEMIS I

NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft atop arrived at Launch Pad 39B at the agency’s Kennedy 

Space Center in Florida March 18 in preparation for a final test before its Artemis I Moon mission. The uncrewed flight test will 

pave the way for missions to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon under Artemis.

Stacked on the mobile launcher and mounted on the crawler-transporter for a journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building to 

Launch Pad 39B, it took 10 hours and 28 minutes for SLS and Orion to reach the launchpad, which is four miles away. The trip 

began at 5:47 p.m. Thursday, March 17, and the 322-foot tall, 3.5-million-pound rocket and spacecraft arrived at the pad at 4:15 

a.m. on March 18. The final test series, known as wet dress rehearsal, will exercise the Artemis I launch team through operations 

to load propellant into the rocket’s tanks, conduct a full launch countdown, demonstrate the ability to recycle the countdown 

clock, and drain the tanks to practice the timelines and procedures the team will use for launch. 

While most objectives associated with the wet dress rehearsal were met during recent testing, NASA decided to return the rocket 

to the Vehicle Assembly Building for several repairs and checkouts needed to complete a full wet dress test rehearsal attempt. 

Following completion of the test, SLS and Orion will return to the VAB for the remaining checkouts before rolling back out to the 

pad for launch. 

Read more on the SLS web site: go.nasa.gov/2zRmcp1

During the wet dress rehearsal, teams at Kennedy will load cryogenic or super-cold propellants into the SLS, conduct a launch countdown, 

and practice safely removing propellants at Launch Pad 39B.

Continued from previous page
ARTEMIS I

Employees from NASA, including Marshall and SLS, along with their friends and families experience the first-ever rollout of an SLS rocket.

NASA TEAM MEMBERS 

WATCH THE SLS’S DEBUT 

ON THE GRAVEL CARPET
The crawlerway is a 4.2 mile road of river rocks that paves the 

way for rockets from the Vehicle Assembly Building to launch 

pads 39A and 39B at Kennedy. SLS and Orion sit on the mobile 

launcher atop the crawler-transporter 2 as it travels on the 

crawlerway for the Artemis missions.

The crawler-transporters have carried integrated rockets and 

spacecraft on the crawlerway to launch pads 39A and 39B for 

more than 50 years at Kennedy. SLS integrated with the Orion 

spacecraft traveled 4.2 miles on the crawlerway from the VAB to 

Launch Pad 39B for the first time March 17-18, approximately 

a 10-hour ride with the crawler moving at a top speed of 0.82 

miles per hour, for final testing ahead of the Artemis I launch.

ROCKS AND ROCKETS: FROM 

ALABAMA RIVERS TO KENNEDY’S 

FLORIDA CRAWLERWAY 

ARTEMIS I

From riverbed to crawlerway, the path to space goes through a unique Alabama resource. Alabama river rocks currently pave the 

path for rockets on the crawlerway Kennedy. This 4.2-mile road of rocks is crucial for launching NASA’s missions, specifically the 

upcoming launch of Artemis I, the uncrewed test flight of SLS and Orion.

A massive pair of machines called crawler-transporters have carried integrated rockets and spacecraft to Pads 39A and 39B for 

more than 50 years at Kennedy. The initial design called for asphalt roads, but engineers quickly encountered issues. Asphalt 

couldn’t handle the weight of the 6.65-million-pound crawler on its own, much less with the weight of a rocket added to it. The 

asphalt also proved too sticky and therefore would not allow the crawler-transporter to turn properly, causing damage to its roller 

bearings. NASA conducted a study to find a material that would allow the crawler to make a proper turn and hold the weight 

required. The result: river rock. 

Read more: go.nasa.gov/3IXT80m
NASA SOLAR SAIL MISSION TO 

CHASE TINY ASTEROID AFTER 

ARTEMIS I LAUNCH

ARTEMIS I

NEA Scout is composed of a small, shoebox-sized CubeSat (top left) and a thin, aluminum-coated solar sail about the size of a racquetball 

court (bottom left). After the spacecraft launches aboard Artemis I, the sail will use sunlight to propel the CubeSat to a small asteroid (as 

depicted in an illustration, right).

Launching with Artemis I, NASA’s shoebox-size Near-Earth Asteroid Scout will chase down what will become the smallest 

asteroid ever to be visited by a spacecraft. It will get there by unfurling a solar sail to harness solar radiation for propulsion, 

making this the agency’s first deep space mission of its kind.

The target is 2020 GE, a near-Earth asteroid (NEA) that is less than 60 feet (18 meters) in size. Asteroids smaller than 330 feet 

(100 meters) across have never been explored up close before. The spacecraft will use its science camera to get a closer look, 

measuring the object’s size, shape, rotation, and surface properties while looking for any dust and debris that might surround 

2020 GE.

Because the camera has a resolution of less than 4 inches (10 centimeters) per pixel, the mission’s science team will be able to 

determine whether 2020 GE is solid – like a boulder – or if it’s composed of smaller rocks and dust clumped together like some 

of its larger asteroid cousins, such as asteroid Bennu. 

Read more: go.nasa.gov/3AhstrI
MARSHALL WOMEN 

ENGINEERING NASA’S RETURN 

TO THE MOON

ARTEMIS I

In honor of Women’s History Month, NASA celebrated the many contributions women have made to the nation, world, and 

beyond, including five women at Marshall who develop flight software that controls the rocket for Artemis missions to the Moon. 

These engineers developed and tested SLS software that tells the rocket how to operate for the first 8 minutes of the Artemis I 

mission during its launch and ascent to orbit.

Their work continues Marshall’s legacy of propelling NASA exploration through engineering. The engineers include Shawna 

Broussard, an engineer who also works in the avionics test facility; Shaun Phillips, SLS flight software project lead; Linda 

Brewster, Avionics and Software Test Facility branch chief; Deanna Whitehead, Flight and Ground Software and Simulation 

Division chief; and Marlyn Terek, Software Development branch chief and former flight software design team leader (pictured left 

to right). Read more: go.nasa.gov/3tIz0sE

Meet five of the women at Marshall who are engineering NASA’s return to the Moon with flight software that will control the rocket for 

Artemis missions.
NASA, AEROJET ROCKETDYNE 

COMPLETE TESTING FOR 

MODERNIZED RS-25 ENGINE

ARTEMIS V

The March 30 hot fire completed the fourth developmental test series and sets Aerojet Rocketdyne, lead contractor for NASA’s 

SLS engines, on pace to produce new RS-25s for future flights. For SLS missions beyond Artemis IV, Aerojet Rocketdyne 

is modernizing production of new RS-25 engines, while also reducing costs by 30 percent. The new engines will include 

components manufactured with state-of-the-art fabrication techniques, such as additive manufacturing, or 3D printing. These 

new components have been tested during the developmental series completed at Stennis. 

Read more: go.nasa.gov/3u8T0Gz

NASA completed developmental engine testing March 30 with a full-duration RS-25 hot fire to support future engines that will launch SLS 

astronauts deeper into space than ever before. Operators fired RS-25 engine No. 0525 for about eight-and-a-half minutes (500 seconds) 

and up to 113% power level on the Fred Haise Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.
NASA JOINS FOUR MAJOR 

SLS ROCKET PARTS TO FORM 

ARTEMIS II CORE STAGE

ARTEMIS II

NASA joined the Artemis II SLS core stage forward assembly with the 130-foot liquid hydrogen tank on March 18. This completes 

assembly of four of the five large structures that make up the core stage that will help send the first astronauts to lunar orbit on 

Artemis II. The 66-foot forward assembly consists of the forward skirt, liquid oxygen tank, and the intertank, which were mated 

earlier. Engineers inserted 360 bolts to connect the forward assembly to the liquid hydrogen tank to make up the bulk of the 

stage. Only the engine section, which is currently being outfitted and includes the main propulsion systems that connect to the 

four RS-25 engines, remains to be added to form the completed core stage.

All parts of the core stage are manufactured by NASA and Boeing, the core stage lead contractor at the agency’s Michoud 

Assembly Facility in New Orleans. Currently, the team is building core stages for three Artemis missions. The first core stage is 

stacked with the rest of the SLS rocket, which will launch the Artemis I mission to the Moon this year. The core stage and the 

twin solid rocket boosters together will produce 8.8 million pounds of thrust to send NASA’s Orion spacecraft, astronauts, and 

supplies beyond Earth’s orbit to the Moon. The SLS rocket and the Orion spacecraft form the foundation for Artemis missions 

and future deep space exploration. 

Read more: go.nasa.gov/3x7TyOC

The Artemis II core stage liquid hydrogen tank is mated to the forward assembly at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility completing 

structural assembly of four-fifths of the core stage.
NASA BUILDS WELDING TEST 

ARTICLE FOR SLS EXPLORATION 

UPPER STAGE

ARTEMIS IV

NASA completed manufacturing of a hydrogen tank barrel that will be tested as a weld confidence article for the SLS’s 

Exploration Upper Stage (EUS). Weld confidence articles help establish welding procedures and interfaces between the tooling 

and hardware, and ensure the structural integrity of the welds. Starting with the Artemis IV mission, the EUS will provide the 

power to send astronauts in Orion and heavy cargo on a precise trajectory to the Moon.

After NASA and lead contractor Boeing completed manufacturing of the test tank barrel at Michoud Assembly Facility, 

technicians moved it from the Vertical Weld Center where it was built to the Vertical Assembly Center for further processing. 

Engineers will cut the barrel into small sections for mechanical testing and analysis that will help verify the parameters that will be 

used to build the rocket stage. 

Read more: go.nasa.gov/3vDglkf

Welders inspect completed work on a section of the SLS EUS weld confidence article.
Crews from Teledyne Brown Engineering, Inc. and NASA’s 

Marshall Space Flight Center are manufacturing the coneshaped launch vehicle stage adapters and Orion stage 

adapters for Artemis II and Artemis III. The adapters serve 

as vital connection points for the core stage, ICPS, and 

Orion spacecraft. Read more: go.nasa.gov/3NMEmfB

HARDWARE FOR 

ARTEMIS II AND 

ARTEMIS III COMES 

TOGETHER AT 

MARSHALL

Did you know the Space Launch System for NASA Artemis I can caddy 27 tons of cargo to the Moon? 

See how PGA.com compares the SLS to golf. Read more here: go.nasa.gov/3Ke6KVW

TEE OFF VS LIFTOFF

WHAT’S NEW IN SLS SOCIAL MEDIA
Andy Schorr, manager of 

Spacecraft/Payload Integration 

and Evolution Office, delivered 

a talk to the Huntsville-Madison 

County Historical Society on 

March 13 at the downtown 

Huntsville branch of the 

Huntsville Madison County 

Public Library. Schorr gave an 

update on the current status of 

SLS and Artemis, as well as the 

plan for future Artemis missions.

SLS ON THE ROAD

Brian Matisak, SLS Block 1 Deputy Manager in the Systems Engineering & Integration Office, spoke at the Travel Bloggers 

Conference at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center on February 25. Matisak briefed the 50 attendees from various segments of travel 

media on SLS and Artemis.
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WHAT THEY DO FOR SLS:

Moog hardware is used in many key 

systems on SLS and Orion, including 

propulsion, life support, steering, and 

communications. Moog actuation systems 

steer the core, booster, and upper stage 

rocket engines, as well as the Orion 

Launch Abort System Attitude Control 

Motor. On future Artemis missions, 

Moog will provide the electromechanical 

actuation system for Orion and EUS thrust 

vector control systems.

Moog also provides many different 

propulsion controls. On the SLS ICPS 

RL10 engine, the team provides the main 

inlet valves for both the oxidizer and fuel 

systems. On the EUS, Moog will provide 

these valves, along with propellant 

utilization motors and electronics for the 

four RL10 engines and multiple propellant 

system isolation relief and vent valves.

LOCATION: Elma, New York

SPACEFLIGHT 

PARTNERS: 

Moog