First NASA Artemis Rocket Core Stage Ready To Transport For Final Test Campaign

On Jan. 8, the first Space Launch System (SLS) rocket core stage was finally loaded onto the Pegasus barge for transport from New Orleans to Mississipi. There, it will undergo the final test campaign before the very first Artemis launch.

SLS Rocket Core Stage On The Pegasus Barge

NASA’s Pegasus barge, previously, transported the space shuttle tanks from Michoud, New Orleans to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, but it has since been modified to be longer and stronger to accommodate SLS rocket hardware. On Jan. 8, the SLS rocket core stage was finally loaded onto the Pegasus barge ahead of its journey to NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.

This over 40-mile water route from Michoud to Stennis is the same one that the Saturn V rocket took in the 1960s and 1970s for the Apollo Program.

Once at the Stennis Space Center, the SLS rocket core stage will undergo the Green Run test series, the comprehensive test campaign that will verify that it is ready for launch. It is expected to be the final test campaign before the first Artemis launch sometime in late 2020 or early 2021.

‘New Era Of Space Exploration’

“Completion of this first-time build of the Space Launch System rocket's core stages puts humans on the cusp of a new era of space exploration,” SLS Program Manager at NASA's Marshal Space Flight Center in Alabama John Honeycutt said. “NASA's SLS rocket is designed to evolve so a variety of missions can be accomplished first to the Moon for the Artemis missions and then to Mars and other deep-space destinations," he continued.

The SLS rocket core stage is the largest stage NASA has ever built at the Louisiana factory including the Saturn V rocket. It is the “powerhouse” of the SLS rocket and, finally, taking it out for the Green Run test series is a major step towards the launch pad.

The Orion spacecraft, which will launch along with SLS for the uncrewed Artemis I mission, is also already undergoing the final testing at NASA's Plum Brook Station in Ohio.

All this work is taking NASA one more step towards the goal of taking the first woman and the next man to the Moon by 2024, and eventually sending astronauts to Mars.