Photo credit: www.nasa.gov

Progress on NASA’s Artemis II Mission as SLS Rocket Booster Assembly Continues

Efforts are underway at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where teams are actively working on the assembly of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket’s twin solid rocket booster motor segments for the upcoming Artemis II mission. The assembly is taking place within the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), a crucial facility for NASA’s launch preparations.

At present, six out of the ten required segments have been successfully stacked on Mobile Launcher 1, with the most recent addition being the right forward center segment. The integration process progresses, with plans to add the left center segment, which features the iconic NASA “worm” logo, next in line for assembly.

The forward assemblies of the boosters, delivered to the VAB from the Booster Fabrication Facility on January 14, consist of three main components: the nose cone that provides aerodynamic protection, a forward skirt that contains essential avionics systems, and a frustum housing the motors that will release the boosters from the SLS core stage during flight. As the integration process continues, additional booster segments will be moved from the Rotation, Processing, and Surge Facility to the VAB once the engineering teams indicate readiness for their assembly. Notably, the forward assemblies are expected to be the final segments incorporated into the overall booster stack ahead of their connection to the core stage of the rocket.

Image Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

Source
www.nasa.gov