NASA's SLS rocket takes shape for historic Moon mission

Artemis II, a crewed test flight of NASA's Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, aims to land the first woman and next man on the surface of the Moon by 2024. With the recent integration of all five major structures of the SLS rocket's core stage, the agency is one step closer to achieving its goal of launching the historic mission.

Teams at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans joined the engine section to the rest of the rocket stage on Friday, March 17 and are now preparing to integrate the four RS-25 engines into the engine section to complete the stage.

The engine section is the most complex and intricate part of the rocket stage. It houses the engines and includes vital systems for mounting, controlling, and delivering fuel from the propellant tanks to the engines, according to NASA. Integration of these vital components into the engine section is a complex process that requires careful precision and attention to detail.

Teams at #NASAMichoud have fully joined all five major structures of the SLS rocket's core stage for #Artemis II, the first crewed @NASAArtemis mission.What's next? Find out >> https://t.co/B6gQ9xY3HX pic.twitter.com/DIxO7MU2Le

— NASA_SLS (@NASA_SLS) March 20, 2023

Through a series of Artemis missions, NASA aims to establish a sustainable long-term presence on the Moon, and serve as a stepping stone for future human missions to Mars and beyond.