mobile launcher – Artemis

Artemis Teams Successfully Test Uninterruptible Power for Mobile Launcher 

infographic lists the eight verification and validation tests to support Artemis II — NASA

Teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) Program at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, successfully tested the new uninterruptible power supply for mobile launcher 1 while it’s in Kennedy’s Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). This marks the next set of integrated ground systems testing the EGS teams are conducting to prepare for the Artemis II crewed mission.

During this test, engineers turned off the power to the mobile launcher and verified new batteries, which are located in High Bay 3 of the VAB, did not negatively impact any systems. These batteries provide power to the mobile launcher, SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft and allow teams to safe all systems in the unlikely event the structure loses power while it’s inside the VAB. There are similar batteries that are used for the same purpose at Launch Complex 39B, from which crewed Artemis missions will launch. 

The Artemis II test flight will be NASA’s first mission with crew under the Artemis campaign, sending NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, as well as Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, on a 10-day journey around the Moon.

NASA Stacks First Artemis II Segment on Mobile Launcher

Engineers and technicians with the Exploration Ground Systems Program stack the first Moon rocket segment – the left aft assembly for the Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) solid rocket booster onto mobile launcher 1 inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. Photo credit: NASA/Glenn Benson

Engineers and technicians inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida stacked the first segment of the Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket boosters onto mobile launcher 1.

Comprising 10 segments total – five segments for each booster – the SLS solid rocket boosters arrived via train to NASA Kennedy in September 2023 from Northrop Grumman’s manufacturing facility in Utah. The booster segments underwent processing in the spaceport’s Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility before being transferred to the NASA’s iconic VAB for stacking operations.

Technicians inside the 525-foot-tall facility used an overhead crane to lift the left aft assembly onto the mobile launcher. Up next, workers will install the right aft assembly, placing it carefully onto the 380-foot-tall structure used to process, assemble, and launch the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft.

The first components of the Artemis II Moon rocket to be stacked, the solid rocket boosters will help support the remaining rocket segments and the Orion spacecraft during final assembly. At launch, the 177-foot-tall twin solid rocket boosters provide more than 75 percent of the total SLS thrust during liftoff from NASA Kennedy’s Launch Pad 39B.

NASA Prepares for Artemis II Rocket Integration

Image shows booster segments being stacked inside Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center — Engineers and technicians with the Exploration Ground Systems Program prepare to transfer one of the aft assemblies of the SLS (Space Launch System) solid rocket boosters for the Artemis II mission with an overhead crane inside the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

Since the mobile launcher returned in October from Launch Pad 39B to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, work has been underway for upcoming stacking operations of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) Moon rocket.

To prepare for launch, the mobile launcher is undergoing optical scans, system checkouts, and umbilical refurbishment, including installation of the aft skirt electrical umbilicals.

The booster segments soon will move from the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility to the VAB via a transporter. The aft assemblies, or bottom portions of the five segment boosters, will be situated in the facility’s transfer aisle then lifted atop the mobile launcher in High Bay 3.

The examinations and preparations of the mobile launcher and rocket elements lay the groundwork for Artemis II crewed test flight around the Moon.

NASA’s Mobile Launcher Back at Vehicle Assembly Building

NASA’s mobile launcher 1 atop the spaceport’s crawler is transported inside the agency’s Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center in Florida ahead of integration of the Artemis II Moon rocket on Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. The mobile launcher will be used to assemble, process, and launch NASA’s SLS (Space Launch Systems) and Orion spacecraft to the Moon and beyond. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

After spending several months undergoing integrated testing and upgrades at Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, the agency’s mobile launcher 1 is transported inside the Vehicle Assembly Building in preparation for integration of the Artemis II Moon rocket.

The 4.2-mile trek from Launch Pad 39B to the Vehicle Assembly Building along the crawlerway normally takes eight to 12 hours atop NASA’s crawler-transporter 2, though teams paused the roll operations several times as planned to ensure the operation teams had scheduled breaks and rest. The operation resumed at 1:41 a.m. EDT, Friday, Oct. 4.

Standing 380 feet tall, the mobile launcher – which will be used to assemble, process, and launch the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft – contains all the connection lines – known as umbilicals – and ground support equipment that will provide the rocket and spacecraft with the power, communications, fuel, and coolant necessary for launch. This will be the mobile launcher’s last solo trek out to the launch pad ahead of integration of the Artemis Moon rocket, and it will remain inside the Vehicle Assembly Building until it is ready to return to the pad with the rocket for a tanking test.

The Artemis II test flight will be NASA’s first mission with crew under the Artemis campaign, sending NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Reid Wiseman, as well as CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, on a 10-day journey around the Moon and back.

NASA’s Mobile Launcher Rolls Ahead of Artemis II Preparation

Teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems Program at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida prepare to move mobile launcher 1 atop the agency’s crawler-transporter 2 from Launch Complex 39B to the Vehicle Assembly Building on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. The crawler transporter recently reached 2,500 miles traveling to the launch pad since its construction in 1965. The mobile launcher will be used to assemble, process, and launch NASA’s SLS (Space Launch Systems) and Orion spacecraft to the Moon and beyond. Photo Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

NASA rolled closer to integrating elements of the Artemis II Moon rocket together as teams with the agency’s Exploration Ground Systems Program at Kennedy Space Center in Florida began moving the mobile launcher 1 from Launch Complex 39B along a 4.2 mile stretch back to the Vehicle Assembly Building. First motion of the mobile launcher, atop NASA’s crawler-transporter 2, occurred at 12:09 a.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 3.

Teams rolled the mobile launcher out to Kennedy’s Pad 39B in August 2023 for upgrades and a series of ground demonstration tests in preparation for NASA’s Artemis II mission. These preparations ranged from a launch day demonstration for the crew, closeout crew, and the pad rescue team, to testing the emergency egress system, water flow system, and the new liquid hydrogen sphere at the launch pad.

On its way to transport the mobile launcher back from the pad, NASA’s crawler-transporter 2 also achieved a milestone nearly 60 years in the making. Already designated by Guinness World Records as the heaviest self-powered vehicle – larger than a baseball infield and weighing approximately 6.65 million pounds – the crawler reached 2,500 miles traveled since its construction in 1965.

The mobile launcher is expected to arrive outside the Vehicle Assembly Building around 10 a.m. Thursday, Oct.3, before the Exploration Ground Systems teams move it into High Bay 3 on Friday, Oct.4.

Follow the livestream of the mobile launcher on the move.

NASA’s Moon Rocket Revealed Outside Vehicle Assembly Building

NASA’s Moon rocket is on the move at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, rolling out of the Vehicle Assembly Building for a 4.2-mile journey to Launch Complex 39B on March 17, 2022. Carried atop the crawler-transporter 2, the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft are venturing to the pad for a wet dress rehearsal ahead of the uncrewed Artemis I launch. Photo credit: NASA

The rocket and spacecraft for NASA’s Artemis I mission has fully left Kennedy Space Center’s Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) for the first time on the way to Launch Complex 39B for a wet dress rehearsal test.

The team is in a planned pause outside the building to retract the Crew Access Arm (CAA). The arm interfaces with the Orion spacecraft stacked atop the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket to provide access to the Orion crew module during operations in the VAB and at the launch pad. On crewed Artemis missions beginning with Artemis II, the access arm also will provide entry and exit for astronauts and payloads that will fly aboard. Several days before the rollout began, the arm was moved closer to the rocket to fit through the VAB door. Engineers are extending it to lock it in its travel position.

Once the CAA retraction is complete, the team will continue the four-mile trek to Launch Complex 39B.

NASA’s Mega Moon Rocket Begins Rolling to Launch Pad

NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, with the Orion capsule atop, prepares to roll out of High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 17, 2022, for its journey to Launch Complex 39B. Carried atop the crawler-transporter 2, NASA’s Moon rocket is venturing out to the launch pad for a wet dress rehearsal ahead of the uncrewed Artemis I launch. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

The Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft for the Artemis I mission are rolling to Launch Complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the very first time. At about 5:45 p.m. ET, with the integrated SLS and Orion system atop it, the crawler-transporter began the approximately 4-mile, journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) to the launch pad. Once outside the VAB high-bay doors, the Moon rocket will make a planned pause allowing the team to reposition the Crew Access Arm before continuing to the launch pad. The crawler-transporter will move slowly during the trek to the pad with a top cruising speed of .82 mph. The journey is expected to take between six and 12 hours.

After they arrive at the pad, engineers will prepare the integrated rocket and Orion spacecraft for a critical wet dress rehearsal test that includes loading all the propellants

Rollout of NASA’s Mega Moon Rocket Inches Closer with Addition of Worm Logo

Engineers and technicians at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida drove Crawler Transporter-2 on March 11, 2022 to the doors of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). Soon, it will go inside the VAB where it will carry the Artemis I Moon rocket to launch pad 39B. Photo credit: NASA/Chad Siwik

Earlier today, engineers and technicians at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida drove Crawler Transporter-2, which will carry NASA’s Moon rocket to the launch pad, to the doors of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). Soon, the 6.6-million-pound crawler will go inside the VAB and slide under the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft placed on the Mobile Launcher. Technicians will finish up preparations to transport the rocket traveling at a top speed of 1 mph to Launch Complex 39B for a wet dress rehearsal test ahead of the Artemis I launch.

This week, the Kennedy team also completed painting the NASA worm logo on the Space Launch System solid rocket boosters. While painters added parts of the iconic logo before the segments were stacked, they had to wait until the boosters were fully assembled to finish the job.

In addition, the team has continued to retract the 20 platforms that surround the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft ahead of rollout on March 17 for the wet dress rehearsal test. The wet dress rehearsal will be the final major test for the Artemis I mission and will ensure the rocket, spacecraft, ground equipment and launch team are “go” for launch.

NASA’s Space Launch System Receives Another Major Boost

SLS solid rocket boosters — The solid rocket boosters will power the first flight of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket on the Artemis I mission. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

The third of five sets of solid rocket boosters for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket were placed on the mobile launcher inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The middle segments, painted with the iconic “worm” logo, were lifted onto the launcher by Jacobs and Exploration Ground Systems engineers using the VAB’s 325-ton crane.

The twin boosters will power the first flight of the agency’s new deep space rocket on its first Artemis Program mission. Artemis I will be an uncrewed flight to test the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights.

Mobile Launcher Arrives at Launch Pad 39B for Tests, Preps for Artemis I

The Exploration Ground Systems and Jacobs teams rolled the mobile launcher, atop crawler-transporter 2, out of the Vehicle Assembly Building for its slow trek to Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 20.

The roll began just after midnight, and the mobile launcher arrived at the top of the pad Tuesday morning. This trek to the pad will help prepare the launch team for the actual wet dress rehearsal and launch of SLS and Orion on Artemis I next year. The wet dress rehearsal is when SLS and Orion will be rolled out to the pad atop the mobile launcher to practice fueling operations a couple months before launch. The last time the mobile launcher was rolled to the pad was in December 2019.

During its two-week stay at the pad, engineers will perform several tasks, including a timing test to validate the launch team’s countdown timeline, and a thorough, top-to-bottom wash down of the mobile launcher to remove any debris remaining from construction and installation of the umbilical arms.

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Tag: mobile launcher