NASA brought the Artemis II rocket closer to launch by integrating the launch vehicle stage adapter onto the Space Launch System core stage on April 12 at the Kennedy Space Center’s vehicle assembly building.
Critical Artemis II Rocket Components
The agency said Monday its Exploration Ground Systems Program technicians managed to lift the cone-shaped adapter by 250 feet and install it onto the core stage using a 325-ton crane. The launch vehicle stage adapter is designed to link the SLS core stage and the interim cryogenic propulsion stage, a vital component required to power the Artemis II test flight around the moon. The adapter is crucial for maintaining structural integrity and safeguarding the upper stage’s avionics and electrical devices from severe vibrations and acoustic conditions during the launch and ascent.
NASA will now focus on stacking the interim cryogenic propulsion stage onto the launch vehicle stage adapter. The stage adapter was manufactured by Teledyne Brown Engineering at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., under the Amentum Space Exploration Division’s Engineering Services and Science Capability Augmentation contract.
Artemis II Test Flight
NASA’s Artemis II test flight aims to launch four astronauts on a 10-day mission to orbit the moon and evaluate the systems and hardware necessary for future human deep space exploration. This will be the first crewed mission under the Artemis program, which intends to deploy humans on the lunar surface and prepare for planned crewed missions to Mars.
