In the Building of the vertical assembly (VAB) At the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA engineers began direct assembly of the SLS launch vehicle (Space Launch System) for the Artemis III mission.
The main step was fixing the lower aft sections of the left and right solid fuel boosters on the mobile launch platform. They serve as the "foundation", which will hold the entire rocket structure during subsequent vertical assembly.
In parallel with the installation of the accelerators in the adjacent halls of the center, the preparation of other key components of the system continues:
Central degree (Core Stage): On a gigantic scale, delivered by barge Pegasus, complete the integration of engines. Specialists have already assembled the engine compartment and installed the first two of four RS-25 hydrogen-oxygen engines from L3Harris Technologies.
Orion ship: In another engineering building (Operations and Checkout Building) specialists successfully attached its massive heat shield to the manned Orion capsule.
Staff training: NASA's launch team is already conducting monthly simulations of the rocket's cryogenic refueling and countdown at the Rocco A control center. Petron.
Artemis III mission profile change
The start of physical media assembly is a critical milestone, however, the mission itself underwent major adjustments due to program schedule updates
New task: Artemis III no longer involves landing a crew on the Moon. Instead, it is reformatted into a crewed demonstration mission in low Earth orbit. The launch is planned for the middle or end 2027 year.
The purpose of the flight: Four Orion astronauts will test life support systems in a long flight and practice complex approach and docking with prototypes of lunar landing modules from private companies - Blue Moon (Blue Origin) та Starship V3 (SpaceX). New spacesuits will also be tested in outer space.
If these near-Earth tests in 2027 the year will end successfully, the first for over 50 years, the real landing of people on the surface of the moon will take place already during the next mission - Artemis IV, which is pre-planned for the end 2028 year.
Source: https://universemagazine.com