Boeing, the American aerospace company, is working tirelessly to ramp up the final assembly of the Artemis II Space Launch System (SLS) Core Stage in order to complete it by the end of this year. This news comes as NASA continues to make progress towards its ambitious Artemis program, which aims to land the next man and the first woman on the Moon by 2024.
The SLS Core Stage is a crucial component of NASA’s Artemis program and will serve as the backbone of the rocket that will carry astronauts into space. It will also be responsible for providing the initial thrust needed to send spacecraft beyond Earth’s orbit and towards the Moon.
Boeing has been working on the assembly of the SLS Core Stage at its facility in New Orleans, Louisiana. The company has planned to deliver the completed stage to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where it will undergo rigorous testing before being integrated with the rest of the rocket.
According to NASASpaceFlight.com, Boeing has been steadily progressing with the assembly process despite the challenges posed by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The company has implemented strict safety measures to ensure the well-being of its workforce and to maintain continuity in the development of the SLS Core Stage.
Once completed, the SLS Core Stage will stand at approximately 212 feet tall and will be powered by four liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen engines. It will have the capability to generate 2 million pounds of thrust, enabling it to carry humans and payloads to deep space destinations, including the Moon and even Mars.
The successful completion of the Artemis II SLS Core Stage is crucial for NASA’s timeline of returning astronauts to the Moon. Artemis II is planned to be an uncrewed test flight that will pave the way for future crewed missions. The SLS rocket, along with the Orion spacecraft, will play a vital role in future lunar missions as NASA strives to establish a sustainable human presence on the Moon.
With Boeing’s ramped-up final assembly efforts, NASA’s Artemis program takes another step forward in its ambitious goal of lunar exploration. As the deadline for completing the SLS Core Stage looms closer, the aerospace industry, space enthusiasts, and the general public eagerly anticipate NASA’s historic return to the Moon.