SLS Update #2: NASA's Moon Rocket Is Now in Position to Begin a Series of Ground Tests Prior to Its Launch on Artemis 1...

NASA / Ben Smegelsky

Earlier today, NASA released these four photos showing the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket for Artemis 1 getting primed for ground tests that will soon take place inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida.

In the pictures above and directly below, the Mass Simulator for Orion (MSO) is now mated to the Orion stage adapter's structural test article (OSA STA) atop SLS. This milestone occurred on August 13.

And in the last two images of this entry, the mobile launcher's intertank umbilical arm has been attached to SLS since August 12. This arm will provide power, communications and pressurized gases from ground support equipment to the mammoth vehicle as it sits on the pad at KSC's Launch Complex (LC)-39B during countdown.

With the MSO and OSA STA stacked on SLS, and the mobile launcher's umbilical arms now connected to the Moon rocket, technicians on NASA's Exploration Ground Systems team can prepare the vehicle for two upcoming demonstrations: the Umbilical Release and Retract Test (URRT) and an Integrated Modal Test (IMT). Click here to read more about the URRT and IMT.

Once these tests are completed, the MSO and OSA STA will be removed from SLS and the actual Orion spacecraft and its Cubesat-filled stage adapter will be transported to the VAB for mating on the launch vehicle. This should take place sometime next month.

Assuming that the URRT and IMT—as well as the Wet Dress Rehearsal set to occur at LC-39B in early autumn—go as planned, Artemis 1 will launch no earlier than November 22.


NASA / Ben Smegelsky


NASA / Kim Shiflett


NASA / Kim Shiflett