Space Launch System

SLS launch scrubbed after weather delay, engine cooling issue

STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION A NASA security helicopter flies near the Artemis 1 moon rocket on Launch Complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Center during a launch attempt Monday morning. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky Engineers fueled the Space Launch System moon rocket for blastoff Monday on NASA’s long-overdue Artemis 1 test flight, but …

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Artemis 1 flight to moon depends on precision rocket firings to pull off a complex trajectory

STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION This graphic from NASA illustrates the major events of the Artemis 1 launch sequence. Credit: NASA Even using the most powerful rocket NASA’s ever built, getting the agency’s unpiloted Orion spacecraft to the moon for the Artemis 1 test flight won’t be easy. It will hinge on a …

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Photos: Aerial survey of Kennedy Space Center on the eve of Artemis 1

NASA’s Artemis 1 moon rocket stands on Launch Complex 39B, behind the iconic Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: Walter Scriptunas II / Spaceflight Now Spaceflight Now took an aerial tour around the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in the days before the scheduled launch of NASA’s Artemis 1 moon …

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Countdown begins for maiden launch of Artemis moon rocket

STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION NASA’s Space Launch System moon rocket on pad 39B. Credit: Walter Scriptunas II / Spaceflight Now Countdown clocks began ticking Saturday for the maiden launch of NASA new Space Launch System rocket Monday on a long-awaited mission to send an unpiloted Orion crew capsule around the moon and …

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Orion crew module hatch closed for Artemis 1 test flight

NASA’s Orion spacecraft on top of the Space Launch System moon rocket. The crew access arm and white room connecting to the Orion spacecraft’s hatch are visible near the top of the picture. Credit: Stephen Clark / Spaceflight Now The Orion crew module hatch was closed for flight Thursday morning after technicians at pad 39B …

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CubeSats on Artemis 1 to pursue bold missions in deep space, if they overcome battery concerns

Team members work with the LunaH-Map CubeSat the Kennedy Space Center before integration with its dispenser on the Space Launch System. Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett The 10 CubeSats hitching a ride to deep space on NASA’s Space Launch System moon rocket promise new discoveries about the moon, space weather, and asteroids. But some of the small …

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Europe plays key role in NASA’s epic return to the moon

A view of the Orion spacecraft for the Artemis 1 mission during launch preparations at the Kennedy Space Center. The U.S.-built crew module sits mounted atop the European-built service module, with its solar arrays folded up for launch. Credit: NASA European space officials have hailed the importance of NASA’s upcoming inaugural Artemis mission and the …

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Final week of Artemis 1 preps include Orion closeouts and booster servicing

A member of NASA’s Artemis ground team is seen inside the white room near the Orion spacecraft’s hatch during rollback of the Space Launch System moon rocket to the Vehicle Assembly Building on July 2. Credit: Stephen Clark / Spaceflight Now Ground teams at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center will load fuel into the Space Launch …

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Photos: SLS moon rocket rolls to launch pad

NASA’s first Space Launch System moon rocket arrived on pad 39B early Aug. 17 after an overnight rollout from the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The 4.2-mile (6.8-kilometer) rollout moved the 322-foot-tall (98-meter) rocket into position for its inaugural test launch no earlier than Aug. 29. The mission, named Artemis …

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Three mannequins installed on Orion spacecraft for flight around the moon

One of the three mannequins on the Artemis 1 mission, dubbed “Commander Moonikin Campos,” is shown inside he Orion crew module in this Aug. 3 photo. Credit: NASA/Frank Michaux Three instrumented mannequins strapped into seats on NASA’s Orion spacecraft awaiting liftoff on the first flight of the huge Space Launch System rocket will help engineers …

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