KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — Late last 12 months, NASA successfully launched its first Space Launch System rocket, propelling an uncrewed Orion capsule on a flight to a distant retrograde orbit across the Moon. That was Artemis 1.
Next up is Artemis 2 — the primary SLS flight to launch a crewed Orion capsule on a free-return flight across the Moon.
During an August briefing on the agency’s Kennedy Space Center, Jim Free, NASA’s associate administrator for Exploration Systems Development, said Artemis 2 was running a “variety of weeks” behind schedule. But for now, the previously announced November 2024 goal launch date stays unchanged.
Then, there’s Artemis 3 — the SLS/Orion flight slated to return humans to the surface of the Moon using a lander provided by SpaceX.
Artemis 3 is scheduled for launch in late 2025. Nonetheless, in the identical August briefing, Free explained that SpaceX had considerable work to do on the lander and that a distinct mission might be flown if the lander isn’t ready.
Here’s a rundown on the present state of the Artemis 2 and three missions and associated hardware:
Artemis 2
: The crew of Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen was announced April 3, 2023, and are currently in training.
: Positioned within the Neil Amstrong Operations and Checkout (O&C) Constructing at KSC. The heat shield was installed June 25, 2023, and weight and center of gravity testing was recently accomplished.
In August, Luis Saucedo, NASA’s deputy manager for the Crew and Service Module Office, told Spaceflight Insider the crew and repair modules, collectively, were roughly 85% complete. He also stated that NASA and Lockheed Martin (the first contractor for Orion) are still investigating uneven charring to the Artemis 1 Orion heatshield, but as of yet, no changes have been made to the Artemis 2 heatshield.
Jim Free explained that the heatshield is the biggest “open-item” from Artemis 1, but NASA and Lockheed Martin hope to reach at the foundation cause and reach a final disposition by April 2023.
This part connects the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) to Orion. Per an email from Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC): “The Artemis II Orion stage adapter is in final assembly at [MSFC] and [is] pending completion later this fall. Based on the stacking schedule, it’s going to be flown via NASA’s Super Guppy airplane from [MSFC] to [KSC] in the identical timeframe because the ICPS for Artemis [2] is transferred for stacking operations, currently slated for spring 2024.”
The ESM sits directly below Orion within the SLS stack and provides primary propulsion and life support for the crew module. It’s built by Airbus in Bremen, Germany.
Artemis 2’s ESM arrived at KSC in October 2021 and formally handed over from the European Space Agency to NASA on June 14, 2023.
Positioned within the KSC O&C, the adapter ring for attaching the crew module, has been installed, and the module awaits integration with the crew module.
This partially encloses the ICPS and connects it to the core stage below and the OSA above.
Per an email from MSFC: The “Artemis [2] LVSA is complete and in storage [at MSFC]. It would ship[ed] via NASA’s Pegasus barge from [MSFC] to [KSC] when NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems [(EGS)] team is prepared to arrange it for stacking operations, currently slated for no early than spring 2024.”
: That is the upper stage for the Block 1 SLS rocket. It was used for Artemis 1 and can be used for Artemis 2 and three.
It’s built by United Launch Alliance (ULA) in Decatur, Alabama, and delivered to KSC in 2021. The ICPS was in storage at KSC until April 2023, and is undergoing preflight testing at KSC.
: Positioned at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) near Latest Orleans. Earlier this 12 months, the five major structures/segments were integrated. As of Sept. 20, 2023, all 4 RS-25 engines are soft-mounted to the stage.
Per Jim Free, the core stage is scheduled for completion within the Fall of 2023 and must be shipped from MAF to KSC in November 2023. Free said the stage must be delivered to KSC by February 2024 as to not affect the Artemis 2 critical path.
: The casting of all booster segments, by Northrop Grumman in Utah, was accomplished in 2019 and were delivered, by rail, to KSC on September 25, 2023.
: The Orion Crew Survival System (OCSS) suit, a customized/modified Shuttle-era Advanced Crew Escape Suit (ACES), manufactured by the David Clark Company, appears to be ready for Artemis 2 training and launch.
Artemis 3
: Not yet named and no timing for an announcement has been released.
: Undergoing assembly at KSC’s O&C.
: Per an email from MSFC: “The Artemis [3 OSA] is assembled and is currently staged at [MSFC]. The OSA diaphragm is scheduled for delivery to [MSFC] later this fall and is scheduled for installation in spring 2024.”
: Undergoing final integration at Airbus in Bremen, Germany, and scheduled to reach at KSC later in 2023.
: Construction accomplished, and the froth insulation / thermal protection was applied at MSFC in late spring 2023.
Per an email from MSFC: “The Artemis [3] LVSA is currently undergoing final integration and frangible joint assembly at [MSFC].”
: Departed ULA’s Decatur, Alabama, factory on Aug. 1, 2023, and arrived at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Poseidon Wharf on Aug. 9, 2023.
The stage will undergo final checkouts by Boeing and ULA prior to delivery to KSC.
: Generally, under assembly at MAF. Nonetheless, the engine section (without its 4 RS-25 engines) was delivered to KSC, from MAF, on Dec. 10, 2022. It’s being processed at KSC’s Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF) and can later be integrated with the rest of the stage and its RS-25s in KSC’s Vehicle Assembly Constructing.
The RS-25 refurbishment / upgrades are complete and the engines are in storage at Aerojet Rocketdyne’s facility at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, awaiting shipment to KSC.
: Casting of all segments was accomplished by Northrup Grumman in 2022 and are in storage in Utah awaiting shipment to KSC.
: The suits for Artemis 3 are to be provided by Axiom Space. In August, Jim Free said the Artemis 3 spacesuit preliminary design review was scheduled for October 2023.
: The Artemis 3 lander is to be a variant of SpaceX’s Starship. Nonetheless, there’s concern the lander is probably not ready in time for the late 2025 launch date.
In August, Jim Free explained that SpaceX’s Starship must launch multiple times prior to Artemis 3, including a Starship-to-Starship propellant transfer mission and an uncrewed demonstration flight.
Free even went thus far as to say NASA may fly a distinct Artemis 3 mission (reasonably than a Moon-landing) if the lander isn’t ready.