Artemis III SLS teams prepare short stack for pad tanking test

4 min read · reported by NASASpaceflight

With both solid rocket boosters fully stacked and all four RS-25 engines now installed on the Core Stage, NASA is preparing to mate the stage to the boosters and form the short stack that will roll to Launch Pad 39B for a tanking test.

The test, expected in the coming months, will also give the Artemis III crew their first full launch-day rehearsal on the pad ahead of the targeted no-earlier-than June 2027 mission. Engineers with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems finished stacking the twin five-segment boosters on September 30 by mating the aerodynamic nose cones to the left and right forward assemblies inside the Vehicle Assembly Building’s High Bay 3 at Kennedy Space Center.

Each forward assembly includes the nose cone, a forward skirt housing avionics, and a frustum containing the separation motors. The boosters, built by Northrop Grumman, will deliver more than 75 percent of total SLS thrust at liftoff from Pad 39B.

Stacking on Mobile Launcher 1 began in mid-July with the aft segments. Teams added the aft-center, center, and forward-center segments through August before completing the stacks with the forward assemblies. The boosters now stand complete in High Bay 3. Core Stage processing has kept pace in High Bay 2. After the tank section arrived from Michoud Assembly Facility and was mated to the engine section, teams completed installation of the four RS-25 engines.

The next step is fitting the systems tunnel that runs the length of the stage and carries the pyrotechnic cabling for the single-use quick-disconnects used at liftoff.

Once that work is finished, the Core Stage will be mated to the boosters in the coming weeks to create the short stack. This configuration leaves off the upper-stage adapters, spacer, and Orion spacecraft.

NASA plans to roll the short stack to Launch Pad 39B for a tanking test, during which the launch team will practice propellant loading timelines and procedures. While the vehicle is at the pad, the Artemis III crew will conduct a launch-day rehearsal. NASA astronauts Randy Bresnik (commander), Frank Rubio and Andre Douglas (mission specialists), and ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano (pilot) will suit up in the astronaut crew quarters, drive to the pad, ascend the mobile launcher, and walk through the emergency exit route they would use during an off-nominal countdown.

Artemis III will remain in low Earth orbit. The mission will carry Orion and its four-person crew to demonstrate docking and other operations with the commercial lunar modules from SpaceX and Blue Origin. These objectives are intended to clear key risks ahead of the first crewed lunar landing attempt on Artemis IV.

At Pad 39B, teams continue refurbishing the flame deflector after the Artemis II launch. Damage was minimal, and the flame trench bricks were unaffected, reflecting modifications made after Artemis I. Orion processing continues in the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building. ESA and Airbus personnel recently inspected the solar array wings that attach to the European Service Module.

Each array spans about 63 feet and generates 11 kilowatts to power the service module’s propulsion, thermal control, and life-support systems. At Marshall Space Flight Center, the forward and aft rings have been welded onto the Artemis III spacer, completing its primary structure. Dimensional checks are now underway so the hardware can be verified before it ships to Kennedy early next year, where it will stand in for an upper stage on this mission.

Engineers are also converting the structural test articles of the Orion Stage Adapter and Launch Vehicle Stage Adapter into flight units for Artemis III, keeping the production flight articles for Artemis IV.

Exterior painting on the Orion Stage Adapter is complete, with cable and bracket installation next. Corrosion removal on the Launch Vehicle Stage Adapter is nearly finished; nondestructive evaluation is scheduled for this fall, followed by conversion coating, priming, painting, and application of thermal protection spray foam. Completing this work keeps the adapters on schedule to join the short stack after the tanking test.

Crew training has continued in parallel and is now focused on the specific procedures the crew will rehearse during the upcoming pad visit. Recent sessions included practice with the compact flywheel exercise device, sampling nearly 200 menu items at the Space Food Systems Laboratory in Houston, helicopter underwater egress training, and recovery operations with Navy partners in San Diego involving helicopter water lifts.

The crew also completed suited operations in the Orion Crew Survival System Suits covering post-insertion, deorbit, and emergency procedures. In September, the prime and backup crews visited Kennedy for the first time since the announcement, viewed the stacked boosters, Core Stage, and Orion, and met with SpaceX and Blue Origin teams on lander progress.

With the boosters complete and the engines installed, the immediate focus shifts to installing the systems tunnel and the short-stack mate, which will allow the vehicle to move to the pad for the tanking test and crew rehearsal.

Featured Image: Max Evans for NSF.

Reported by NASASpaceflight. Reproduced unedited by Everything Space. View the original →