NASA Begins Processing Artemis III Moon Rocket at Kennedy

 Hey Space Placers!

Image shows a bright yellow object, core stage engine section inside High Bay 2 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Aug. 15 Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston

Teams from Kennedy lift NASA’s integrated Artemis III SLS (Space Launch System) core stage engine section with its boat-tail inside the center’s Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025. Shown inside the facility’s High Bay 2 for processing, the engine section is one the most complex and intricate parts of the rocket stage that will help power the Artemis missions to the Moon. 

CREDIT: NASA/Cory Huston

NASA is prepping the SLS for Artemis III, the US mission to land a crew on the Moon in 2027.

The elephant in the room for Artemis III is the lunar Human Landing System (HLS) - SpaceX's Starship - which has yet to successfully reach orbit around Earth and re-enter and land, prove in-orbit refueling works, oh, and conduct an uncrewed landing on the Moon all before 2027. THAT, is a lot do.

Only time and successful Starship test flights will tell.

Artemis II, the first return of humans to lunar orbit since Apollo 17 in December 1972, is scheduled for APRIL 2026.

China is on track for a 2030 landing of Taikonauts on the Moon. And other space faring nations have plans to send humans to the Moon.

LIGHT THOSE CANDLES!

Sky Guy in VA

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