NASA Begins Processing Artemis III Moon Rocket at Kennedy
Hey Space Placers! 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 ...