The rollout was accompanied, in New Orleans style, by a brass band. Photo: Courtesy NASA.
NASA's Artemis program hasn't slowed down any since the Artemis II astronauts splashed down earlier this month.
The big picture: The top four-fifths of the Space Launch System core stage rolled out from NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans yesterday, starting its trip to Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Specialized transporters carried the top four-fifths, which includes the liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen tanks, intertank and forward skirt, to NASA's Pegasus Barge, which will take it to Florida.
The core stage construction, assembling and transportation is being coordinated with Boeing and L3Harris Technologies, NASA says.
What's next:Artemis III is set for a low-earth-orbit demonstration of docking procedures with lunar landers in mid-2027, ahead of Artemis IV in 2028, when astronauts will land on the moon.