New Orleans-made space rocket inches closer to Moon mission
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The massive core stage for the Artemis II rocket is loaded onto a barge Tuesday at Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. Photo: Steven Seipel/NASA
A crucial piece of NASA's next crewed flight to the Moon was shipped out this week from New Orleans and is on a barge headed to Florida.
Why it matters: The rocket stage was constructed at NASA's Michoud facility and is the largest of its kind in the world.
The big picture: The Artemis II space mission is scheduled for September 2025.
- The goal is to send four people on a lunar flyby, NASA said. Meet the crew.
- The following Artemis III mission in 2026 will include landing and putting the first woman and person of color on the Moon.
Zoom in: The new space launch system is NASA's most powerful rocket ever built, and the goal is to use it for a deep space mission to Mars eventually.
- It's the only system so far that can send the spacecraft, astronauts and supplies to the Moon in a single launch, NASA said.
- The Michoud facility made the system's core stage, which NASA refers to as the "backbone" of the rocket. It supports the vessel and helps power and direct its flight to space. Boeing is the prime contractor.
How it works: The 212-feet-tall core stage includes four engines, two propellent tanks and flight computers, according to NASA.
- The tanks hold 733,000 gallons of liquid oxygen and hydrogen, which will power the engines for eight minutes until reaching low Earth orbit.
- The core stage will then separate from the Orion spacecraft. See more about the space flight.
What's next: The core stage is on NASA's barge called Pegasus and is heading to Stennis Space Center in Mississippi for testing and then to Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
- Crews at Conrad Shipyard in Morgan City refurbished and lengthened Pegasus to hold the massive cargo, NASA said.
- A tugboat will push the barge across the Gulf of Mexico, around the tip of Florida and then up to Cape Canaveral on the state's Atlantic coast.
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