NASA Artemis III Rocket to Return Humans to Moon Under Construction

NASA Artemis III Rocket to Return Humans to Moon Under Construction

NASA's Artemis III Mission will land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon, heralding a new era for space exploration and utilization.

Upper Stage Propulsion System for Artemis III Mission Reaches Major Milestone

While the Artemis I team prepares for its upcoming mission this year to orbit the moon, NASA and contractor teams are already building rockets to support future Artemis Moon missions. In United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) factory in Decatur, Alabama, major components have been completed for the Artemis III interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS) that will provide the power to send astronauts to the Moon. The ICPS, which is built by ULA under a collaborative partnership with Boeing, provides in-space propulsion for the Orion spacecraft after the solid rocket boosters and core stage put the Space Launch System (SLS) into an Earth orbit, and before the spacecraft is flying on its own. 

The liquid hydrogen tank (left) is built, and soon it will be mated to the intertank (right) that connects it with the liquid oxygen tank. The intertank is comprised of composite-material truss structures in an X design. The eight bottles around the perimeter of the trusses store helium used to pressurize the stage's propellant tanks. The liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen tanks provide propellant for a single RL10 engine built by Aerojet Rocketdyne in West Palm Beach, Florida. The Artemis III ICPS will provide the big push needed to propel Orion toward the Moon and send the crew on the first mission where humans once again will land on the lunar surface.

NASA's Artemis Program:

https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis

https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-1

Read the Artemis Plan (74-page PDF Free Download): 

https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/artemis_plan-20200921.pdf

NASA's Space Launch System (SLS)

https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/index.html

NASA's Orion Spacecraft

https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/orion/about/index.html

Caption Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Image Credit: United Launch Alliance

Release Date: May 25, 2022

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