In High Bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, one of the Artemis I aft booster segments for the Space Launch System is being prepared for its lift up and lowering onto the mobile launcher in High Bay 3 for stacking operations on Nov. 20, 2020. Workers with Exploration Ground Systems and contractor Jacobs teams will stack the twin five-segment boosters on the mobile launcher in High Bay 3 over a number of weeks. When the core stage arrives, it will join the boosters on the mobile launcher, followed by the interim cryogenic propulsion stage and Orion spacecraft. Manufactured by Northrop Grumman in Utah, the twin boosters provide more than 75 percent of the total SLS thrust at launch. The SLS is managed by Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon.

In High Bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane is used to lift Space Launch System (SLS) solid rocket booster pathfinder segments and move them to be added atop other booster pathfinder segments during a training exercise on Jan. 8, 2020. A team of engineers with Exploration Ground Systems and crane operators and technicians with contractor Jacobs are practicing lifting, moving and stacking maneuvers, using important ground support equipment to train employees and certify all the equipment works properly. The booster pathfinders are inert, full-scale replicas of the actual booster hardware that will be attached to the SLS rocket for Artemis missions. The five-segment, 17-story-tall twin boosters will provide 3.6 million pounds of thrust each at liftoff to help launch Orion on Artemis I, its first uncrewed mission beyond the Moon.

In High Bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane moves Space Launch System (SLS) solid rocket booster pathfinder segments to stack them atop other pathfinder segments during a training exercise on Jan. 8, 2020. A team of engineers with Exploration Ground Systems and crane operators and technicians with contractor Jacobs are practicing lifting, moving and stacking maneuvers, using important ground support equipment to train employees and certify all the equipment works properly. The booster pathfinders are inert, full-scale replicas of the actual booster hardware that will be attached to the SLS rocket for Artemis missions. The five-segment, 17-story-tall twin boosters will provide 3.6 million pounds of thrust each at liftoff to help launch Orion on Artemis I, its first uncrewed mission beyond the Moon.

In High Bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane moves Space Launch System (SLS) solid rocket booster pathfinder segments toward a platform during a training exercise on Jan. 8, 2020. A team of engineers with Exploration Ground Systems and crane operators and technicians with contractor Jacobs are practicing lifting, moving and stacking maneuvers, using important ground support equipment to train employees and certify all the equipment works properly. The booster pathfinders are inert, full-scale replicas of the actual booster hardware that will be attached to the SLS rocket for Artemis missions. The five-segment, 17-story-tall twin boosters will provide 3.6 million pounds of thrust each at liftoff to help launch Orion on Artemis I, its first uncrewed mission beyond the Moon.

In High Bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a team of engineers with Exploration Ground Systems and contractor Jacobs participate in Space Launch System (SLS) solid rocket booster pathfinder stacking during a training exercise on Jan. 8, 2020. The booster pathfinders are inert, full-scale replicas of the actual booster hardware that will be attached to the SLS rocket for Artemis missions. The team is practicing lifting, moving and stacking maneuvers, using important ground support equipment to train employees and certify all the equipment works properly. The five-segment, 17-story-tall twin boosters will provide 3.6 million pounds of thrust each at liftoff to help launch Orion on Artemis I, its first uncrewed mission beyond the Moon.

In High Bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, pathfinders, or full-scale replicas of Space Launch System (SLS) solid rocket booster segments, are being stacked during a training exercise on Jan. 8, 2020. A team of engineers with Exploration Ground Systems and crane operators and technicians with contractor Jacobs are practicing lifting, moving and stacking maneuvers, using important ground support equipment to train employees and certify all the equipment works properly. The booster pathfinders are inert, full-scale replicas of the actual booster hardware that will be attached to the SLS rocket for Artemis missions. The five-segment, 17-story-tall twin boosters will provide 3.6 million pounds of thrust each at liftoff to help launch Orion on Artemis I, its first uncrewed mission beyond the Moon.

In High Bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, one of the Artemis I aft booster segments for the Space Launch System is being prepared for stacking operations on Nov. 20, 2020. Workers with Exploration Ground Systems and contractor Jacobs teams will stack the twin five-segment boosters on the mobile launcher in High Bay 3 over a number of weeks. When the core stage arrives, it will join the boosters on the mobile launcher, followed by the interim cryogenic propulsion stage and Orion spacecraft. Manufactured by Northrop Grumman in Utah, the twin boosters provide more than 75 percent of the total SLS thrust at launch. The SLS is managed by Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon.

In High Bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, one of the Artemis I aft booster segments for the Space Launch System is being prepared for its lift up and lowering onto the mobile launcher in High Bay 3 for stacking operations on Nov. 20, 2020. Workers with Exploration Ground Systems and contractor Jacobs teams will stack the twin five-segment boosters on the mobile launcher in High Bay 3 over a number of weeks. When the core stage arrives, it will join the boosters on the mobile launcher, followed by the interim cryogenic propulsion stage and Orion spacecraft. Manufactured by Northrop Grumman in Utah, the twin boosters provide more than 75 percent of the total SLS thrust at launch. The SLS is managed by Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon.

In High Bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, pathfinders, or full-scale replicas of Space Launch System (SLS) solid rocket booster segments, are being stacked during a training exercise on Jan. 8, 2020. A team of engineers with Exploration Ground Systems and crane operators and technicians with contractor Jacobs are practicing lifting, moving and stacking maneuvers, using important ground support equipment to train employees and certify all the equipment works properly. The booster pathfinders are inert, full-scale replicas of the actual booster hardware that will be attached to the SLS rocket for Artemis missions. The five-segment, 17-story-tall twin boosters will provide 3.6 million pounds of thrust each at liftoff to help launch Orion on Artemis I, its first uncrewed mission beyond the Moon.

In High Bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, one of the Artemis I aft booster segments for the Space Launch System is being prepared for stacking operations on Nov. 20, 2020. Workers with Exploration Ground Systems and contractor Jacobs teams will stack the twin five-segment boosters on the mobile launcher in High Bay 3 over a number of weeks. When the core stage arrives, it will join the boosters on the mobile launcher, followed by the interim cryogenic propulsion stage and Orion spacecraft. Manufactured by Northrop Grumman in Utah, the twin boosters provide more than 75 percent of the total SLS thrust at launch. The SLS is managed by Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon.

In High Bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane lowers Space Launch System (SLS) solid rocket booster pathfinder segments onto a platform during a training exercise on Jan. 8, 2020. A team of engineers with Exploration Ground Systems and crane operators and technicians with contractor Jacobs are practicing lifting, moving and stacking maneuvers, using important ground support equipment to train employees and certify all the equipment works properly. The booster pathfinders are inert, full-scale replicas of the actual booster hardware that will be attached to the SLS rocket for Artemis missions. The five-segment, 17-story-tall twin boosters will provide 3.6 million pounds of thrust each at liftoff to help launch Orion on Artemis I, its first uncrewed mission beyond the Moon.

Under a protective cover, the Orion Stage Adapter (OSA) arrives in High Bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building on Oct. 4, 2021, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Teams will lift the ring-shaped OSA, filled with shoebox-sized CubeSats, and connect it to the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS). The Orion spacecraft will be secured on top of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket to complete the stack ahead of the Artemis I launch. This mission will be the first integrated flight test of the SLS and Orion spacecraft. In later missions, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone on the way to Mars.

In High Bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane lowers Space Launch System (SLS) solid rocket booster pathfinder segments onto a platform during a training exercise on Jan. 8, 2020. A team of engineers with Exploration Ground Systems and crane operators and technicians with contractor Jacobs are practicing lifting, moving and stacking maneuvers, using important ground support equipment to train employees and certify all the equipment works properly. The booster pathfinders are inert, full-scale replicas of the actual booster hardware that will be attached to the SLS rocket for Artemis missions. The five-segment, 17-story-tall twin boosters will provide 3.6 million pounds of thrust each at liftoff to help launch Orion on Artemis I, its first uncrewed mission beyond the Moon.

In High Bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane lowers one Space Launch System (SLS) solid rocket booster pathfinder segment onto another segment during a training exercise on Jan. 8, 2020. A team of engineers with Exploration Ground Systems and crane operators and technicians with contractor Jacobs are practicing lifting, moving and stacking maneuvers, using important ground support equipment to train employees and certify all the equipment works properly. The booster pathfinders are inert, full-scale replicas of the actual booster hardware that will be attached to the SLS rocket for Artemis missions. The five-segment, 17-story-tall twin boosters will provide 3.6 million pounds of thrust each at liftoff to help launch Orion on Artemis I, its first uncrewed mission beyond the Moon.

In High Bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a team of engineers with Exploration Ground Systems and contractor Jacobs participate in Space Launch System (SLS) solid rocket booster pathfinder stacking during a training exercise on Jan. 8, 2020. The booster pathfinders are inert, full-scale replicas of the actual booster hardware that will be attached to the SLS rocket for Artemis missions. The team is practicing lifting, moving and stacking maneuvers, using important ground support equipment to train employees and certify all the equipment works properly. The five-segment, 17-story-tall twin boosters will provide 3.6 million pounds of thrust each at liftoff to help launch Orion on Artemis I, its first uncrewed mission beyond the Moon.

Under a protective cover, the Orion Stage Adapter (OSA) arrives in High Bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building on Oct. 4, 2021, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Teams will lift the ring-shaped OSA, filled with shoebox-sized CubeSats, and connect it to the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS). The Orion spacecraft will be secured on top of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket to complete the stack ahead of the Artemis I launch. This mission will be the first integrated flight test of the SLS and Orion spacecraft. In later missions, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone on the way to Mars.

In High Bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane lowers Space Launch System (SLS) solid rocket booster pathfinder segments onto a platform during a training exercise on Jan. 8, 2020. A team of engineers with Exploration Ground Systems and crane operators and technicians with contractor Jacobs are practicing lifting, moving and stacking maneuvers, using important ground support equipment to train employees and certify all the equipment works properly. The booster pathfinders are inert, full-scale replicas of the actual booster hardware that will be attached to the SLS rocket for Artemis missions. The five-segment, 17-story-tall twin boosters will provide 3.6 million pounds of thrust each at liftoff to help launch Orion on Artemis I, its first uncrewed mission beyond the Moon.

In High Bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane moves Space Launch System (SLS) solid rocket booster pathfinder segments toward a platform during a training exercise on Jan. 8, 2020. A team of engineers with Exploration Ground Systems and crane operators and technicians with contractor Jacobs are practicing lifting, moving and stacking maneuvers, using important ground support equipment to train employees and certify all the equipment works properly. The booster pathfinders are inert, full-scale replicas of the actual booster hardware that will be attached to the SLS rocket for Artemis missions. The five-segment, 17-story-tall twin boosters will provide 3.6 million pounds of thrust each at liftoff to help launch Orion on Artemis I, its first uncrewed mission beyond the Moon.

In High Bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, one of the Artemis I aft booster segments for the Space Launch System is being prepared for stacking operations on Nov. 20, 2020. Workers with Exploration Ground Systems and contractor Jacobs teams will stack the twin five-segment boosters on the mobile launcher in High Bay 3 over a number of weeks. When the core stage arrives, it will join the boosters on the mobile launcher, followed by the interim cryogenic propulsion stage and Orion spacecraft. Manufactured by Northrop Grumman in Utah, the twin boosters provide more than 75 percent of the total SLS thrust at launch. The SLS is managed by Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon.

In High Bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane lowers Space Launch System (SLS) solid rocket booster pathfinder segments onto a platform during a training exercise on Jan. 8, 2020. A team of engineers with Exploration Ground Systems and crane operators and technicians with contractor Jacobs are practicing lifting, moving and stacking maneuvers, using important ground support equipment to train employees and certify all the equipment works properly. The booster pathfinders are inert, full-scale replicas of the actual booster hardware that will be attached to the SLS rocket for Artemis missions. The five-segment, 17-story-tall twin boosters will provide 3.6 million pounds of thrust each at liftoff to help launch Orion on Artemis I, its first uncrewed mission beyond the Moon.

In High Bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane lowers one Space Launch System (SLS) solid rocket booster pathfinder segment onto another segment during a training exercise on Jan. 8, 2020. A team of engineers with Exploration Ground Systems and crane operators and technicians with contractor Jacobs are practicing lifting, moving and stacking maneuvers, using important ground support equipment to train employees and certify all the equipment works properly. The booster pathfinders are inert, full-scale replicas of the actual booster hardware that will be attached to the SLS rocket for Artemis missions. The five-segment, 17-story-tall twin boosters will provide 3.6 million pounds of thrust each at liftoff to help launch Orion on Artemis I, its first uncrewed mission beyond the Moon.

In High Bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, one of the Artemis I aft booster segments for the Space Launch System is being prepared for its lift up and lowering onto the mobile launcher in High Bay 3 for stacking operations on Nov. 20, 2020. Workers with Exploration Ground Systems and contractor Jacobs teams will stack the twin five-segment boosters on the mobile launcher in High Bay 3 over a number of weeks. When the core stage arrives, it will join the boosters on the mobile launcher, followed by the interim cryogenic propulsion stage and Orion spacecraft. Manufactured by Northrop Grumman in Utah, the twin boosters provide more than 75 percent of the total SLS thrust at launch. The SLS is managed by Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon.

In High Bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, pathfinders, or full-scale replicas of Space Launch System (SLS) solid rocket booster segments, are being stacked during a training exercise on Jan. 8, 2020. A team of engineers with Exploration Ground Systems and crane operators and technicians with contractor Jacobs are practicing lifting, moving and stacking maneuvers, using important ground support equipment to train employees and certify all the equipment works properly. The booster pathfinders are inert, full-scale replicas of the actual booster hardware that will be attached to the SLS rocket for Artemis missions. The five-segment, 17-story-tall twin boosters will provide 3.6 million pounds of thrust each at liftoff to help launch Orion on Artemis I, its first uncrewed mission beyond the Moon.

In High Bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a team of engineers with Exploration Ground Systems and contractor Jacobs participate in Space Launch System (SLS) solid rocket booster pathfinder stacking during a training exercise on Jan. 8, 2020. A crane is used to lift up two pathfinder segments and move them to a platform. The booster pathfinders are inert, full-scale replicas of the actual booster hardware that will be attached to the SLS rocket for Artemis missions. The team is practicing lifting, moving and stacking maneuvers, using important ground support equipment to train employees and certify all the equipment works properly. The five-segment, 17-story-tall twin boosters will provide 3.6 million pounds of thrust each at liftoff to help launch Orion on Artemis I, its first uncrewed mission beyond the Moon.

Technicians with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems team prepare for integration to attach the agency’s Orion spacecraft on top of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket in High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025, for the agency’s Artemis II mission. Set to launch in 2026, the spacecraft will carry NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen on a 10-day mission around the Moon and back. Once stacked, teams will begin conducting a series of verification tests ahead of rolling out to Launch Complex 39B for the wet dress rehearsal at NASA Kennedy.

Technicians with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems team prepare for integration to attach the agency’s Orion spacecraft on top of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket in High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025, for the agency’s Artemis II mission. Set to launch in 2026, the spacecraft will carry NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen on a 10-day mission around the Moon and back. Once stacked, teams will begin conducting a series of verification tests ahead of rolling out to Launch Complex 39B for the wet dress rehearsal at NASA Kennedy.

Technicians with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems team prepare for integration to attach the agency’s Orion spacecraft on top of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket in High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025, for the agency’s Artemis II mission. Set to launch in 2026, the spacecraft will carry NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen on a 10-day mission around the Moon and back. Once stacked, teams will begin conducting a series of verification tests ahead of rolling out to Launch Complex 39B for the wet dress rehearsal at NASA Kennedy.

Technicians with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems team prepare to attach a crane to lift and secure NASA’s Orion spacecraft on top of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket in High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025, for the agency’s Artemis II mission. Set to launch in 2026, the spacecraft will carry NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen on a 10-day mission around the Moon and back. Once stacked, teams will begin conducting a series of verification tests ahead of rolling out to Launch Complex 39B for the wet dress rehearsal at NASA Kennedy.

Technicians with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems team prepare for integration to attach the agency’s Orion spacecraft on top of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket in High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025, for the agency’s Artemis II mission. Set to launch in 2026, the spacecraft will carry NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen on a 10-day mission around the Moon and back. Once stacked, teams will begin conducting a series of verification tests ahead of rolling out to Launch Complex 39B for the wet dress rehearsal at NASA Kennedy.

Technicians with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems team prepare to attach a crane to lift and secure NASA’s Orion spacecraft on top of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket in High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025, for the agency’s Artemis II mission. Set to launch in 2026, the spacecraft will carry NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen on a 10-day mission around the Moon and back. Once stacked, teams will begin conducting a series of verification tests ahead of rolling out to Launch Complex 39B for the wet dress rehearsal at NASA Kennedy.

Technicians with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems team prepare for integration to attach the agency’s Orion spacecraft on top of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket in High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025, for the agency’s Artemis II mission. Set to launch in 2026, the spacecraft will carry NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen on a 10-day mission around the Moon and back. Once stacked, teams will begin conducting a series of verification tests ahead of rolling out to Launch Complex 39B for the wet dress rehearsal at NASA Kennedy.

Technicians with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems team prepare to attach a crane to lift and secure NASA’s Orion spacecraft on top of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket in High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025, for the agency’s Artemis II mission. Set to launch in 2026, the spacecraft will carry NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen on a 10-day mission around the Moon and back. Once stacked, teams will begin conducting a series of verification tests ahead of rolling out to Launch Complex 39B for the wet dress rehearsal at NASA Kennedy.

Technicians with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems team prepare for integration to attach the agency’s Orion spacecraft on top of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket in High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025, for the agency’s Artemis II mission. Set to launch in 2026, the spacecraft will carry NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen on a 10-day mission around the Moon and back. Once stacked, teams will begin conducting a series of verification tests ahead of rolling out to Launch Complex 39B for the wet dress rehearsal at NASA Kennedy.

Technicians with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems team prepare for integration to attach the agency’s Orion spacecraft on top of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket in High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025, for the agency’s Artemis II mission. Set to launch in 2026, the spacecraft will carry NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen on a 10-day mission around the Moon and back. Once stacked, teams will begin conducting a series of verification tests ahead of rolling out to Launch Complex 39B for the wet dress rehearsal at NASA Kennedy.

Technicians with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems team prepare for integration to attach the agency’s Orion spacecraft on top of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket in High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025, for the agency’s Artemis II mission. Set to launch in 2026, the spacecraft will carry NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen on a 10-day mission around the Moon and back. Once stacked, teams will begin conducting a series of verification tests ahead of rolling out to Launch Complex 39B for the wet dress rehearsal at NASA Kennedy.