Artemis II Spider Install on SLS Core Stage

Teams with Exploration Ground Systems prepare to attach a cover, called a “spider” to the top of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket core stage for NASA’s Artemis II mission on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Once connected, a crane will attach to the spider cover to raise the core stage vertically. The core stage has two giant propellant tanks that collectively hold more than 733,000 gallons of super cold liquid propellant to feed the stage’s four RS-25 engines to help send astronauts inside NASA’s Orion spacecraft to venture around the Moon for Artemis II.

Teams with Exploration Ground Systems prepare to attach a cover, called a “spider” to the top of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket core stage for NASA’s Artemis II mission on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Once connected, a crane will attach to the spider cover to raise the core stage vertically. The core stage has two giant propellant tanks that collectively hold more than 733,000 gallons of super cold liquid propellant to feed the stage’s four RS-25 engines to help send astronauts inside NASA’s Orion spacecraft to venture around the Moon for Artemis II.

Photographer NASA/Adeline Morgan
Album Artemis_II
Artemis IIcore stage Vehicle Assembly Building