Engine Section for NASA’s SLS Rocket Prepared for Joining to Rest of Stage

Technicians at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans rotated the engine section for NASA’s Space Launch System rocket from a vertical to horizontal position to prepare it for joining to the rest of the rocket’s core stage on Sept. 13. The engine section, which comprises the lowest portion of the 212-foot-tall stage, is the last major component to be horizontally integrated to the core stage. Michoud crews completed assembly on the flight hardware that will be used for Artemis I, the first lunar mission of SLS and NASA’s Orion spacecraft, on Aug. 29. The core stage’s two liquid propellant tanks and four RS-25 engines will produce more than 2 million pounds of thrust to send the SLS rocket and Orion on the Artemis lunar missions. The engine section houses the four RS-25 engines and includes vital systems for mounting, controlling and delivering fuel form the propellant tanks to the rocket’s engines.