Forward Skirt for Artemis III SLS Core Stage Moves for Next Phase of Production

Crews at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans move the forward skirt of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket to another part of the facility Dec. 15. Teams are preparing to apply the thermal protection system to the flight hardware, which will protect it from the extreme temperatures during launch and flight. The forward skirt is part of the core stage that will power the SLS rocket for the Artemis III mission. The forward skirt houses flight computers, cameras, and avionics.. The SLS core stage is made up of five unique elements: the forward skirt, liquid oxygen tank, intertank, liquid hydrogen tank, and the engine section. When fully stacked, the forward skirt is located at the top of the core stage and connects the stage to the upper part of the rocket. Together with its four RS-25 engines, the rocket’s massive 212-foot-tall core stage — the largest stage NASA has ever built — and its twin solid rocket boosters produce 8.8 million pounds of thrust to send NASA’s Orion spacecraft, astronauts and supplies beyond Earth’s orbit to the Moon and, ultimately, Mars. Offering more payload mass, volume capability and energy to speed missions through space, the SLS rocket, along with NASA’s Gateway in lunar orbit, the Human Landing System, and Orion spacecraft, is part of NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration and the Artemis lunar program. No other rocket is capable of carrying astronauts in Orion around the Moon in a single mission.