Moon rocket core stage to take center stage

NASA’s Artemis campaign is making significant progress towards its return to the moon. On Tuesday, the Boeing-built core stage will take center stage as it makes its next move on the journey to send astronauts to lunar orbit. The core stage will be rolled out of NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) in New Orleans and onto NASA's Pegasus barge. 

Why it matters: The core stage, a crucial component to power the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, will transport Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen to lunar orbit. 

Zoom in: Meticulous planning has been dedicated to ensuring the utmost care for 'their ride.' Preparing to move the largest stage ever built for NASA's moon rocket was no easy task. 

• Measuring 212 feet (65 meters), the core stage has completed final inspections and is securely placed in transportation cradles. 
• Last year, the team conducted 'dress rehearsals' with a test article. 
• “It allowed the whole team, alongside NASA, to practice lifting, weighing, integrating and performing move operations multiple times. This process really helped us become a cohesive team and resolve any issues before handling the real thing,” said Hoepfner.

The rollout begins early in the morning and is expected to take several hours to cover a distance of 1.4 miles (2.25 km).

“One of our tooling engineers coined the term, ‘we move at the speed of safe’ and that has kind of stuck with the team,” says Rick Hoepfner, Boeing move team lead. He and about 20 other Boeing employees have been working this effort since 2021. “Our team is responsible for lifting and integrating the core stage into the transport cradles as well as moving it onto NASA’s Pegasus Barge. They along with several other team mates ensure all of the paper, parts and people are ready,” said Hoepfner.

NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket – the nation’s next-generation, super heavy-lift rocket – will enable NASA’s Artemis program and will carry people and cargo to the moon, Mars and beyond. Boeing was selected by NASA to design, develop, test and produce the core stages, upper stages, and avionics suite for the SLS fleet of rockets. The first SLS rocket – featuring the Boeing-built core stage – successfully launched at 1:47 AM ET on November 16, 2022, as part of the Artemis I Mission. Production is currently underway for the Boeing-built core stages, upper stages (including Exploration Upper Stage) and avionics for future Artemis missions. Learn more about the SLS.