Core rocket for upcoming Artemis III mission arrives at Kennedy Space Center
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Key Points:
- The largest section of the Artemis III rocket, the 212-foot Space Launch System (SLS) core stage, arrived at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center for assembly, having traveled 900 miles from the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans.
- The Artemis III mission will test rendezvous and docking between the Orion spacecraft and commercial lunar landers from SpaceX and Blue Origin in low Earth orbit, serving as a demonstration before a crewed lunar landing.
- Artemis III is scheduled to launch in late 2027, with NASA aiming for the Artemis IV mission in 2028 to return astronauts to the moon’s surface near the South Pole, marking the first human lunar landing since 1972.
- The Artemis II mission, which recently completed a successful 10-day lunar flyby, provided astronauts with unprecedented views of the moon’s Orientale basin and helped pave the way for upcoming Artemis missions.
