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By NASA
NASA/Kim Shiflett Engineers at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida completed stacking the twin SLS (Space Launch System) solid rocket boosters – seen in this Feb. 19, 2025, photo – inside the Vehicle Assembly Building for the agency’s Artemis II crewed test flight around the Moon.
During stacking operations, which began Nov. 20, 2024, technicians used a massive overhead crane to lift each booster segment into place on mobile launcher 1, the 380-foot-tall structure used to process, assemble, and launch the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft.
Learn more about the process of stacking from Exploration Ground Systems.
Image credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
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By NASA
Explore This Section Science Science Activation An Afternoon of Family Science… Overview Learning Resources Science Activation Teams SME Map Opportunities More Science Activation Stories Citizen Science 2 min read
An Afternoon of Family Science and Rocket Exploration in Alaska
On Tuesday, January 28th, Fairbanks BEST Homeschool joined the Geophysical Institute for an afternoon of rocket exploration, hands-on activities, and stargazing inside a planetarium. This event was free and open to the public. Despite their frigid winter weather, 200 attendees were curious about the scientific endeavors of Alaska-based researchers alongside cutting-edge investigations conducted by NASA rocket scientists.
Families and friends in attendance learned about two NASA rocket missions that would study the flickering and vanishing auroras: Ground Imaging to Rocket investigation of Auroral Fast Features (GIRAFF) and Black and Diffuse Aurora Science Surveyor (BaDASS). Visitors had an opportunity to sign up for text notifications related to the launch window. The planetarium presentations touch on Heliophysics Big Ideas that align with the three questions that drive NASA’s heliophysics research:
What are the impacts of the changing sun on humanity? How do Earth, the solar system, and the heliosphere respond to changes on the sun? What causes the sun to vary? The event also offered sun-related hands-on activities provided by the University of Alaska Museum of the North.
This event was offered to the community in association with the Science For Alaska Lecture Series and the 2025 NASA Sounding Rocket campaign. Every attendee left with something inspiring to think about. Parents and educators interested in learning more about auroras and do participatory science may check out NASA’s Aurorasaurus citizen science project.
The Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks is a Co-Investigating team for the NASA Heliophysics Education Activation Team (NASA HEAT), which is part of NASA’s Science Activation Portfolio. Learn more about how Science Activation connects NASA science experts, content, and experiences with community leaders to do science in ways that activate minds and promote deeper understanding of our world and beyond: https://science.nasa.gov/learn
Aurora Educational Resource List by Aurorasaurus
Families constructed and decorated their paper rockets. Katelin Avery It was so much fun! We are receiving rave reviews from our families and the surrounding community. THANK YOU AGAIN FOR COLLABORATING WITH US!
Fairbanks BEST Homeschool
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Last Updated Feb 14, 2025 Editor Earth Science Division Editorial Team Related Terms
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By NASA
NASA’s Artemis campaign will send astronauts, payloads, and science experiments into deep space on NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) super heavy-lift Moon rocket. Starting with Artemis IV, the Orion spacecraft and its astronauts will be joined by other payloads atop an upgraded version of the SLS, called Block 1B. SLS Block 1B will deliver initial elements of a lunar space station designed to enable long term exploration of the lunar surface and pave the way for future journeys to Mars. To fly these advanced payloads, engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, are building a cone-shaped adapter that is key to SLS Block 1B.
At NASA Marshall, the PLA engineering development unit is installed into the 4697-test stand for structural testing. It was then attached to the large cylindrical structure which simulates the Exploration Upper Stage interface. Load lines were then connected to the top of the PLA. The testing demonstrated that it can handle up to three times the expected load.NASA/Samuel Lott The payload adapter, nestled within the universal stage adapter sitting atop the SLS Block 1B’s exploration upper stage, acts as a connecting point to secure a large payload that is co-manifested – or flying along with – the Orion spacecraft. The adapter consists of eight composite panels with an aluminum honeycomb core and two aluminum rings.
Beginning with the Artemis IV mission, SLS Block 1B will feature a new, more powerful upper stage that provides a substantial increase in payload mass, volume, and energy over the first variant of the rocket that is launching Artemis missions I through III. SLS Block 1B can send 84,000 pounds of payload – including both a crewed Orion spacecraft and a 10-metric ton (22,046 lbs.) co-manifested payload riding in a separate cargo compartment – to the Moon in a single launch.
Artemis IV’s co-manifested payload will be the Lunar I-Hab, one of the initial elements of the Gateway lunar space station. Built by ESA (European Space Agency), the Lunar I-Hab provides expanded capability for astronauts to live, work, conduct science experiments, and prepare for their missions to the lunar surface.
Before the Artemis IV mission structure was finalized, NASA engineers needed to design and test the new payload adapter.
“With SLS, there’s an intent to have as much commonality between flights as possible,” says Brent Gaddes, Lead for the Orion Stage Adapter and Payload Adapter in the SLS Spacecraft/Payload Integration & Evolution Office at NASA Marshall.
However, with those payloads changing typically every flight, the connecting payload adapter must change as well.
“We knew there needed to be a lot of flexibility to the payload adapter, and that we needed to be able to respond quickly in-house once the payloads were finalized,” says Gaddes.
Working alongside the robots, NASA’s next generation of engineers are learning from experts with decades of manufacturing expertise as they prepare the metal honeycomb structure substrate. During production, the fingerprints of the engineers are imprinted where metal meets composite. Even after the finishing touches are applied, the right light at the right angle reveals the harmless prints of the adapter’s makers as it launches payloads on SLS that will enable countless discoveries.NASA/Samuel Lott A Flexible Approach
The required flexibility was not going to be satisfied with a one-size-fits-all approach, according to Gaddes.
Since different size payload adapters could be needed, Marshall is using a flexible approach to assemble the payload adapter that eliminates the need for heavy and expensive tooling used to hold the parts in place during assembly. A computer model of each completed part is created using a process called structured light scanning. The computer model provides the precise locations where holes need to be drilled to hold the parts together so that the completed payload adapter will be exactly the right size.
“Structured light has helped us reduce costs and increase flexibility on the payload adapter and allows us to pivot,” says Gaddes. “If the call came down to build a cargo version of SLS to launch 40 metric tons, for example, we can use our same tooling with the structured light approach to adapt to different sizes, whether that’s for an adapter with a larger diameter that’s shorter, or one with a smaller diameter that’s longer. It’s faster and cheaper.”
NASA Marshall engineers use an automated placement robot to manufacture eight lightweight composite panels from a graphite epoxy material. The robot performs fast, accurate lamination following preprogrammed paths, its high speed and precision resulting in lower cost and significantly faster production than other manufacturing methods.
At NASA Marshall, an engineering development unit of the payload has been successfully tested which demonstrated that it can handle up to three times the expected load. Another test version currently in development, called the qualification unit, will also be tested to NASA standards for composite structures to ensure that the flight unit will perform as expected.
“The payload adapter is shaped like a cone, and historically, most of the development work on structures like this has been on cylinders, so that’s one of the many reasons why testing it is so important,” says Gaddes. “NASA will test as high a load as possible to learn what produces structural failure. Any information we learn here will feed directly into the body of information NASA has pulled together over the years on how to analyze structures like this, and of course that’s something that’s shared with industry as well. It’s a win for everybody.”
With Artemis, NASA will explore more of the Moon than ever before, learn how to live and work away from home, and prepare for future human exploration of the Red Planet. NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket, exploration ground systems, and Orion spacecraft, along with the human landing system, next-generation spacesuits, Gateway lunar space station, and future rovers are NASA’s foundation for deep space exploration.
News Media Contact
Jonathan Deal
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-544-0034
jonathan.e.deal@nasa.gov
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By NASA
With the historic first international space docking mission only six months away, preparations on the ground for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) intensified. At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, workers in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) stacked the rocket for the mission, the final Saturn rocket assembled for flight. In the nearby Manned Spacecraft Operations Building (MSOB), the Apollo prime crew of Commander Thomas Stafford, Command Module Pilot Vance Brand, and Docking Module Pilot Donald “Deke” Slayton, and their backups Alan Bean, Ronald Evans, and Jack Lousma conducted vacuum chamber tests of the Command Module (CM), the final Apollo spacecraft prepared for flight.
Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers attach fins to the Saturn IB’s first stage. In the VAB, workers secure the first stage of the Saturn IB rocket onto the milk stool, perched on Mobile Launcher-1. Workers lift the second stage of the Saturn IB rocket prior to mating with the first stage. Workers lower a boilerplate Apollo spacecraft onto the Saturn IB rocket. The Saturn IB rocket, serial number SA-210, used for ASTP had a lengthy history. Contractors originally built its two stages in 1967, at a time when NASA planned many more Saturn IB flights to test Apollo spacecraft components in Earth orbit in preparation for the Moon landing. By 1968, however, after four uncrewed Saturn IB launches, only one launched a crew, Apollo 7. Four more Saturn IBs remained on reserve to launch crews as part of the Apollo Applications Program, renamed Skylab in 1970. Without an immediate mission, the two stages of SA-210 entered long-term storage in 1967. Workers later modified and refurbished the stages for ASTP before shipping them to KSC. The first stage arrived in April 1974 and the second stage in November 1972.
On Jan. 13, 1975, inside the cavernous VAB, workers stacked the Saturn IB rocket’s first stage onto Mobile Launcher-1 (ML-1), modified from its use to launch Saturn V rockets during the Apollo program with the addition of the milk stool pedestal. The milk stool, a 128-foot tall platform, allowed the Saturn IB to use the same Launch Umbilical Tower as the much larger Saturn V rocket at Launch Complex 39. The next day, workers lowered the second stage onto the first, followed by the Instrument Unit two days later. Finally, on Jan. 17 workers topped off the rocket with a boilerplate Apollo spacecraft while engineers continued testing the flight article in the MSOB.
The ASTP Apollo Command and Service Modules arrive at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. The ASTP Command Module arrives in KSC’s Manned Spacecraft Operations Building. The Command and Service Modules – CSM-111 – arrived at KSC from the Rockwell International plant in Downey, California, on Sept. 8, 1974, by C-5A Galaxy cargo plane. Rockwell had finished building the spacecraft in March 1970 and placed it in storage until July 1972. Modifications for ASTP took place between August 1972 and August 1974, following which Rockwell shipped the spacecraft to KSC. The sign on the shipping container bore the legend “From A to Soyuz – Apollo/Soyuz – Last and the Best.” Workers at KSC towed the modules to the MSOB for inspection and checkout, joined the two modules, and placed the combined spacecraft into a vacuum chamber.
The prime Apollo crew of Thomas Stafford, left, Vance Brand, and Donald “Deke” Slayton suit up in preparation for an altitude chamber test in the Command Module (CM). The astronauts inside the CM in the altitude chamber. In the MSOB, the prime and backup ASTP crews conducted tests of their spacecraft in an altitude chamber. After both crews completed simulated runs in December 1974, the prime crew of Stafford, Brand, and Slayton suited up, entered the CM inside the chamber, closed the hatch, and conducted an actual test on Jan. 14, with the chamber simulating altitudes of up to 220,000 feet. Two days later, the backup crew of Bean, Evans, and Lousma completed a similar test.
he backup Apollo crew of Alan Bean, left, Ronald Evans, and Jack Lousma suit up in preparation for an altitude chamber test in the Command Module (CM). Workers assist backup crewmember Lousma into the CM. To solve the problem of the Apollo and Soyuz spacecraft operating at different atmospheric pressures and compositions and using incompatible docking mechanisms, engineers designed a Docking Module (DM) that acted as both an airlock and a transfer tunnel and a Docking System (DS) that allowed the two nations’ spacecraft to physically join in space. NASA contracted with Rockwell International to build the DM. Engineers equipped one end of the DM with the standard Apollo probe-and-drogue docking mechanism and the other end with the androgynous system that linked up with its opposite half installed on the modified Soyuz spacecraft. During launch, the DM rested inside the Spacecraft Lunar Module (LM) Adaptor (SLA) atop the rocket’s upper stage, much like the LM during Apollo flights. Once in orbit, the astronauts separated the CSM from the upper stage, turned the spacecraft around, docked with the DM and pulled it free.
Workers lower the DM into Chamber B in the Space Environment Simulation Laboratory at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Workers lower the DM into Chamber B in the Space Environment Simulation Laboratory at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. After extensive vacuum testing in Chamber B of the Space Environment Simulation Laboratory at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, the flight DM arrived at KSC on Oct. 29, 1974, and workers prepared it for more testing in a vacuum chamber in the MSOB. The flight DS arrived at KSC on Jan. 3, 1975, and two weeks later workers installed it on the DM. On Jan. 27, engineers lowered the DM onto the CM in the altitude chamber to conduct a mechanical docking test. Engineers conducted 10 days of joint tests of television and audio equipment to ensure systems compatibility.
Workers conduct a docking test of the Docking Module with the Command Module at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA support astronaut Robert Overmyer, right, works with engineers during compatibility testing. To be continued…
Major events around the world in January 1975:
January 5 – Musical The Wiz opens on Broadway, runs for 1,672 performances.
January 6 – The game show Wheel of Fortune debuts on NBC.
January 8 – Ella Grasso of Connecticut becomes the first elected female governor in the U.S.
January 11 – The S-II second stage of the Saturn V rocket that launched Skylab reenters the Earth’s atmosphere over the Indian Ocean.
January 12 – The Pittsburg Steelers beat the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IX, played in Tulane Stadium in New Orleans.
January 15 – Space Mountain opens at Disney World in Orlando.
January 18 – The Jeffersons premieres on CBS.
January 22 – Launch of the Landsat-2 Earth resources monitoring satellite.
January 30 – Ernő Rubik applies for a patent in Hungary for his Magic Cube, later known as Rubik’s Cube.
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By NASA
1 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
This September 2024 aerial photograph shows the coastal launch range at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Wallops is the agency’s only owned-and-operated launch range.Courtesy Patrick J. Hendrickson; used with permission A suborbital rocket is scheduled to launch from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia during a window extending from Monday, Jan. 13, through Thursday, Jan. 16. This launch supports the Missile Defense Agency, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division’s White Sands Detachment, and other Department of Defense organizations.
No real-time launch status updates will be available. The launch will not be livestreamed, and updates will not be provided during the countdown. The rocket launch may be visible from the Chesapeake Bay region.
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Last Updated Jan 10, 2025 EditorAmy BarraLocationWallops Flight Facility Related Terms
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