NASA is finalizing details for the transport of a Space Launch System(SLS) component with the installation of pedestals on the Pegasus barge for the Artemis II mission. This preparation is essential to secure the SLS core stage, which will be sent on a 900-mile journey from the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Delivery of the SLS stage of the Artemis II rocket.
On the other hand, the Pegasus team began assembling the pedestals on July 10, adapting the barge previously used to transport the space shuttle external tanks. This modification was necessary to accommodate the dimensions and weight of the SLS center stage, which, at 64 meters long and 8.4 meters in diameter, represents the largest structure ever built by NASA and the longest object carried by a NASA barge.
[post_relacionado]In addition, Pegasus has been equipped with three generators of 200 kilowatts each, stretching 310 feet long and 50 feet wide. This configuration will allow the barge, assisted by tugs and towing vessels, to carry the central stage from Michoud to Kennedy. There, this section will be integrated with the rest of the rocket and prepared for future launch. Currently, the Pegasus barge is maintained and overhauled at the Michoud facility.
Finally, this project pushes space exploration, planning to send the first woman, the first person of color and the first international astronaut to the Moon through the Artemis program . The SLS plays a key role in these plans, being the only rocket capable of carrying the Orion spacecraft, astronauts and supplies to the Moon under a single launch to schedule.
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Source and photo: NASA