Check out images the #Artemis# II crew with SLS and Orion at Launch Complex 39B as well as other images as final preparations for launch continue at @NASAKennedy 📷:

NEWS: NASA is planning a significantly bigger role for @SpaceX's Starship for its Moon mission - Boeing's SLS rocket would no longer send Orion anywhere near the Moon. - Instead: Orion launches on SLS → docks with Starship in low Earth orbit. - Starship then takes over as the main translunar booster, hauling Orion to lunar orbit. - From there, Starship's HLS version still drops the crew to the surface (as planned), but now it's pulling double duty on the whole cislunar leg. SLS becomes the pricey ride to LEO only. The real Moon journey shifts heavily to reusable Starship territory.

The #Artemis# II crew departed the Operations and Checkout building to head to Launch Complex 39B to board their Orion spacecraft atop NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket @NASAKennedy in preparation for their launch to the Moon later today! 📷: