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 📷:

Artemis III hardware is stacking up - literally. The first segments of the twin SLS (Space Launch System) solid rocket boosters have been stacked on top of the mobile launcher inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at @NASAKennedy. Read more >>

Big week for Artemis III 🚀 Just before NASA introduced the Artemis III crew, the SLS solid rocket booster segments arrived in Florida after a six-day rail journey from Utah. Later this year, teams will begin stacking the boosters that create 75% of the thrust needed at launch.

Just to understand how insane SpaceX’s Raptor 3 is, compare ONE engine with the RS-25 powering NASA’s SLS Raptor 3: ~617,000 lbf sea-level thrust ~1,525 kg ~3.1 m tall ~1.3 m wide RS-25: ~418,000 lbf sea-level thrust ~3,515 kg ~4.3 m tall ~2.4 m wide Raptor 3 is ~28% shorter, ~46% narrower and ~57% lighter… Yet ONE Raptor 3 produces nearly 50% MORE sea-level thrust That gives it roughly 3× the sea-level thrust-to-weight ratio That is an absurd amount of power packed into such a compact engine SpaceX made Raptor 3 more powerful, lighter, reusable and so radically simplified that when it was revealed, ULA CEO Tory Bruno thought it was a “partially assembled” engine It was the complete engine And then comes the ridiculous part… Super Heavy packs 33 Raptor 3s underneath ONE booster A wall of 33 engines producing roughly 20 million pounds of thrust One Raptor 3 is insane engineering 33 of them firing together is what turns Super Heavy into an absolute monster

Nerdy Words is back! Rocket science doesn’t have to be complicated! 🚀 In NASA’s “Nerdy Words,” members of the SLS (Space Launch System) team make technical terms easy to understand with fun, bite-sized explanations. In this episode, learn more about the word “nominal.”

Engine 4 has entered the chat🔥 The final RS-25 engine for Artemis III has made its way to @NASAKennedy where it will soon be integrated with the SLS core stage along with the other engines. Together, they will provide around two million pounds of thrust at launch!