EGS, Jacobs begin vehicle integration for Artemis 1 launch - NASASpaceflight.com

Nov 27, 2020

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NASA Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) and prime test and operations contractor (TOSC) Jacobs started assembling the Artemis 1 vehicle on its Mobile Launcher this week in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida

The left aft booster assembly was rolled from the Rotation Processing and Surge Facility (RPSF) into VAB High Bay 4 on November 19; after a lifting fixture and crane were attached, the assembly was lifted up a couple of days later towards the ceiling of the VAB and then across the transfer aisle from High Bay 4 to High Bay 3 where the first Orion/SLS vehicle will be put together on ML-1

The aft booster assembly was then lowered down, and the aft skirt was placed on one set of four vehicle support posts

After the crane and fixture were disconnected, they were flown back to High Bay 4 to repeat the process on the right aft booster assembly

First, the aft assemblies are stacked on the Mobile Launcher (ML), then the other eight booster segments are stacked one on top of each other, and finally, the forward assemblies top out the SRBs

(Photo Caption: The left aft booster assembly is transported from the RPSF to the VAB on November 19. The assembly was the first element of the Artemis 1 flight vehicle to be set on the Mobile Launcher, beginning integrated operations for launch.)

The ten SRB motor segments for Artemis 1 were transported from prime contractor Northrop Grumman’s Promontory production facility in Utah to KSC in June

During the Summer in the Rotation building of the RPSF, each of the two aft motor segments from Utah were mated to an aft skirt processed by Northrop Grumman at the Booster Fabrication Facility on KSC grounds and an aft exit cone or nozzle extension previously delivered from Utah

With the go-ahead to start building the boosters on the Mobile Launcher, the left aft booster assembly was lifted out of the build up stand in the Rotation building of the RPSF and placed on a transportation pallet

(Photo Caption: The left aft booster assembly in VAB High Bay 4 on November 20. The bottom booster segment is configured to be lifted up and then across the aisle to High Bay 3 for stacking on the Mobile Launcher. EGS and TOSC personnel in JLG boom lifts double-checked the connection of the 384 lifting beam to the clevis on the top of the aft assembly.)

The crane then lowered the left aft assembly down and aligned the four attach points on the aft skirt with the four Vehicle Support Posts (VSP) on the Mobile Launcher for each SRB

NASA indicated that both aft booster assemblies are now stacked on the Mobile Launcher, so the same set of operations were subsequently performed on the lower segment of the other booster

The right aft booster assembly was moved out of the other RPSF build up stand, rolled over to the VAB, and lifted onto the other set of Mobile Launcher VSPs

The rest of the Artemis 1 SRB motor segments are all staged in one of the Surge buildings of the RPSF

(Photo Caption: The other eight loaded SRB motor segments for Artemis 1 are shown in storage in one of the Surge buildings of the RPSF on November 17. The two forward segments are in the background, distinguished by their domes on top. In the foreground on the right are the two center-center segments that have most of their large NASA “worm” logo already painted; the remainder will be filled in over the covering for the booster’s systems tunnel.)

When the motor segments arrived in Florida in June, EGS was anticipating the start of stacking operations on the Mobile Launcher to begin two weeks to a month after the Hot-Fire test of Core Stage-1 at the Stennis Space Center in Southern Mississippi

Once the boosters are built upon the Mobile Launcher, NASA has about a year to launch Artemis 1 before motor segments would need disassembly, inspection, and possible maintenance

That “clock” would start with the first segment-to-segment stacking when one of the aft-center segments is mated to an aft booster assembly

The ten motor segments at the heart of the SLS Boosters are built from Space Shuttle SRB case hardware; the reusable cases will make one last flight on the expendable SLS vehicle, and they also retain the Shuttle’s factory and field joint design