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NASA is preparing for a journey back to the Moon,\h
and after that, we’re setting our sights on Mars.\h\h

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To get there, we need tons of rocket power,\h
coming from our Space Launch System. 
\h

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When it comes to how much power this thing\h
can push out, this thing is massive. 
\h

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It’s going to be mesmerizing to stand next\h
to this massive vehicle. The immensity of it,\h\h

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knowing that this thing is going to be propelling\h
a rocket into space and around the moon. 
\h

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Hang on, it’s probably best to\h
start back at the beginning.
\h

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It all started in Promontory, Utah,\h
where Northrop Grumman manufactured\h\h

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each of the segments that\h
make up the rocket’s boosters.\h\h

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After a 10-day, cross-country journey, the\h
booster segments were delivered to Kennedy\h\h

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Space Center’s Rotation, Processing, and Surge\h
Facility, or RPSF. If this all sounds familiar,\h\h

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that’s because it’s the same facility that was\h
used to process shuttle booster segments, which\h\h

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all came from Utah. Then, they’re ready to go\h
into the iconic Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB,\h\h

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where the rest of the motor segments are assembled\h
and stacked on top of the mobile launcher. 
\h

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The one thing about this vehicle,\h
of course, it's produced all across\h\h

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the country. The components all come here.\h
They may be built around the country, but\h\h

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they all come together right here\h
in the Vehicle Assembly Building.
\h

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Our SLS rocket will generate 8.8 million\h
pounds of thrust to break through Earth’s\h\h

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gravitational pull. That’s more power than the\h
Space Shuttle and the Saturn V rocket used.  
\h

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Teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground\h
Systems are responsible for assembling\h\h

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the boosters that will house the majority of\h
that power. The twin solid rocket boosters,\h\h

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made up of 10 total motor segments, will stand\h
nearly 17 stories tall when fully stacked. 
\h

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First, teams inspect and prep the\h
hardware. Next, they’re ready to start\h\h

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stacking the segments – a process that\h
takes time, patience, and a steady hand.
\h

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Once we have everything done in High Bay 4,\h
we pick up the segment with a 325 foot crane,\h\h

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pick it up over the 16th floor\h
crossover to where you see it now,\h\h

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and we begin stacking the segments. Each\h
segment we lift over the 16th floor crossover\h\h

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and stack it. Once we stack it, we\h
put it on top of the segment below,\h\h

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and we put about 177 pins all the way around\h
the whole thing to attach each segment.
\h

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And, the pressure to perform the operation\h
flawlessly can test the team’s nerves.
\h

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There's a tremendous responsibility involved\h
with processing flight hardware like this. It's\h\h

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nerve-racking at times, but it's exciting. There's\h
zero appetite for risk in a program like this.
\h

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We have a bunch of shuttle guys that are here to\h
show us along the way. If we get stuck, they're\h\h

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there to guide us. At the beginning of stacking,\h
it was very of nerve-racking. With each segment\h\h

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that we stacked, a little bit of the nerve comes\h
off. By the third or fourth one, it's easy-peasy.\h\h

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We're pushing through, all the jitters are gone,\h
and we're just excited to get finished with it.
\h

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With all 10 booster segments now fully stacked\h
on the mobile launcher, there’s just one final\h\h

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piece of the puzzle to round out the power needed\h
to get SLS off the ground and send it to space:\h\h

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core stage. 
\h

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After a 900-mile voyage aboard NASA’s\h
Pegasus barge, the SLS core stage – the\h\h

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largest rocket stage NASA has ever built\h
– has made it to Kennedy Space Center.
\h

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Today is a huge day. This is the last\h
piece of big hardware that we need for\h\h

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Artemis 1 hard processing. And we’ve just\h
been waiting a long time for this part of\h\h

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the vehicle to arrive so that we can get going\h
on the next steps of our stacking operations. 
\h

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Standing an impressive 212 feet tall,\h
and weighing a whopping 188,000 pounds,\h\h

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the core stage came all the way from Stennis Space\h
Center in Mississippi. The core stage went through\h\h

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round after round of rigorous testing, including\h
what’s called its Green Run series, truly putting\h\h

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its performance to the test. The series involved\h
eight rounds that looked at systems individually\h\h

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before culminating in pure power.
With over 700,000 gallons of propellant\h\h

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flowing through the core stage, and its RS-25\h
engines firing for eight minutes straight,\h\h

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the successful final test resulted\h
in some big emotions from the team.
\h

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We cried, we laughed, and we cheered\h
because it was so emotional to see\h\h

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the years of culmination coming through.
And, that victory did not come without\h\h

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overcoming a few challenges, proving why at NASA\h
we test as frequently and as hard as we do.
\h

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We actually did a one-minute\h
test on the first hot-fire test\h\h

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and then we learned a lot from that. We understood\h
the vehicle more, we made a few changes, and then\h\h

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we got back into our second hot-fire test.
There was a lot of joy and workmanship and\h\h

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ownership of being able to work that process\h
and be able to get it done. When we went for\h\h

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the second hot fire, and we went for the 500\h
seconds, that was just pure exhilaration.
\h

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Following its arrival at Kennedy, teams\h
moved the core stage into the VAB,\h\h

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where it was lifted by crane and placed\h
in between the twin solid rocket boosters.\h\h

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Serving as the backbone of the rocket,\h
the core stage will provide more than\h\h

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2 million pounds of thrust to help send the\h
Orion spacecraft on its trip around the Moon. 
\h

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Essentially, we have these two massive\h
cranes that are located inside of the VAB,\h\h

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where we go ahead and we pick two points at\h
the end of the core stage - one on the back\h\h

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portion of it and on the front portion of it –\h
we lift it up to the point where we’re able to\h\h

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transition it from a horizontal position over into\h
a vertical position, and then essentially bring it\h\h

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way up to the top of the Vehicle Assembly Building\h
and cross it over into High Bay 3, in which we\h\h

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ensure that we don’t damage any part of the\h
vehicle as it’s incoming into its position.
\h

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NASA’s largest rocket stage, now fully\h
integrated with the twin boosters,\h\h

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is ready to get Orion off the Earth. But, it\h
will take one more critical component to give\h\h

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the capsule that extra push it needs to journey\h
tens of thousands of miles beyond the Moon.\h\h

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With just a single RL10 engine, the\h
interim cryogenic propulsion stage,\h\h

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or ICPS, will provide over 20,000 pounds of\h
thrust to send Orion on the ride of a lifetime. 
\h

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To connect the ICPS with the rocket stack, teams\h
next added the launch vehicle stage adapter to the\h\h

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core stage, followed by the ICPS.  
7:50
\h

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The ICPS is the interim cryogenic propulsion\h
stage and essentially, it’s somewhat of the\h\h

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upper stage of the entire SLS vehicle. And what\h
that will do is propel the Orion capsule along\h\h

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with the service module over to its destination,\h
which at this point in time will be the Moon. 
\h

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But, before the spacecraft can be attached to the\h
rocket, teams will conduct a series of tests to\h\h

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ensure all of SLS’s components communicate\h
properly with one another, plus the ground\h\h

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systems equipment, the Launch Control System\h
and its software. Adding to the challenge, those\h\h

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methods for testing have changed significantly\h
since the days of the Apollo Program.
\h

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Initially built in the 1960s to\h
house assembly of the Saturn V,\h\h

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the largest rocket made by humans at the time for\h
Apollo missions to the Moon, the VAB has undergone\h\h

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some major modifications to support several\h
different kinds of rockets and spacecraft,\h\h

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whether they’re going into low-Earth\h
orbit or venturing to deep space.
\h

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This high bay was shuttle heritage. Before that\h
it was Apollo heritage. There's upgrades that\h\h

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are still occurring today to include upgrades\h
that will support Artemis II and Artemis III.
\h

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When SLS blasts off from Kennedy’s Launch Pad\h
39B, Orion isn’t the only thing it will be sending\h\h

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to space. Hitching a ride with Orion are tiny,\h
shoe-box sized satellites – called CubeSats – that\h\h

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were loaded into the Orion stage adapter in\h
Kennedy’s Space Station Processing Facility. The\h\h

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extra room in the stage adapter provides a rare\h
opportunity to send those CubeSats to deep space\h\h

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to conduct science and research of their own.\h
And, these CubeSats are on tap to study a range\h\h

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of topics – from the Moon, to asteroids, to the\h
effect of space radiation on living organisms.
\h

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At this point, the stack is nearly complete –\h
all that’s missing is the spacecraft itself,\h\h

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which has been in the Launch Abort\h
System Facility getting outfitted with\h\h

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one of the spacecraft’s most crucial pieces. 
The launch abort system is kind of that pointy\h\h

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solid rocket motor that’s at the top of Orion,\h
and it’s there to protect the crew in the event\h\h

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of an emergency so it’s a very important system.
Fully integrated with its launch abort system,\h\h

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the Orion spacecraft slowly makes its\h
way to the VAB in the overnight hours.\h\h

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Upon its arrival, teams carefully lift\h
and lower it onto the Orion stage adapter.\h\h

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With this operation, stacking the most\h
powerful rocket the world has ever seen\h\his complete

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– and, what a sight to behold.
\h

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We’re trying to decide what does exploration\h
look like in the future when we retire shuttle?\h\h

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You know, what does our nation want to do? Where\h
do we want to go? How do we want to explore?\h\h

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To see it go from those days of words and ideas\h
in people’s heads to the three programs we have\h\h

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today and the Artemis mission and all the hardware\h
that’s been produced in factories ranging from,\h\h

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big aerospace companies to little mom and\h
pop shops all over the country and the world,\h\h

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it’s unbelievable. I’m just really proud. 
\h

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Before SLS and Orion can launch our nation\h
into a new era of space exploration,\h\h

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a series of tests need to take place inside\h
the VAB, validating the rocket and spacecraft\h\h

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as an integrated system and paving the way for\h
one, final milestone: wet dress rehearsal. 
\h

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The 322-foot-tall, fully integrated rocket will\h
roll out to Launch Pad 39B for a full test,\h\h

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allowing the launch team to run\h
through a full launch countdown\h\h

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but stopping just short of firing the engines. 
\h

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I think we're going to be so proud\h
when it rolls out of the VAB.\h\h

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I will personally be probably crying a little\h
bit because it's such a big event. We worked\h\h

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so hard to get us to the day of rolling out. I'm\h
probably going to be bawling when we launch it,\h\h

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see it through my tears, because it's just a\h
culmination of so much work from everybody. 
\h

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We owe the advancement of science\h
and research and technology to\h\h

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what we're doing here. And, this is a\h
big opportunity for us as a nation to\h\h

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reclaim our spot at the forefront of\h
human space flight and exploration.
\h

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Artemis is going to be a major part of history.\h\h

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It most definitely is going to rock\h
the space industry when it flies. 
\h

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This program is going to go to the Moon.\h
It's going to go to Mars. We need that.\h\h

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This country needs that. This world needs that.
I'm so excited. It's going to be a lot of work,\h\h