Artemis Moon Program

Philip Sloss has a new update for Artemis III:


In the latest round-up video, a look at the signs of Artemis activities and progress that NASA published in the past week or so, and how much of that activity is a reminder of long-standing questions about other work needed to fly more astronauts and missions to the Moon.

NASA posted imagery of Artemis III preparations at the Kennedy Space Center, where the SLS boosters are being stacked, the SLS Core Stage RS-25 engines are now installed, and flight crew training is in progress. New pictures and video were published almost daily in the past week, but we have yet to see work on the other two spacecraft and rockets in the Artemis III flight plan.

There's similar mixed signals/messaging when looking at other recent Artemis work disclosed publicly, for example, the start of an Artemis VI SLS build that is simultaneously uncertain to either be finished or fly.

And there's still just as big unknowns about lunar lander and lunar surface spacewalk suit development, with both activity and progress a mystery. (At the end of the week, Blue Origin published another set of renders of their Blue Moon spacecraft concept, while their mission profiles and most of the flight hardware said to be in production remain secret.)

Imagery is courtesy of NASA, except where noted.​

Links to social media posts:
https://x.com/ThePrimalDino/status/20...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...Dino/status/2093780692890992821&v=wiQiY4PxBRA
https://x.com/NASASpaceflight/status/...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...ight/status/2094438351856087048&v=wiQiY4PxBRA

Links to stories referenced:
https://www.china-in-space.com/p/chan...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...ge-7-moon-launch-moved-to-early&v=wiQiY4PxBRA
https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/09...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...t-shield-performed-really-well/&v=wiQiY4PxBRA
https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/09...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...hanging-lunar-spacesuit-design/&v=wiQiY4PxBRA
https://spacenews.com/nasa-halts-work...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...ateway-to-develop-a-lunar-base/&v=wiQiY4PxBRA

00:00 Intro
02:19 Artemis III Watch: RS-25 engines all installed
03:34 Boeing's third SLS Core Stage build in the final stretch
12:07 Blog post update on Orion final assembly and crew training
13:24 Welding of the "spacer" continues in Huntsville
14:10 Artemis III SLS Booster stacking continues in the VAB
16:30 Artemis IV Watch: SLS engine section boattail delivered to KSC on Pegasus barge
18:18 Orion ESM modifications suggest specific HLS assignments for Artemis IV
21:13 Other news and notes: Artemis II crew honored and an small update on heatshield performance
23:01 China's next robotic lunar landing mission delayed to next year, 2027
23:25 New SLS Core Stage hardware spotted at MAF Family Day
26:14 NASA descopes lunar spacewalk suit requirements to minimize further delays to Artemis IV
27:02 Congress and the White House start Fiscal Year 2027 with the traditional continuing resolution
27:43 Thanks for watching!
Click to expand...
 
Although this is about the project Apollo mobile-launcher used to launch the Saturn V I posted it here as it has some relevance into the Artemis/SLS ML-1 and ML-2 platforms in regards to their design, complexity and construction:


Before Saturn V could leave Earth, NASA had to build something that would stay behind. Weighing approximately 12 million pounds, the Mobile Launcher was far more than a simple platform—it was a mobile part of the launch complex that carried the tower, access arms, swing arms, and hold-down mechanisms needed to support Saturn V from the VAB to ignition.

In this document-based engineering breakdown, we look at the design, steel erection, and system integration of the Mobile Launchers at Launch Complex 39:​

• Why NASA shifted from pad-assembly to mobile launch operations
• Structural steel fabrication by Reynolds, Smith & Hills and Ingalls Iron Works
• The 9 service arms, hold-down arms, and tail service masts
• How AS-500F verified Pad 39A before Apollo 4
• The activation struggles of 1966 and integrated systems testing
Click to expand...

I wonder when a similar video will be made about the SLS launcher's ML-1 and ML-2 launch-pads
 
NMaude said:
Those engine vertical-installers are legacy project Apollo hardware.
Click to expand...

i was surprised to see its axis supporting the engine was moving radially independently from the rolling frame. That should make for some interesting design choice to see more in details!
 
More indecision concerning Washington and NASA management over the direction of Artemis, from Philip Sloss:


Approaching the final quarter of the 2026 calendar year, at the end of an otherwise slow news week, a look an accumulating list of questions about NASA's Artemis plans and schedules for the rest of this decade and the indecision in Washington about plans for the next one.

Imagery is courtesy of NASA, except where noted.


Links to social media posts:
https://x.com/NASAAdmin/status/206470...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...dmin/status/2064702792023879811&v=gOeKlkjZcWs
https://x.com/spaceflightnow/status/2...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...tnow/status/2090887985864540208&v=gOeKlkjZcWs
https://x.com/mcrs987/status/20966839...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...s987/status/2096683988303618527&v=gOeKlkjZcWs


Links to stories referenced:
https://spacenews.com/nasa-revises-pl...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...ssions-cancels-upgrades-to-sls/&v=gOeKlkjZcWs
https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/02...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...because-he-has-a-new-moon-plan/&v=gOeKlkjZcWs
https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/09...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...hanging-lunar-spacesuit-design/&v=gOeKlkjZcWs

https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...://buymeacoffee.com/philipsloss&v=gOeKlkjZcWs
00:00 Intro
01:44 Many of the current questions about Artemis III plans, preparations, and schedules
11:21 A sampling of the questions about Artemis IV programs and plans
19:02 Current questions about Artemis V, Artemis VI and beyond
23:03 Thanks for watching!
Click to expand...
 
Sounds like both ESA and Canada could be frozen out of this. Though individual European countries might have a chance like we see here with Italy.

The problem is I imagine with Nasa canceling a bunch of things with partner investment in them, I imagine a lot of partners are a little hesitant to invest heavily in things with "optimistic" timelines.

NASA chief: I’m only interested in “good deals” from international partners
“There was absolutely a time where we were trying to make everyone happy.”
 
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Some more Philip Sloss videos concerning Artemis and the SLS:

Here's a Philip Sloss video from before the IFT-14 mission concerning Starship:


Members of NASA's Exploration Ground Systems launch team provided some details about the upcoming Artemis III tanking test in an interview this week, and EGS continues stacking the SLS Boosters in the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center, but the bigger unknowns for Artemis at the moment are the readiness of the two HLS providers.

SpaceX is ready to launch the next Starship prototype, which finally will demonstrate orbital flight and deploy new Starlink satellites critical to their business. The question about Starship for Artemis is where NASA is on the list of Starship business priorities?

The space agency also published a set of launch engineering replays for Artemis II, but the latest public releases come at a much lower cadence than their launch cadence ambitions. Hard not to wonder if the low publication cadence says something similar about those priorities.​

Imagery is courtesy of NASA, except where noted.

Links to stories referenced:
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2020/...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...emis-1-countdown-deliberations/&v=Q2z-ebNV9E8
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2023/...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev.../04/egs-launch-team-artemis-ii/&v=Q2z-ebNV9E8
https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...://buymeacoffee.com/philipsloss&v=Q2z-ebNV9E8
00:00 Intro
00:55 Artemis III Watch: Latest stacking update
03:01 Artemis III news takeaways from interview with EGS Integration Console project engineers
10:46 Artemis III big picture, at least what's known in public
13:09 SpaceX previews Starship flight 14, but where does Artemis fit in Starship's future?
16:04 Artemis II launch engineering footage release also highlights low cadence of publication
22:19 Thanks for watching!
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The latest Artemis/SLS update video from Philip Sloss:


I got an interview with a couple of senior Boeing SLS officials recently to find out more about the new facilities they are activating to outfit and finish Core Stage units at the Kennedy Space Center. The company consolidated their KSC operations in the Vehicle Assembly Building beginning last year and I'll go through what they told me about that, the new facilities, how they will be used, and when they will begin processing Core Stage hardware in them.​

Imagery is courtesy of NASA, except where noted.

Links to stories referenced:
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2022/...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...22/12/boeing-expanding-cs-prod/&v=natbnCv0-Ww
https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/12...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...ecome-the-nominee-to-lead-nasa/&v=natbnCv0-Ww
https://spacenews.com/nasa-revises-pl...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...ssions-cancels-upgrades-to-sls/&v=natbnCv0-Ww

00:00 Intro
01:18 Interview of Boeing SLS leadership in mid-August
04:10 Historical context about SLS Core Stage production
10:22 "North wall" expansion in High Bay 2 of the Vehicle Assembly Building
17:59 Status of Core Stage-4 production at KSC and bringing the engine section into High Bay 2
27:00 Thanks for watching!
Click to expand...
 

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