World's Most Powerful Rocket – Tested in Hancock County – Slated for August 29 Launch

8/25/2022

Talk of the Town - August 2022

The Artemis launch is scheduled for August 29 at 8:33 am EST / 7:33 am CST. If you would like to stream the launch, click on this link: Artemis I Launch to the Moon (Official NASA Broadcast) - YouTube

Hancock County, home of Stennis Space Center, will be well represented at the history-making launch of Artemis I, scheduled for Monday, August 29, at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

- by Lisa Monti
- images courtesy NASA

Crews moved the flight hardware for the first Artemis mission to NASA’s Pegasus barge on Jan. 8 in preparation for the core stage Green Run test series at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Photo courtesy NASA

Artemis I will be the first integrated test of NASA’s Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System rocket and the ground systems at Kennedy. The Space Launch System (SLS) is being developed as the most powerful rocket in history to travel deeper into space than ever and, ultimately, to Mars.

The core stage of the SLS is powered by four RS-25 engines, firing together to generate 1.6 million pounds of combined sea-level thrust and more than 2 million pounds of altitude thrust.

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The rocket engines were tested and approved for flight at Stennis Space Center, in Hancock County.

Michaud Assembly Facility

These images/video show how teams rolled out, or moved, the completed core stage for NASA’s Space Launch System rocket from NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. Crews moved the flight hardware for the first Artemis mission to NASA’s Pegasus barge on Jan. 8 in preparation for the core stage Green Run test series at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Photo courtesy NASA

Teams rolled out, or moved, the completed core stage for NASA’s Space Launch System rocket from NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. Crews moved the flight hardware for the first Artemis mission to NASA’s Pegasus barge on Jan. 8 in preparation for the core stage Green Run test series at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.

“We have at least 40 people from Partners for Stennis & Michoud [traveling to central Florida] to support the launch,” said Tish Williams, executive director of Partners and the Hancock Chamber of Commerce. “We are also part of a national coalition, Citizens for Space Exploration. Together, we advocate for America’s journey to the moon and beyond.”

The Hancock Chamber was a founder of Partners for Stennis & Michoud, established in 1996. “Partners is a coalition of Mississippi and Louisiana citizens and businesses who advocate for the support and growth of these two NASA assets,” Williams said.

“Our mission is to act as a regional alliance to promote the economic, technical and academic growth and stability of Stennis Space Center in Mississippi and the Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana.

Stennis Space Center

Team members at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, complete refurbishment work on the first core stage of the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. The work followed a successful hot fire of the stage and its four RS-25 engines March 18, 2022. The hot fire marked the culmination of a yearlong Green Run series of tests of the stage and its integrated systems. Photo courtesy NASA

NASA conducts a hot fire test Jan. 16, 2021, of the core stage for the agency’s Space Launch System rocket on the B-2 Test Stand at Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis. Photo courtesy of NASA

Watch the hot-fire test below in this excerpt from NASA's full-length video:

Following a successful Green Run hot fire at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, on March 18, members of a blended team work April 19-20 to remove the first core stage of the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket from the B-2 Test Stand

“We support programs that ensure that government decision makers, business interests and citizens know of their value and importance. Together, they employ a workforce of 8,500 with high-paying, good jobs for our region.”

Williams said workers at Michoud and Stennis “have played a critical role in America’s journey to the moon and beyond.”

Kennedy Space Center

On April 27, 2022, the Pegasus barge, carrying the mighty Space Launch System (SLS) core stage, arrives at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 27, 2021, after journeying from the agency’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. Photo courtesy NASA

After completing its journey from NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi aboard the Pegasus barge, teams with Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) and lead contractor Jacobs transport the massive Space Launch System (SLS) core stage to Kennedy Space Center’s Vehicle Assembly Building in Florida on April 29, 2021 in this aerial view. Photo courtesy NASA

Michoud is the manufacturing and assembly facility for Artemis, and Stennis tests the powerful rocket engines. “That’s why it is so critical for the people of Hancock County to be part of this launch, to celebrate this historic moment for the county and the nation.”

The Artemis I test flight will not have a crew aboard, but NASA says the mission “will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration and demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human existence to the Moon and beyond.”

The Artemis Program, named for the twin sister of Apollo, will return astronauts to the Moon to establish a strategic U.S. presence. NASA says it will send the first woman and the next man to the Moon by 2024.

The upcoming launch will be the first for a NASA rocket since the space shuttle’s final mission in 2011.

Those traveling to the launch site from Hancock County include Michael McDaniel, general manager of Aerojet Rocketdyne at Stennis Space Center. He will be taking part in weekend events celebrating the mission and escorting key stakeholders to the viewing site on the day of the launch.

Aerojet Rocketdyne employees modified space shuttle engines and put them through their paces during test firings at Stennis to make sure they are certified to fly. McDaniel said he expects the count-down and the launch will be an emotional experience for him and everyone involved in the Artemis program.

A full Moon is in view from Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 14, 2022. The Artemis I Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion spacecraft, atop the mobile launcher, are being prepared for a wet dress rehearsal to practice timelines and procedures for launch. Photo courtesy NASA

“There hasn’t been a launch to the moon in years, and this will be making history again,” McDaniel said. “Being part of that and seeing coworkers and everyone who is passionate about space exploration will be thrilling – and a testament to those who worked so hard to get us here.”

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