NASA Rocket Factory

The large Space Launch System print on the wall was placed there to show what is being built in this room.

In 2018, I was given the rare opportunity by NASA take photos inside their Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Louisiana. NASA MAF is home to the assembly of the Space Launch System rocket being built to send the Orion Spacecraft into space. The Artemis 1 mission was successfully completed on December 11th, 2022 after being launched 25 days earlier on November 16th. Artemis II is scheduled to be the first manned mission that will send four astronauts on a lunar flyby for 21 days. The current launch date is November 2024.

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Space Robots at NASA Michoud Assembly Facility

Manufacturing robots at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility.

Space Launch System: https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/

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Verticle Assembly Center at NASA Michoud Assembly Facility

Looking down from the top of the Vertical Assembly Center at NASA Michoud Assembly Facility.

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NASA Michoud Assembly Facility Space Tool

Looking down from the top of NASA’s 170ft space tool that will weld together barrels, domes and tanks for the Space Launch System (SLS) at NASA Michoud Assembly Facility.

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NASA’s welding tool, the worlds largest

NASA’s welding tool, one of the world’s largest. The massive tool was designed and built to weld together the domes, rings, and barrels that make up the core stage pieces of the Space Launch System (SLS). The size of this thing can’t be described or shown in a photo.

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Welding tool inside NASA Michoud Assembly Facility

A welding tool inside NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility where the Space Launch System(SLS) is being built.

https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/

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Wall of Missions at NASA Michoud Assembly Facility

The “Wall of Missions” at NASA Michoud Assembly Facility.

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Vertical Weld Center at NASA Michoud Assembly Facility

The Vertical Weld Center at NASA Michoud Assembly Facility is a friction-stir-weld tool for wet and dry structures on the Space Launch System (SLS) core stage. It will weld barrel panels together to produce whole barrels for the two pressurized tanks, the intertank, the forward skirt and the aft engine section.

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NASA Vertical Assembly Center (VAC) , Michoud Assembly Facility

Inside the Vertical Assembly Center at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility.

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Vertical Assembly Center stairs

Stairway inside the vertical assembly center at NASA Michoud Assembly Facility where the Artemis spacecraft is being built.

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NASA Michoud Assembly Facility Vertical Assembly center

Inside the Vertical Assembly Center (VAC) at NASA Michoud where Space Launch System rocket and Artemis is being built.

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SLS Forward Skirt at NASA Michoud Assembly Facility

The Forward Skirt is part of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS). Housing flight computers, cameras and avionics it is pretty much the brain of the rocket. This photo was taken a couple weeks after it’s final assembly was completed at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility.

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On NASA’s Pegasus Barge

Nasa’s Pegasus barge that will carry fuel tanks for the Space Launch System to other NASA facilities for testing and launches.

More Info:
NASA Infographic: https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/multimedia/barge-pegasus-infographic
Pegasus Barge Fact Sheet: https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/sls_pegasus_fact_sheet_508_final_04212017.pdf

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Outside the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility

The NASA logo on the side of Michoud Assembly Facility where the Space Launch System (SLS) for Artemis is being built.

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NASA Vertical Assembly Center, Michoud

The large Space Launch System print on the wall was placed there to show what is being built in this room.

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Liquid Oxygen Tank at NASA Michoud Assembly Facility

A Liquid Oxygen tank being worked on inside Cell A at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility. It’s part of the Space Launch System Core Stage. The tank will hold 195,000 gallons of liquid oxygen cooled to -297 degrees Fahrenheit.

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SLS Barrel interior at NASA Michoud Assembly Facility

The inside of a Space Launch System (SLS) barrel used for the liquid hydrogen tank. It’s made of AI 2219, an aerospace aluminum alloy.

More Info: https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/

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NASA SA Cone Spacecraft Adapter Cone

Space hardware that will launch with Artemis I on Monday August 29th, 2022. The mission is the first planned launch of the Artemis space program that hopes to bring people back to the moon.

As of March 2024 the launch date is planned for September 2024. It’ll be the first crewed mission of the Orion Spacecraft and will do a moon flyby. It’ll be the first crew to travel beyond low orbit earth since 1972.

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