Nasa Rocket Factory

Artemis, Michoud Assembly Facility, Nasa, New Orleans, SLS, Space Launch System

NASA Michoud Assembly Facility

NASA wants to send humans to mars. Take a look inside NASA’s rocket factory where the worlds largest rocket is being built.

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 firest manned mission that will send four astronauts on a lunar flyby for 21 days. The current launch date is November 2024.

The photos below show the liquid oxygen tank, Par Systems friction welders, the Pegasus barge, the Orion Spacecraft and more.

A basketball court at NASA Michoud Assembly FacilityInside the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility where the SLS and Artemis is being built.A I-Stir Friction Welder from Par Systems inside the Nasa Michoud Assembly Facility where work on the SLS rocket is being done.A I-Stir Friction Welder from Par Systems inside the Nasa Michoud Assembly Facility where work on the Space Launch System(SLS) rocket and Artemis is being built.A model SLS rocket outside the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility. The model was used to test transporting on the NASA barge.Space parts sitting outside NASA Michoud Assembly Facility.NASA Vertical Assembly Facility at Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans.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-infographicPegasus Barge Fact Sheet: https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/sls_pegasus_fact_sheet_508_final_04212017.pdfNasa'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-infographicPegasus Barge Fact Sheet: https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/sls_pegasus_fact_sheet_508_final_04212017.pdfNasa'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-infographicPegasus Barge Fact Sheet: https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/sls_pegasus_fact_sheet_508_final_04212017.pdfNasa'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-infographicPegasus Barge Fact Sheet: https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/sls_pegasus_fact_sheet_508_final_04212017.pdfThe crew module being built for Artemis II at NASA Michoud Assembly Facility.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.NASA”s Artemis II crew module at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility.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.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.Indide the Verticle Assembly Center (VAC) at NASA Michoud where Space Launch System rocket and Artemis is being built.Stairway inside the vertical assembly center at NASA Michoud Assembly Facility where the Artemis spacecraft is being built.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.Inside the Vertical Assembly Center at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility.Cleaning and Welding cells inside the Vertical Assembly Center at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility.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.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.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/Looking down into the massive cleaning cell inside the Vertical Assembly Center at NASA Michoud Assembly Facility.The massive washing facility is used to wash the insides of the Space Launch System(SLS) fuel tanks. The SLS rocket will be the world’s largest rocket ever built.The “Wall of Missions” 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/Barrel tools at NASA Michoud Assembly Facility where the Space Launch System is being built.More Info: https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/Manufacturing robots at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility.Space Launch System: https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/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. It will be used in Exploration Mission-1, launching from the Kennedy Space Center in June 2020. #5 in the following NASA Infographic: https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/multimedia/infographics/corestage101.htmlSpace Launch System: https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/index.htmlThe interior of the Space Launch System (SLS) fuel tank at NASA Michoud Assembly Facility.NASA Core Stage Infographic: https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/multimedia/infographics/corestage101.htmlSpace Launch System: https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/index.htmlInside the massive NASA Michoud Assembly Facility near New Orleans where the Space Launch System is being built.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.Inside the Vertical Weld Center. The 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.More Info: https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/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.More Info: https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/The NASA logo on the side of Michoud Assembly Facility where the Space Launch System (SLS) for Artemis is being built.Looking down from the top of the Vertical Assembly Center at NASA Michoud Assembly Facility.The large Space Launch System print on the wall was placed there to show what is being built in this room.