NASA Artemis III Moon Rocket Core Stage: Thermal Protection System Applied
In February 2025, NASA crews from the Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) and from Boeing, the Space Launch System (SLS) core stage prime contractor, completed the thermal protection system on the external structure of the rocket’s liquid hydrogen propellant fuel tank, using a robotic tool in what is now the largest single application in spaceflight history. MAF is an 832-acre manufacturing complex owned by NASA in New Orleans East, Louisiana.
The robotically controlled operation coated the tank with spray-on foam insulation, distributing 107 feet of the foam to the tank in 102 minutes. When the foam is applied to the core stage, it gives the rocket a canary yellow color. The Sun's ultraviolet rays naturally “tan” the thermal protection, giving the SLS core stage its signature orange color, like the space shuttle external tank. Overall, the rocket’s core stage is 212 feet with a diameter of 27.6 feet, the same diameter as the space shuttle’s external tank.
The liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen tanks feed four RS-25 engines for approximately 500 seconds. This produces more than two million pounds of thrust to help launch NASA’s Orion spacecraft, astronauts, and supplies beyond Earth’s orbit and to the lunar surface for Artemis. The core stage of SLS is the largest NASA has ever built by length and volume, and it was manufactured at Michoud using state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment.
Over the course of about 30 days, the Artemis III astronauts will travel to lunar orbit, where two crew members will descend to the surface and spend approximately a week near the South Pole of the Moon conducting new science before returning to lunar orbit to join their crew for the journey back to Earth. Launch is currently scheduled for mid-2027.
https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/artemis/
https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/
https://www.nasa.gov/sls
https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-iii/
https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/artemis_plan-20200921.pdf
https://www.nasa.gov/michoud-assembly-facility/
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