NASA’s Pegasus Barge Set For Its 1st Delivery To Support Artemis II Test Flight Around The Moon
NASA’s Pegasus Barge is ready to transport the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket’s core stage from New Orleans to Florida.
Team members have started putting pedestals aboard the barge to secure the enormous core stage for the Artemis II test trip around the moon.
The journey will cover 900 miles from NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in Orleans to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The Pegasus barge, which transported space shuttle external tanks previously, has been redesigned and renovated to carry the larger and heavier SLS core stage.
The SLS core stage is the largest rocket stage ever manufactured by NASA, measuring 212 feet long and 27.6 feet in diameter, and the longest item ever shipped by a NASA barge.
Pegasus, measuring 310 feet long and 50 feet wide, now has three 200-kilowatt generators providing power.
Tugboats and towing vessels will transport the barge from Michoud to Kennedy, where the core stage will be integrated with other rocket elements and prepared for launch.
NASA’s Arterim program aims to land the first woman, person of colour, and international partner astronaut to the moon.