DSC_1659

The first core stage of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, loaded onto the agency’s Pegasus barge, departs Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, headed to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The departure of the core stage in mid-April 2021 followed completion of a Green Run test series of the stage systems in preparation for its launch on the Artemis I mission. The Green Run series concluded with a March 18 hot fire of the stage’s four RS-25 engines on the B-2 Test Stand at Stennis, just as during an actual launch. Following refurbishment work, the stage was removed from the B-2 stand and loaded onto the Pegasus barge for transport. Once at Kennedy, the will be integrated with the rest of SLS rocket and prepared for the launch of the Artemis I mission to the Moon. Photo Credit: NASA