NASA’s SLS rocket for moonbound Artemis II mission fully stacked at KSC

Despite the ongoing government shutdown, NASA did manage to complete a major milestone in its effort to send astronauts back to moon.

Teams completed the stacking of the Orion spacecraft atop the Space Launch System rocket at Kennedy Space Center’s Vehicle Assembly Building this week.

The fully stacked rocket is slated to fly as early as Feb. 5 to take four astronauts on a trip around, but not land on, the moon on Orion’s first flight with humans on board.

NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems team lifted the Lockheed Martin-built spacecraft, which the astronauts have named “Integrity,” on Oct. 19 with a little more than three months to run through all the remaining required tests ahead of the earliest planned liftoff.

“Integration of SLS and Orion represents a major milestone in our pro