NASA's Artemis 3 rocket is taking shape for 2027 launch to test lunar landers (photo)

It's only been a month since NASA's Artemis 2 astronauts splashed down in the Pacific Ocean to wrap up their 10-mission around the moon, and the space agency is already readying the rocket for the next Artemis program test flight. The first stage of the Artemis 3 Space Launch System (SLS) rocket is now vertical inside NASA's cavernous Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, where it awaits integration with its engine section, NASA announced in an X post on Sunday (May 10). "Technicians at @nasakennedy have completed operations of lifting the largest section of the core stage for NASA’s Artemis III SLS rocket into High Bay 2," the post said. Once the launch vehicle's four RS-25 engines are attached, the stage will be transferred to the VAB's taller High Bay 3, where engineers will mate the remaining sections of SLS and the Orion spacecraft ahead of a launch date currently targeted for the latter half of next year. The core stage of Artemis 3's SLS rocket is 212 feet tall (65 meters) and houses the four main RS-25 engines used to launch it into space. When fully assembled with its upper stage, Orion spacecraft and twin solid rocket boosters, the SLS rocket will stand 322 feet tall (98 meters) and weigh 5.75 million pounds (2.6 million kilograms) when fully fueled. NASA's Artemis program aims to fly regular astronaut missions to the moon beginning in 2028, and eventually build a permanent base at the lunar south pole by the early 2030s. …