NASA aims to put boots on the moon in 2024 and the latest glimpse of the rocket core stage for the Artemis moon mission is being unveiled today at the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. Facility director Robert Champion says all of the engines have been received to be put into place for the spacecraft.

“It’s equivalent in complexity to what we built in Apollo in the fact that it is the tankage, its the propulsion system, its the engines, its avionics, its the entire stage that controls the vehicle,” said Champion.

All manned crafts used in space flights in the history of NASA have gone through the facility. Champion says the facility supports more than 5000 jobs between Louisiana and Mississippi and those that are working on the project are over the moon to be a part of space history.

“This is a milestone in our careers and everybody is pumped about the opportunity to get us back to the moon,” said Champion.

Champion says the spacecraft is the world’s largest rocket, and upon completion will have to be transported to a testing facility, and then Cape Canaveral via a barge built just for the occasion.

“We’re pressing hard to get this thing done.  Right now we are pressing hard to get this done.  Right now, we’re expecting to have the vehicle complete and ready for shipment by the end of this year,” said Champion.

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