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NASA on April 4, 2025 released its long-awaited mission patch for the first mission to fly astronauts to the moon in more than 50 years. To celebrate, the Artemis 2 insignia was projected that night onto the exterior of the iconic Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Why is this amazing?
The release of the mission patch, while minor in comparison to other milestones, is another step forward to returning astronauts to the moon more than a half century after the Apollo program ended. The Artemis 2 crew of Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen will become the first people to fly on NASA's Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, which are being stacked together in the VAB.
The Artemis 2 launch is currently targeted for no later than April 2026.
How big is that projection?
The projected Artemis 2 patch appears to be about the same size as the painted NASA "meatball" logo above it, such that each is more than 100 feet (30 meters) tall.
Of course it was a lot easier and quicker to project the Artemis 2 insignia than it was to apply the NASA emblem. The last time the latter needed to be reapplied, it required 700 gallons of red, white and blue paint.
What is happening behind the projected patch?
Inside the VAB's High Bay 3, the Space Launch System rocket's core stage and side-mounted solid rocket boosters have been mated and stand ready for pre-flight tests atop a mobile launch platform. Next, the launch vehicle stage adapter will be lifted and secured atop the core stage.
From there, the interim cryogenic propulsion stage, Orion stage adapter, and the Orion spacecraft for the Artemis 2 mission will be added to the stack, completing the SLS's launch configuration.
Where can I learn more?
You can read more about the Artemis 2 crew patch and the progress stacking the mission's rocket for launch.
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