posted 08-16-2022 09:10 PM               

Symbolic baton rides with NASA Artemis I rocket on rollout for launch

A small metal rod joined NASA's new moon-bound rocket for an overnight move to the launchpad on Tuesday (Aug. 16), serving as a symbolic marker for the milestone event.

The logo-adorned golden baton was handed off by the Artemis I launch team to the crew driving the crawler-transporter carrying the Space Launch System (SLS) booster and Orion spacecraft to Launch Complex 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Unlike the rocket, which barring any problems was making a one-way trip, the rod was set to return to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) to then follow the mission from the ground.

posted 07-24-2024 04:22 PM               

From NASA's Exploration Ground Systems team:

The core stage of Artemis II is now in the hands of Exploration Ground Systems (EGS)!

The Space Launch System stages manager Steve Wofford "passed the baton" to the EGS senior vehicle operations manager Cliff Lanham. The passing of this baton symbolizes the handing over of the core stage from one program to the other.

posted 03-14-2025 10:23 AM               

Managers from NASA and industry partners for NASA's SLS (Space Launch System) rocket upper stage hand off the baton to managers from the agency's Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) are shown with the SLS interim cryogenic propulsion stage inside the Multi-Payload Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday, March 10, 2025, after being transported from United Launch Alliance's (ULA) Delta Operations Center at nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

From left to right are Jim Bonato, ICPS Mission Manager, ULA; Ron Fortson, Director and General Manager, ULA; Chris Calfee, Spacecraft/Payload Integration and Evolution element manager, SLS; Cliff Lanham, senior vehicle operations manager, EGS; Todd Lamond, Strategic Planning and Integration, Amentum; and Natasha Wiest, Interim Director, Boeing Core Stage Integrated Product Team.

The interim cryogenic propulsion stage is a liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen-based system that will fire its RL10 engine to give the Orion spacecraft the big in-space push needed to fly around the Moon and back.