Technicians add a “target” to the instrumentation of NASA’s Artemis II rocket

An additional critical target for NASA’s Artemis II mission is ready to fly after testing at the United Launch Alliance (ULA) facility in Florida. The company’s teams added the target to the in-space thrust stage of an SLS (Space Launch System) rocket at ULA’s Delta Operations Center at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

Upon the safe separation of NASA’s Orion spacecraft from the rocket’s upper stage, The four astronauts aboard Orion will use the on-stage target in space to display proximity operations to test Orion’s experimental qualities. The newly installed lens has undergone light tests in May to ensure that the lens is visible under different light conditions in space.

The SLS rocket provides staging thrust for Artemis missions to the moon. The ICPS (Interim Cooled Propulsion Stage) and the unique RL10 engine are fired twice during the Artemis II mission to put the Orion spacecraft and astronauts into high Earth orbit, where they will then experience the manual handling properties of Orion with ICPS and co-pilot before heading to the moon.

During the show, astronauts will use the two-foot target to test Orion’s navigation system and other critical systems. To evaluate its ability to approach and fly alongside other large spacecraft in space ahead of future Artemis missions that require docking capabilities.