Artemis III SLS Core Stage Stacking Advances in VAB High Bay 2 — Day 34 Post-Splashdown

Day 34 post-Artemis II splashdown (April 10, 2026): NASA's next-mission hardware stack is actively progressing at Kennedy Space Center. The Artemis III SLS core stage — the tank section mated to its four RS-25 engine section — is in VAB High Bay 2 at KSC (visible in recent photography) for integration ahead of the Artemis III mission targeting late 2027. In parallel, the Artemis III Orion service module (built by Airbus for ESA) completed acoustic testing at KSC's Operations and Checkout Facility (O&C) in early May 2026, a key verification milestone for the spacecraft's structural integrity under launch acoustic loads. Artemis III is officially redesignated as an Earth-orbit rendezvous and docking test — Orion will rendezvous with the SpaceX Starship Human Landing System (HLS) in a 460 km orbit to verify crew interfaces and docking procedures — with Artemis IV (targeting 2028) slated as the first crewed lunar surface landing. Simultaneously, at KSC's Multi-Payload Processing Facility, the Artemis II Orion crew module continues heat shield visual inspection; formal X-ray scans and Avcoat sample extractions at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center are on track for summer 2026.