First of four powerful RS-25 engines installed on NASA's Artemis II Moon rocket

Engineers and technicians at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans recently installed the first of four RS-25 engines on the agency's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, which will be powering the first crewed Artemis mission to the Moon.

NASA, together with its international partners, is working to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon under the Artemis program. During Artemis II, NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen will launch on SLS and journey around the Moon inside the Orion spacecraft during an approximately 10-day mission in preparation for future lunar missions.

The first RS-25 engine was installed on the SLS rocket on September 11. NASA and its partners including Aerojet Rocketdyne and Boeing, will continue installing the remaining three engines into the stage and installing the propulsion and electrical systems within the structure, the agency said on Wednesday.

All four RS-25 engines, each having a different serial number, are located at the base of the core stage within the engine section. According to NASA, during launch and flight, the four engines will fire nonstop for over eight minutes, consuming propellant from the core stage's two massive propellant tanks at a rate of 1,500 gallons (5,678 liters) per second.

🚀 MILESTONE ALERTThe RS-25 engine installation process has begun for the SLS rocket that will help power @NASAArtemis II. The engines produce more than 2 million pounds of thrust to help send @NASA_Orion and the crew inside around the Moon.LEARN MORE: https://t.co/jcCXX6PTTJ pic.twitter.com/CUTY6cFNUo

— NASA_SLS (@NASA_SLS) September 13, 2023

Designed for deep space missions, SLS is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts, and supplies to the Moon in a single mission. It is the most powerful rocket ever built by NASA and can also carry CubeSats to deep space.