THE NEW SPACE RACE: NASA’s Artemis II Orion Spacecraft Ready for Fueling, Processing.

The Orion spacecraft for NASA’s Artemis II crewed mission around the Moon has been on the move. Technicians relocated the spacecraft May 5 from the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where it was assembled, to its fueling facility at the spaceport.

“With the Artemis II on the horizon, seeing the Orion spacecraft depart the Operations and Checkout building for the Kennedy Space Center’s Multi-Payload Processing Facility reflects the many months of hard work, dedication, collaboration, and innovation of the entire team” said Howard Hu, NASA’s Orion program manager. “It demonstrates our ability to achieve ambitious goals to enable a safe and successful Artemis II mission. The Orion team was proud to turn over the first human-rated deep space exploration spacecraft in over 50 years to Exploration Ground Systems for fueling and stacking for our next mission to the Moon.”

Inside the Multi-Payload Processing Facility, engineers and technicians from NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems Program will load Orion’s propellants, high pressure gases, coolant, and other fluids the spacecraft and crew will need to maneuver and carry out their 10-day journey.

Trump’s pick for NASA administrator — Jared Isaacman, who has yet to receive a full Senate vote — says he’s committed to flying Artemis II and Artemis III with the SLS and Orion. But after that, budgets look grim for both the rocket and the space capsule.

SLS costs way too much and does far too little.