File:LH2 CS3 Move to Cell P (MAF 20231121 CS3 LH2 Move Cell P-260).jpg

English: Teams move the core stage liquid hydrogen tank for the Artemis III mission to a priming cell near the Vertical Assembly Building at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans Nov. 21. Technichians will sand down and prepare the suface of the tank before coating it in a primer. Primer is applied to the barrel section of the tank by an automated robotic tool, whereas the forward and aft domes are primed manually. Once priming is complete, technicians with NASA and Boeing, the SLS core stage prime contractor, will apply a foam-based thermal protection system, which protects the propellant tank from the extreme temperatures it will face during launch and flight while also regulating the super-chilled propellant within it. The propellant tank is one of five major elements that make up the 212-foot-tall rocket stage. The core stage, along with its four RS-25 engines, produce two million pounds of thrust to help launch NASA’s Orion spacecraft, astronauts, and supplies beyond Earth’s orbit and to the lunar surface for Artemis.