NASA’s Pegasus barge delivers parts to Kennedy Space Center

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — NASA’s Pegasus barge is now at the Kennedy Space Center.

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It arrived Thursday with critical components for future Artemis missions.

That includes Artemis II, which will send four astronauts on a trip around the moon for the first time since the Apollo era.

Crews will start unloading on Friday and continue into the weekend before the barge departs on Sunday.

Read: Starliner to return Friday without crew

NASA will target for the launch of Artemis II in September 2025.

It will be about a 10-day mission around the moon with NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman and Christina Hammock Koch.

They will be joined by Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen aboard the Orion spacecraft.

Read: WATCH: SpaceX launches Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral

“Artemis II is more than a mission to the moon and back,” Glover said. “It’s more than a mission that happens before we send people to the surface of the moon. It’s the next step on the journey that gets humanity to Mars.”

Teams have a little bit of work before the launch, including an ongoing analysis of the Orion heat shield.

Material unexpectedly chipped away during the uncrewed Artemis I flight test.

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