The LVSA, the largest piece of the rocket built in Marshall’s Huntsville manufacturing area, will connect two major sections of SLS – the 27.6-foot diameter core stage and the 16.4-foot interim cryogenic propulsion stage– for the first integrated flight of SLS and the Orion spacecraft. It is coated with thermal insulation to protect the delicate propulsion stage systems during SLS’s ride to space. Teledyne Brown Engineering of Huntsville, the prime contractor for the adapter, has completed manufacturing and engineers are preparing to apply thermal insulation. It will be the largest piece of hardware that Marshall Technicians have covered with foam insulation using a manual process. Other larger parts of the core stage are undergoing similar manual thermal protection system applications at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, which is managed by Marshall.