I was really into cars when I was younger, and by extension, car magazines. I particularly loved reading concept car articles, which came with glossy sketches and hyperbolic headlines like "Is this the next Corvette?" Sadly, I also learned production cars rarely end up looking their theoretical forebearers. Form usually gives way to function.

It's not much different in the space business. When NASA's Space Launch System was unveiled in 2011, it had a pearl-white paint job resembling the Saturn V Moon rocket. The initial artist's rendering, which featured an American flag fluttering in the foreground, was almost stunning enough to make casual observers forget the rocket was born out of one of the most contentious space policy debates of all time—one that continues to rage today.

Since then, SLS has evolved, and so has its paint job. The rocket's newest look, revealed a week ago, features black-and-white checkerboard patterns that will be used by tracking cameras to precisely measure the vehicle's position during ascent. The patterns are subtle on the core stage, but quite prominent on the solid rocket boosters, streaking down the sides like victory flags at a NASCAR race.

The new design isn't a poorly executed aesthetics attempt; the checkerboards have an important role to play in post-launch engineering analysis. And as the big rocket's form slowly yields to function, the patterns also serve as a reminder to NASA and its contractors that despite recent setbacks, the Space Launch System continues inching forward from design to reality.