The giant Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, along with the Orion capsule, was moved to Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Saturday, January 17. This event marks the final stage of preparations for the first crewed flight to the Moon in over half a century. NASA announced this on its X social media page, writes UNN.
Details
The journey of the 98-meter-tall, 5-million-kilogram rocket from the Vehicle Assembly Building to the pad took over 11 hours. The transport was carried out on a modernized crawler-transporter from the Apollo program era at a speed of 1.6 km/h.
Thousands of NASA employees and their families, as well as the agency's new administrator Jared Isaacman and the mission crew, observed the process. Crew commander Reid Wiseman called the moment "awe-inspiring."
Crew and Mission Schedule
The Artemis 2 mission will last 10 days and involves a lunar flyby without a surface landing. The crew includes:
- Reid Wiseman (Commander, NASA);
- Victor Glover (Pilot, NASA);
- Christina Koch (Mission Specialist, NASA);
- Jeremy Hansen (Mission Specialist, Canadian Space Agency).
They will be the first humans to approach the Moon since the end of the Apollo program in 1972.
Next Steps
NASA plans to conduct a wet dress rehearsal in early February. Only after the successful completion of this test will the exact launch date be announced. The preliminary launch window opens on February 6, 2026.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman emphasized that the agency has only a limited number of days for a February launch due to orbital constraints, otherwise the mission would have to be postponed until March or April.