Before its Historic Mission, NASA's Artemis I Moon Rocket arrived at the Launch Pad for 1st test flight
On August 17, 2022, Wednesday, NASA's Artemis I Moon Rocket arrived at launch pad 39B, less than 2 weeks before its debut flight.
Around 7:30 a.m. EDT, the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft for the 'Artemis I' mission arrived atop Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) is the only rocket built to send more than 59,525 pounds to deep space.
Journey of Artemis I Moon Rocket
Late Tuesday night, at about 10 p.m. EDT, the 322-foot (98-meter) rocket emerged from its mammoth hangar.
It drew crowds of Kennedy Space Center workers, many of whom were not yet born when NASA sent astronauts to the moon 50 years ago.
This crawler-transporter began its approximately 4-mile trip from the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) to Launch Pad 39B.
Around 7:30 a.m. EDT, it arrived atop Launch Pad 39B after a nearly 10-hour journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB).
The rocket took nearly 10 hours to travel the 4-mile distance to the Launch pad, around sunrise.
Currently, NASA is aiming for the uncrewed flight test to launch on August 29 at 8:33 am for the lunar test flight.
In the upcoming days, engineers and technicians will configure systems at the launch pad.
There will be no one inside the crew capsule atop the rocket, only three mannequins swarming with sensors to measure vibration and radiation.
Before returning for a splashdown in the Pacific, the capsule will fly in a distant orbit around the moon for a few weeks. The full journey should take 6 weeks.
Before returning for a splashdown in the Pacific, the capsule will fly in a distant orbit around the moon for a few weeks. The full journey should take 6 weeks.
In NASA's Artemis program, the flight is the first moonshot. The space agency aims to send astronauts on a lunar orbiting mission in 2 years and a lunar landing by a human crew as early as 2025.
What is Artemis?
Artemis is the first step in the next era of human exploration.
To prepare for missions to Mars, NASA want to establish a sustainable presence on the Moon.
NASA aims to establish the first long-term human-robotic presence on and around the Moon.
By using innovative technologies, NASA will use Artemis missions to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon to explore more of the lunar surface than ever before.
Moon to Mars -
Then, NASA will use what it learns on and on the Moon to take the next big step and send the first astronauts to Mars.