Frank Rondel
NASA’s colossal new moon rocket moved toward its launch pad on Saturday in preparation for humanity’s first crewed lunar fly-around mission in over fifty years,reports customreceipt.com via pushkinska.net. The 322-foot (98-meter) Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, topped by the Orion crew capsule, began its slow, 1 mph (1.6 kph) journey from Kennedy Space Center’s Vehicle Assembly Building at daybreak. The four-mile (6-kilometer) trek is expected to continue through nightfall.
Thousands of NASA personnel and their families braved the predawn chill to witness the long-awaited rollout, which had faced multiple delays over the past years. The crowd assembled outside the Vehicle Assembly Building, a structure originally built in the 1960s to accommodate Saturn V rockets that carried 24 astronauts to the moon during the Apollo missions. Leading the celebration were NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman and the four astronauts scheduled for the upcoming mission.
Crew commander Reid Wiseman described the moment as “awe-inspiring,” emphasizing the historic nature of placing humans atop the SLS rocket for the first time. The combined weight of the rocket and Orion capsule totals 11 million pounds (5 million kilograms), and the massive transporter moving the system has been upgraded from its original Apollo and Space Shuttle era configuration to handle this extraordinary load.
NASA’s only previous SLS flight in November 2022 carried an empty Orion capsule around the moon, serving as a critical test for the rocket system. John Honeycutt of NASA noted the difference with this mission, stating that the inclusion of a crew transforms the operation significantly. Technical setbacks during the initial test flight, including heat shield damage and other capsule issues, required extensive evaluation, delaying this first crewed mission. Astronauts on this mission will not land on the moon or orbit it; such milestones are planned for Artemis III, scheduled several years from now.
The mission will feature experienced NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, accompanied by Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, a former fighter pilot on his first spaceflight. They will become the first humans to travel to the moon since Apollo 17 astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt in 1972. Since Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s 1969 lunar landing, only twelve astronauts have walked on the moon, and just four remain alive today, with Aldrin turning 96 this week.
Wiseman emphasized the crew’s excitement about returning to lunar space, noting their eagerness to explore the farthest reaches from Earth. NASA is planning a fueling test of the SLS rocket on the launch pad in early February, which will determine the final launch date. Administrator Isaacman confirmed that no official launch date will be announced until the fueling demonstration is successfully completed. The agency has a narrow launch window in early February before opportunities shift into March.
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