(Updated) NASA targeting Tuesday for rollout of Artemis I Moon rocket to launch pad ahead of Aug 29 launch

Devdiscourse News Desk| California

Updated: 17-08-2022 20:06 IST | Created: 16-08-2022 09:54 IST

Image Credit: Twitter (@NASAKennedy)

Teams at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida have completed the final testing and checkouts of the Artemis I Moon rocket ahead of rolling to Launch Pad 39B, with the agency targeting Tuesday, August 16, for the rollout of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft.

The crawler-transporter will roll inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) and under the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft later today. Teams are currently working to prepare the integrated stack for rollout, the agency said in a statement.

The live stream of the mega moon rocket rollout begins at 3 p.m. EDT Tuesday, August 16 on the NASA Kennedy YouTube channel.

The uncrewed Artemis I mission is planned to lift off on August 29 with plenty of science including CubeSats to hunt for lunar surface water deposits and experiments on how cells respond to space, to name a few.

Artemis I will be the first integrated flight test of SLS and Orion. During this flight test, the Orion spacecraft will fly farther from Earth than any human-rated vehicle has ever flown before.

The spacecraft will perform a flyby of the Moon, using lunar gravity to gain speed and propel itself thousands of miles beyond the moon, almost half a million km from Earth - further than any human has ever travelled.

Update 1

After a nearly 10-hour journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building, the SLS rocket and Orion arrived atop Launch Complex 39B early this morning at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

READ MORE ON

OrionNASA Artemis IArtemis I Moon rocket roll outArtemis INASA SLS Moon rocket

READ MORE

OPINION / BLOG

LATEST NEWS

VIDEOS

View All