NASA deployed the fully stacked system Artemis II Orion rocket and capsule Saturday, embarking on a four-mile journey to the launch pad
By Claire Cameron edited by Clara Moskowitz
Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images
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from NASA Artemis II began its final journey to Earth on Saturday. The fully stacked Space Launch System (SLS) and the Orion capsule were deployed from the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, a milestone for the first crewed mission to the Moon in more than 50 years.
“This is the beginning of a very long journey,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said at a news conference on Sunday.
From the gigantic hangar he called home, Artemis II it will take a leisurely pace of one mile per hour to make the four-mile journey to Launch Pad 39B, a journey that will take approximately eight to 10 days.
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Once the rocket reaches the platform, the real fun begins. NASA officials presented the series of tests and checks on Friday Artemis II will need to complete before it is cleared for takeoff, including the critical “wet dress rehearsal.” This involves filling the rocket with cryogenic propellant and practicing the countdown sequence as if it were about to take off, thereby testing the limits of the rocket without humans on board.
If everything goes as planned, NASA aims for launch no earlier than February 6.
Artemis II is a test of the space agency’s readiness to return humans to the lunar surface, but the mission will not actually reach the moon. Instead, four astronauts – NASA’s Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen – will loop around the Moon, going further into space than any human has gone before.
During the 10-day journey, the astronauts will conduct a series of experiments and tests that will inform NASA’s next planned lunar mission, Artemis III. Ultimately, the space agency wants to establish a permanently staffed base on the lunar surface, a goal emphasized by Isaacman during Saturday’s press conference.
But before all this happens, Artemis II must first accomplish its mission. “We’re really ready to go,” Wiseman said at the same news conference.
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