Artemis 2 rocket chills with the ‘Snow Moon’

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NASA has released a spectacular photo of February’s full “Snow Moon” rising behind Artemis 2. Space Launch System (SLS), capturing both the rocket and its destination before its historic mission to orbit Earth’s natural satellite with a crew of four astronauts.

Why is this amazing?

The photo shows the Snow Moon, named for the frequent heavy snowfall in February, rising behind the upper portion of the SLS as it waited on Launch Pad 39B of NASAIt is Kennedy Space Center in Florida on February 1.

The Space Launch System rocket is NASA’s modern answer to the Apollo era Saturn V and was touted as an essential part of the agency’s work. Artemis Programwhich aims to return astronauts to the lunar surface for the first time in more than 50 years.

What is this?

Only the top of the rocket is visible, consisting of the Launch Abort System tower and its white fairings, which form an outer shield above the Orion spacecrafthiding it from view as it sits atop the orange structural adapter connecting the spaceship to its core stage.

The crew access arm is also visible connecting the rocket and the tower, with the “clean room” at its end emblazoned with the Artemis logo. This will be the final stage of NASA’s mission Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christine Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen before taking a seat in the Orion spacecraft, bound for the other side of the moon.

At the time of the photo, NASA teams were hard at work preparing for Artemis 2’s wet dress rehearsal, when the rocket is fully fueled before a simulated launch, allowing engineers to isolate and resolve lingering hardware and countdown issues.

In this case, a problem with a liquid hydrogen fuel leak and other complications led to the launch being postponed from February 8 to an unspecified date in March.

Check out our Explanation of the Artemis 2 mission to find out more!