Watch NASA roll huge Artemis 2 moon rocket out to the launch pad on Jan. 17
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Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
NASA will launch its Artemis 2 moon rocket to the launch pad on Saturday, January 17, and you can watch the slow-moving action live.
The agency is massive Tracked Transporter 2 the vehicle will transport the Artemis 2 Space Launch System (SLS) and the Orion spacecraft from the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) in Florida. Kennedy Space Center towards launch pad 39B.
The 4-mile (6.4-kilometer) hike will begin at 7 a.m. EST (1200 GMT) Saturday and will likely take eight to 10 hours. You can watch it live here on Space.com courtesy of NASA, or directly via the space agency.
The Artemis 1 stack sits atop Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on March 18, 2022, after its several-hour deployment. | Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
Artemis 2 will send NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, as well as Jeremy Hansen of Canadian Space Agencyon a 10-day trip around the moon and back. This will be the first crewed mission to the lunar realms since Apollo 17 in 1972.
Once deployment is complete, NASA will conduct a number of checks with Artemis 2’s SLS and Orion. One of the most important tests is a wet dress rehearsal, during which teams will load the rocket with its cryogenic boosters and perform a simulated launch countdown.
This milestone is currently scheduled for February 2, and how it plays out will help set the launch timeline. And a smooth, wet dress is far from guaranteed.
Wet general rehearsals for the Artemis 1 For example, the mission revealed leaks of liquid hydrogen. NASA launched the Artemis 1 battery return to VAB several times to fix the problem, which, among other factors, significantly delayed the mission’s launch.
Artemis 1 successfully sent an uncrewed Orion into lunar orbit and back. The mission took off on November 16, 2022 and ended with Orion’s landing in the Pacific Ocean on December 11 of the same year.
NASA has not yet announced a target launch date for Artemis 2 and will not do so until the wet dress and other key checks are in the books.
There are currently three takeoff windows for the mission, which present potential launch opportunities on February 6, 7, 8, 10 and 11; March 6, 7, 8, 9 and 11; and April 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6 respectively.
