NASA is on the cusp of resuming human lunar missions with the Artemis program, a landmark effort aiming to return astronauts to the Moon for the first time in over 50 years. On Saturday,the Space Launch system rocket – weighing 11 million pounds and representing years of growth and testing – began a slow,four-mile journey to its launchpad at Kennedy Space Center. This critical move signals a major step towards a planned launch attempt as early as February, and potentially marks a new era of space exploration following the successes of the apollo program.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida — NASA’s massive new lunar rocket began a slow crawl to its launchpad Saturday, preparing for the first crewed mission to the Moon in more than 50 years.
The Artemis program’s inaugural flight with astronauts could lift off as early as February.
The 322-foot (98-meter) rocket started its 4-mile (6-kilometer) journey at dawn, moving at a deliberate pace of 1 mile per hour (1.6 km/h) from the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center. The trek was expected to take most of the day.
Thousands of space center employees and their families gathered in the pre-dawn chill to witness the long-awaited event, which has faced years of delays. They clustered near the departure point of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, a structure originally built in the 1960s to house the Saturn V rockets that carried 24 astronauts to the Moon during the Apollo program. The cheering crowd was led by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman and the four astronauts assigned to the mission.
Weighing in at 11 million pounds (5 million kilograms), the SLS rocket and the Orion crew capsule atop it were transported on a massive crawler-transporter, originally used during the Apollo and Space Shuttle eras. The transporter was upgraded to handle the increased weight of the SLS.
The SLS completed its first and only uncrewed test flight in November 2022, sending an Orion capsule on an orbital journey around the Moon.
“This feels very different, putting crew on the rocket and sending them around the Moon,” said NASA’s John Honeycutt on the eve of the rocket’s rollout.
Damage to the heat shield and other issues discovered during the initial test flight required extensive analysis and repairs, pushing the first crewed lunar mission back to this point. The astronauts will not orbit or land on the Moon during this mission; that milestone is planned for the third Artemis flight in the coming years.
The mission crew – Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and NASA veteran astronaut Christina Koch – will be joined by Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, a former fighter pilot making his first spaceflight.
They will be the first humans to travel to the Moon since Apollo 17 astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt concluded the Apollo program in 1972. Twelve astronauts walked on the lunar surface, beginning with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in 1969.
NASA is planning a propellant loading test of the SLS rocket at the launchpad in early February before confirming a launch date. “That will ultimately set our path toward launch,” Launch Director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson said Friday.
The space agency has a five-day launch window in the first half of February before the opportunity shifts to March.
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This story was translated from English by an AP editor with the assistance of generative artificial intelligence tools.
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