Washington – NASA announced on Saturday. The agency began moving its new giant rocket to the launchpad. This is happening at the Kennedy Space Center. The move prepares for an upcoming mission in early February. The mission aims to send astronauts around the Moon. It will then return them to Earth. This marks the first crewed flight of its kind in over 50 years.
The 98-meter-long rocket began its slow journey. It moved at one mile per hour. The journey started from the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Center. This occurred at dawn. The transfer to the six-kilometer-long launchpad is expected to last until nightfall.
This is the second test flight for the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. It is the first to carry a human crew. Four astronauts will live inside the Orion capsule. They will test life support and communication systems. They will also practice docking maneuvers in space. This rocket is the most powerful ever built by NASA. It generates 15% more thrust at liftoff than the Saturn V rocket. The Saturn V was used in the 1960s.
The mission crew includes three NASA astronauts. They are Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch. Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen is also part of the crew. This mission marks his first space flight.
This mission is part of the multi-billion dollar Artemis program. It follows an uncrewed test flight in 2022. It also paves the way for the Artemis 3 mission. Artemis 3 aims to land astronauts near the Moon’s South Pole. The goal is to establish a sustainable base on its surface. This base would serve as a future stepping stone to Mars. The current mission does not include a Moon landing. It also does not involve entering lunar orbit. However, the crew will be the first to orbit the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.