Yesterday (Jan 17), NASA rolled out its towering SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft to Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida 🚀. This marks the first big step in preparing for the agency’s first crewed lunar mission in over 50 years.
The nearly 12-hour transport moved the 5 million kg giant 6.5 km on a beefed-up crawler-transporter. Thousands of space center workers and their families braved the predawn chill to catch the epic moment under the Vehicle Assembly Building—the very same 1960s-era hangar that hosted the Saturn Vs of Apollo fame.
Artemis 2 is set to send NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and CSA’s Jeremy Hansen on an approximately 10-day journey looping around the moon and back. If all goes smoothly, they could launch as early as Feb 6, 2026 ⏳.
Next up is a 'wet dress rehearsal,' where engineers load all the rocket propellants—think rocket fuel and oxidizer—into the SLS to make sure every system is flight-ready. It’s basically the final tech check before the big show!
The only other SLS mission was Artemis 1 back in Nov 2022, which sent an uncrewed Orion capsule around the moon. Artemis 3, now eyed for 2027, might slide back if SpaceX’s Starship megarocket delivery runs late.
From ISRO’s Chandrayaan 3 touchdown to SpaceX’s Starlink launches, Asia’s space scene is buzzing—and this week’s rollout shows lunar dreams are still alive 🌕. Whether you’ve built moon sims in your dorm or tracked satellite passes on your phone, keep your eyes on the sky!
Reference(s):
NASA moves moon rocket to launch pad ahead of Artemis 2 mission
cgtn.com
