Photo: Mike Seeley/Twitter
On June 6, at 12:10 a.m. EDT, a massive crawler-transporter started slowly moving from the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at the Kennedy Space Center. It carries on top of it the Space Launch System rocket and the Orion capsule, as these pillars of the Artemis Moon exploration are getting ready for a crucial test.
This is the second time the SLS is going to the pad for something NASA calls a wet dress rehearsal test. The first time it went out there, to launch pad 39B, if failed to deliver the expected results, and a trip to the VAB from where it departed a few hours ago became necessary, as repairs had to be made.
Now that everything seems to be in working order, NASA cleared the rocket for another trip to the pad, where testing could be resumed.
As usual when a piece of hardware as crucial for the future of space exploration as this one gets on the move, plenty of people more or less directly involved with the project line up the 4-mile (6.4 km) stretch of road to the pad, cameras in hand and taking photos.
We expect lots of such stills to make their way online in the coming hours, but in the meantime you can check out the gallery above, which also includes images from the first rollout.
The current ride to the launch pad will not be the rocket’s last. After (and if) the wet dress rehearsal test concluded later this month, the SLS would have to be shipped back to the VAB for launch preparations. Another ride to the pad will them follow, this time with the intent to launch the Artemis I mission, and kickstart the world’s second Moon exploration program.
Hopefully, all of the above will take place by the end of this year.
Now that everything seems to be in working order, NASA cleared the rocket for another trip to the pad, where testing could be resumed.
As usual when a piece of hardware as crucial for the future of space exploration as this one gets on the move, plenty of people more or less directly involved with the project line up the 4-mile (6.4 km) stretch of road to the pad, cameras in hand and taking photos.
We expect lots of such stills to make their way online in the coming hours, but in the meantime you can check out the gallery above, which also includes images from the first rollout.
The current ride to the launch pad will not be the rocket’s last. After (and if) the wet dress rehearsal test concluded later this month, the SLS would have to be shipped back to the VAB for launch preparations. Another ride to the pad will them follow, this time with the intent to launch the Artemis I mission, and kickstart the world’s second Moon exploration program.
Hopefully, all of the above will take place by the end of this year.
NASA's Space Launch System (aka "SLS") and Orion have emerged from the Vehicle Assembly Building, rolling to LC39B for tests in advance of the Artemis I mission. pic.twitter.com/j3mEyhoCN7
— Michael Seeley (@Mike_Seeley) June 6, 2022
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