Lates News

On Saturday, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will transport a costly rocket to the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. According to a news release from NASA, the journey of 4 miles from the assembly building to the launch pad for the Boeing-manufactured Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Lockheed Martin-built "Orion" spacecraft will take up to 12 hours. After the rocket and spacecraft arrive at the launch pad, NASA will begin other flight preparations, including connecting ground support equipment, testing hardware components, and inspecting ground infrastructure systems. The SLS rocket has been in development for about 15 years, is currently over budget and behind schedule, and has only been launched once so far (a unmanned test flight around the moon in 2022). This transport is the first step of the "Artemis II" mission, which plans to send four astronauts to orbit around the moon and return to Earth within ten days. The flight was originally scheduled for late 2024 but is now planned to launch no later than April. NASA will conduct a simulated launch rehearsal at the end of January after completing the transport and launch pad inspection. The successful completion of this critical step is necessary for the next steps to proceed.