NASA has rolled out its giant Moon rocket – Space Launch System (SLS) – to the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center in Florida ahead of its historic maiden flight.<\/p>\n
The rocket and Orion spacecraft for the Artemis I mission arrived atop Launch Complex 39B after a nearly 10-hour journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building. <\/p>\n
In the coming days, engineers and technicians will configure systems at the pad for launch, which is currently scheduled at 8:33 a.m., August 29. <\/p>\n
“Teams have worked to refine operations and procedures and have incorporated lessons learned from the wet dress rehearsal test campaign and have updated the launch timeline accordingly,” NASA said in its latest update.<\/p>\n
The test flight will have no crew on board, but Artemis 2 and 3 missions aim to send astronauts back to the lunar surface for the first time after half a century.<\/p>\n
In future Artemis missions, which are set to take place in this decade, NASA has promised to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon, using innovative technologies to explore more of the lunar surface than ever before. <\/p>\n
Artemis is the first step in the next era of human exploration. Together with commercial and international partners, NASA will establish a sustainable presence on the Moon.<\/p>\n
Based on lessons learned on and around the Moon, NASA will prepare to take the next giant leap of sending astronauts to Mars. The U.S. space agency estimates it can achieve this landmark breakthrough in space science in the 2030s.<\/p>\n
December 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of NASA’s Apollo 17 program, the last time humans have set foot on the Moon. <\/p>\n