NASA has delivered the rocket for the first manned flight to the Moon in half a century to the launch pad.
According to the BBC, the 98-meter Space Launch System rocket moved from the assembly building to Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for nearly 12 hours. The special transport platform moved at a speed of just over one kilometer per hour.
In the coming days, NASA specialists will conduct final equipment checks and a rehearsal for fueling the rocket. The first possible launch of the Artemis II mission is scheduled for February 6, with additional time windows at the end of February, March, and April. The astronauts embarking on the ten-day flight will orbit the Moon without landing on its surface.
The crew consists of Americans Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, as well as Canadian Jeremy Hansen, who monitored the rocket's movement at Cape Canaveral. This will be the first crewed mission to the Moon since the Apollo 17 flight, the last successful landing on Earth's satellite in December 1972. The astronauts will spend the first two days in Earth's orbit before heading on their journey to the Moon, which is approximately 400,000 kilometers away.
During the flyby of the far side of the Moon, the crew has planned three hours for studying geology and taking photographs, which will help prepare for a future landing near the Moon's south pole. The Artemis III mission, which plans for a landing, is scheduled no earlier than 2027, although experts cited by the BBC believe that a more realistic date would be 2028.
One of the key components of the Orion spacecraft, which will be used for this mission, is an element produced in Bremen, Germany. The European Service Module, developed by Airbus in Germany, will provide the spacecraft with essential resources: propulsion, electricity, oxygen, and water for the crew.
Mission Control Team Leader John Hanicutt noted:
“My primary task is to ensure the safe return of Reid, Victor, Christina, and Jeremy. We will only launch when we are fully ready. Crew safety is our top priority.”
Despite numerous delays in the program, NASA asserts that it will not compromise on safety issues.
