CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In just a matter of hours, the high bay doors of the Vehicle Assembly Building will open, and NASA plans to roll out its largest, most powerful rocket ever towards its launch pad.
Artemis II will be the first mission in NASA’s moon program to have astronauts riding on the 322-foot Space Launch System.
Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen will circle the moon and fly farther away from Earth than any crew before, setting the stage for astronauts to land on the moon in just another year or two.
The timeline is critical to NASA’s and the White House’s ambitions to put American boots on the moon before China does.
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The nation’s adversary in space has said it wants to land its astronauts on the moon by 2030.
Before SLS rolls out for Artemis II, the mission managers gave an update on Friday.
Your Cape Canaveral Community Correspondent, James Sparvero, asked how quickly NASA can get the moon rocket ready for launch this time.
Artemis I took eight months from rollout to launch.
“First off, it was a brand-new vehicle,” launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson responded. “And we learned a lot during that campaign getting to launch. Without significant issues, if everything goes to plan, then, certainly, there are opportunities within February that could be achievable,” she said.
[INTERACTIVE: Learn about Artemis and the Space Launch System]
Possibly launching as soon as Feb. 6, depending on a test at the pad to fuel the rocket.
Saturday’s rollout starts at 7 a.m.
We’ll keep you updated on how the slow crawl to the pad goes on News 6 and ClickOrlando.com.
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