Artemis II Moon Rocket Heads Back to Launch Pad

The Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft began rolling to Launch Pad 39B at 12:20 a.m. EDT on Friday, March 20. Rollout operations at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida were delayed earlier in the day by high winds. The trek to the pad is expected to take up to 12 hours, with crawler-transporter 2 carrying the rocket atop the mobile launcher about 4 miles along the crawlerway, and a live feed of the rollout is available on the agency's YouTube channel.

A successful wet dress rehearsal on Feb. 21 was followed by discovery of an issue that prevented helium from flowing to the rocket’s upper stage, prompting a return to the Vehicle Assembly Building where the problem was repaired. While the vehicle and spacecraft were in the VAB, teams refreshed and retested several systems.

Engineers activated a new set of flight termination system batteries, replaced batteries on the upper stage, core stage and solid rocket boosters, and charged Orion’s launch abort system batteries.

United States, Florida

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