Artemis II SLS and Orion begin roll to Launch Complex 39B at Kennedy

The SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft that will carry four astronauts around the Moon began rolling to Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Saturday, Jan. 17. The four-mile trek started at 7:04 a.m. EST and is expected to take up to 12 hours.

The 11-million-pound stack has been in the Vehicle Assembly Building since October and is being moved on top of the mobile launcher by crawler-transporter 2 at about 1 mph. A live feed of the move is available on NASA’s YouTube channel.

At 9 a.m., the Artemis II crew—Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialist Christina Koch of NASA, along with CSA’s Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen—will be joined by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman for a Q&A with media in attendance, also available live on YouTube.

Once at the pad, engineers in the coming days will prepare SLS and Orion for a wet dress rehearsal that includes loading all propellants into the rocket. That rehearsal will allow the Artemis mission management team to assess flight readiness; the earliest launch window for the approximately 10-day mission around the Moon opens on Friday, Feb. 6.

Key Topics

Science, Artemis Ii, Sls, Orion Spacecraft, Kennedy Space Center, Reid Wiseman