NASA to roll Artemis II rocket to Pad 39B starting Jan. 17

NASA is targeting no earlier than 7 a.m. EST on Saturday, Jan. 17, to begin rolling its integrated SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft for the Artemis II mission from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A pre-rollout mission news conference is scheduled for Friday, Jan.

16 at 12 p.m. Eastern, and NASA said a live feed of the rollout and a media gaggle will stream on the agency’s YouTube channel, with individual streams available. Speakers listed for the Jan. 16 briefing include John Honeycutt, Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, Jeff Radigan, Lili Villarreal and Jacob Bleacher.

The agency noted all times are Eastern and the rollout time is subject to change for technical preparations or weather. The live views feed is planned to begin at 7 a.m. on Jan. 17, with a 9 a.m. crew rollout media event at the countdown clock featuring NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman and the Artemis II crew, including NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, and CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen.

NASA said crawler-transporter 2 will carry the roughly 11-million-pound stack at about one mile per hour along the four-mile route, a journey that can take up to 12 hours. To join the news conference by telephone, media must RSVP to ksc-newsroom@mail.nasa.gov at least two hours before the start; in-person access is limited to media previously credentialed and the deadline for in-person accreditation has passed.

Key Topics

Science, Artemis Ii, Kennedy Space Center, Space Launch System, Orion Spacecraft