NASA’s Artemis II mission to the moon heads toward the launch pad

NASA Artemis II The mission to the moon is moving toward launch

Written by Claire Cameron Edited by Clara Moskowitz

NASA Artemis II It began its final journey on Earth on Saturday. A Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and a fully stacked Orion capsule lifted off from the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, marking a milestone for the first manned mission to the moon in more than 50 years.

“This is the beginning of a very long journey,” NASA administrator Jared Isaacman said at a news conference on Sunday.

From the huge shed that he called home, Artemis II The four-mile trek to Launch Pad 39B will take about one mile per hour, a trip that will take approximately eight to 10 days.

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Once the rocket reaches the pad, the real fun begins. On Friday, NASA officials presented a series of tests and examinations Artemis II You will need to complete these before being cleared for take-off, including the crucial “wet workout.” This involves pumping the rocket full of cryogenic fuel, practicing the countdown sequence as if it were about to launch, and testing the rocket’s limits without humans on board.

If all goes as planned, NASA is targeting a launch no later than February 6.

Artemis II It is a test of the space agency’s readiness to return humans to the moon’s surface, but the mission will not actually land on the moon. Instead, four astronauts — NASA’s Reed Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen — will circumnavigate the moon, going further into space than any human has ever gone before.

On the 10-day flight, the astronauts will conduct a series of experiments and tests that will shape NASA’s planned next mission to the moon. Artemis III. Ultimately, the space agency wants to establish a permanently inhabited base on the moon, a goal that Isaacman emphasized at Saturday’s press conference.

But before any of that happens, Artemis II You must first complete its mission. “We’re really ready to go,” Wiseman said at the same press conference.

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