NASA’s massive Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft set atop has finally arrived at Launch Pad 39B at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida ahead of one final test before its Artemis I Moon mission. This was quite the task, as the rocket was stacked on the mobile launcher and then mounted on the crawler-transporter for a journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39B. In all, it happened over a 10-hour and 28 minute time period to reach the launch pad 4-miles away.
The final test, officially called the wet dress rehearsal, will involve the Artemis I launch team going through operations to load propellant into the rocket’s tanks, conducting a full launch countdown, demonstrating the ability to recycle the countdown clock, and then draining the tanks to practice the timelines as well as procedures that will be used for the launch.
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Rolling out of the Vehicle Assembly Building is an iconic moment for this rocket and spacecraft, and this is a key milestone for NASA. Now at the pad for the first time, we will use the integrated systems to practice the launch countdown and load the rocket with the propellants it needs to send Orion on a lunar journey in preparation for launch,” said Tom Whitmeyer, deputy associate administrator for Common Exploration Systems Development at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
