NASA’s Mega Moon Rocket Begins Rolling to Launch Pad

NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, with the Orion capsule atop, prepares to roll out of High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 17, 2022, for its journey to Launch Complex 39B. Carried atop the crawler-transporter 2, NASA’s Moon rocket is venturing out to the launch pad for a wet dress rehearsal ahead of the uncrewed Artemis I launch.
NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, with the Orion capsule atop, prepares to roll out of High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 17, 2022, for its journey to Launch Complex 39B. Carried atop the crawler-transporter 2, NASA’s Moon rocket is venturing out to the launch pad for a wet dress rehearsal ahead of the uncrewed Artemis I launch. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

The Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft for the Artemis I mission are rolling to Launch Complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the very first time. At about 5:45 p.m. ET, with the integrated SLS and Orion system atop it, the crawler-transporter began the approximately 4-mile, journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) to the launch pad. Once outside the VAB high-bay doors, the Moon rocket will make a planned pause allowing the team to reposition the Crew Access Arm before continuing to the launch pad. The crawler-transporter will move slowly during the trek to the pad with a top cruising speed of .82 mph. The journey is expected to take between six and 12 hours.

After they arrive at the pad, engineers will prepare the integrated rocket and Orion spacecraft for a critical wet dress rehearsal test that includes loading all the propellants