NASA’s Mobile Launcher Back at Vehicle Assembly Building

NASA’s mobile launcher 1 atop the spaceport’s crawler is transported inside the agency’s Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center in Florida ahead of integration of the Artemis II Moon rocket on Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. The mobile launcher will be used to assemble, process, and launch NASA’s SLS (Space Launch Systems) and Orion spacecraft to the Moon and beyond. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

After spending several months undergoing integrated testing and upgrades at Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, the agency’s mobile launcher 1 is transported inside the Vehicle Assembly Building in preparation for integration of of the Artemis II Moon rocket.

The 4.2-mile trek from Launch Pad 39B to the Vehicle Assembly Building along the crawlerway normally takes eight to 12 hours atop NASA’s crawler-transporter 2, though teams paused the roll operations several times as planned to ensure the operation teams had scheduled breaks and rest. The operation resumed at 1:41 a.m. EDT, Friday, Oct. 4.

Standing 380 feet tall, the mobile launcher – which will be used to assemble, process, and launch the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft – contains all the connection lines – known as umbilicals – and ground support equipment that will provide the rocket and spacecraft with the power, communications, fuel, and coolant necessary for launch. This will be the mobile launcher’s last solo trek out to the launch pad ahead of integration of the Artemis Moon rocket, and it will remain inside the Vehicle Assembly Building until it is ready to return to the pad with the rocket for a tanking test.

The Artemis II test flight will be NASA’s first mission with crew under the Artemis campaign, sending NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Reid Wiseman, as well as CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, on a 10-day journey around the Moon and back.

NASA’s Mobile Launcher Rolls Ahead of Artemis II Preparation

Teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems Program at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida prepare to move mobile launcher 1 atop the agency’s crawler-transporter 2 from Launch Complex 39B to the Vehicle Assembly Building on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. The crawler transporter recently reached 2,500 miles traveling to the launch pad since its construction in 1965. The mobile launcher will be used to assemble, process, and launch NASA’s SLS (Space Launch Systems) and Orion spacecraft to the Moon and beyond. Photo Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

NASA rolled closer to integrating elements of the Artemis II Moon rocket together as teams with the agency’s Exploration Ground Systems Program at Kennedy Space Center in Florida began moving the mobile launcher 1 from Launch Complex 39B along a 4.2 mile stretch back to the Vehicle Assembly Building. First motion of the mobile launcher, atop NASA’s crawler-transporter 2, occurred at 12:09 a.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 3.

Teams rolled the mobile launcher out to Kennedy’s Pad 39B in August 2023 for upgrades and a series of ground demonstration tests in preparation for NASA’s Artemis II mission. These preparations ranged from a launch day demonstration for the crew, closeout crew, and the pad rescue team, to testing the emergency egress system, water flow system, and the new liquid hydrogen sphere at the launch pad.

On its way to transport the mobile launcher back from the pad, NASA’s crawler-transporter 2 also achieved a milestone nearly 60 years in the making. Already designated by Guinness World Records as the heaviest self-powered vehicle – larger than a baseball infield and weighing approximately 6.65 million pounds – the crawler reached 2,500 miles traveled since its construction in 1965.

The mobile launcher is expected to arrive outside the Vehicle Assembly Building around 10 a.m. Thursday, Oct.3, before the Exploration Ground Systems teams move it into High Bay 3 on Friday, Oct.4.

Follow the livestream of the mobile launcher on the move.