The massive Space Launch System moon rocket from NASA, which is topped with an uncrewed astronaut capsule, started an hours-long crawl to its launchpad on Tuesday night in preparation for the behemoth’s first test flight this month.
The 98-metre-tall rocket is set to launch its initial journey into orbit on August 29 without any human crew. It will be an important, long-awaited demonstration mission to the moon for NASA’s Artemis programme, the country’s multibillion-dollar endeavour to send people back to the moon as training for trips to Mars.
Around 10 p.m. EDT (0200 GMT) on Tuesday, the Space Launch System left its assembly building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and started the six-kilometer (four-mile) journey to its launchpad. The Space Launch System has been developed over the previous ten years with the help of Boeing Co.
The rollout will take about 11 hours at less than 1 mph (1.6 kph).
The NASA Orion astronaut capsule, made by Lockheed Martin Corp., is perched atop the rocket. It is intended to split from the rocket in outer space, transport people to the moon, and then come together with another spacecraft to deliver astronauts to the lunar surface.
Without any humans inside, the Orion spacecraft will launch from the Space Launch System on August 29 for the Artemis 1 mission. It will orbit the moon for 42 days before returning to Earth for an ocean splashdown.
On September 2 and September 5, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has backup launch dates in case terrible launch weather or a minor technical issue prevents a launch on August 29.
(With inputs from agencies)
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