Every journey begins with a single step, and the first step of NASA's return to the Moon begins with a four mile journey. The launch of the Space Launch System rocket will take place on March 17th. The full rocket stack will be at the pad for about a month undergoing several tests before heading back to the Vehicle Assembly Building. NASA hopes to launch its Artemis test flight by early summer if all goes well with the tests.
The Kennedy Space Center's Exploration Ground Systems program manager said the roll out will begin at 6 pm. It will take about an hour for the vehicle and its mobile launch tower to move out of the VAB on a giant crawler-transporter vehicle.
Bolger said in a call with reporters that the transporter would use a range of speeds. The cruising speed is the slower one for departing the VAB.
The last time a vehicle capable of carrying a crew rolled out from the VAB was in 2011. Bolger said that they wanted to start the space shuttle launch earlier so that everyone could be a part of it, including the media.
The top of the umbilical will be 400 feet off the ground, so it will really be a sight.
The main goal of the test on the launchpad will be to fill the core stage fuel tanks with liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants and then go through a practice countdown that will stop at T-9.34
NASA is waiting to see how the wet dress rehearsal goes before setting a date for the test flight, according to the agency's deputy associate administrator for exploration systems development.
It is a complicated test and we need to get through that before we set a date.
The May launch window runs from May 7 to 21. June 6 to 16, June 29 to July 12 and July 2 to 4 are the future launch windows. The launch windows take into account being able to splash down during daylight hours and anticipating the best hours for the tests they want to accomplish.
He did not know of any components of the SLS or Orion capsule that come from Russia. The European Space Agnecy built the service module, which is the only non-US component of the vehicle. The European Service Module was developed with input from 26 European companies.
The stack of the Space Launch System rocket is in the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center. Alan Walters is the author of Universe Today.
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