NASA Is Finally Rolling Its Giant Moon Rocket Out to the Launch Pad

The first astronauts on the Moon since the 1970s are about to be flown by NASA.

It is a momentous occasion for a heavy launch system that has been stuck in development hell and billions over budget and years behind schedule, as NASA inspector general Paul Martin put it during a conference call earlier this month.

We will have to be patient as the Space Launch System makes its way to historic launch pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida where it will undergo further tests.

There will be a live stream of the event at 5 pm Eastern time.

Crawling Along

The rocket will use a piece of machinery that has been in use for over half a century, and that is a giant crawler-transporter called CT-2.

It isn't going to be screaming, moving the 322-foot rocket tower at a snail's pace of 0.8 mph.

Artemis I is the first mission of the megarocket and will attempt to send an uncrewed rocket around the Moon.

Wet Dress Rehearsal

Once at the launch pad, team members will load fuel into the SLS and do a dress rehearsal for the launch.

We will have to wait longer to see NASA light its candle. The rocket will be rolled back to where it started after the rehearsal, as Space.com points out.

Artemis I is scheduled for May of this year and will take 26 days to complete and will see the Orion spaceship travel beyond the Moon before returning to Earth.

If everything goes well, the Artemis II mission will launch in 2024 and take a crew around the Moon and back.

Artemis III, the first crewed mission to the lunar surface, is slated for 2025.

You can watch the launch of NASA's Artemis 1 moon megarocket live on Spacce.com.

NASA is in chaos as the moon program is revealed to be way behind the budget.

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