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The Artemis 2 moon rocket emerges from the Automobile Meeting Building at Kennedy Location Heart in the course of its rollout on Jan. 17, 2026.
(Image credit score: Josh Dinner/Location.com)
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — On Saturday (Jan. 17), the rocket that might perchance launch the Artemis 2 astronauts spherical the moon rolled to the pad for its historic mission, which might perchance well grab off precise about a weeks from now.
NASA’s
SLS stands 322 ft (98 m) mountainous and weighs roughly 2,870 tons (2,600 metric tons) when fully fueled. The rocket is powered by two
Transferring slower than 1 mph (1.6 kph), the huge automobile’s waddle from the VAB to LC-39B took with regards to 12 hours. Now that it be at the launch pad, NASA will utilize the coming weeks performing systems integrations and automobile checkouts ahead of a fueled launch countdown simulation identified as a wet dress rehearsal, and, if all goes according to knowing, a launch are attempting in early February.
NASA is focusing on Feb. 2 for the wet dress rehearsal. Feb. 6 is the earliest doable launch day for Artemis 2, that might perchance presumably also wing NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch and Canadian Location Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen aboard the Orion spacecraft on a roughly 10-day mission spherical
The launch date is basically dependent on how systems checks lag once SLS reaches the pad, nonetheless, with backup launch opportunities mapped out by means of Feb. 11 and further dwelling windows in March and April.
Breaking build recordsdata, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!
Artemis 2 is the 2nd mission of NASA’s
NASA officials are hoping to steer particular of an analogous campaign with Artemis 2 and voiced self belief in the rocket’s readiness and optimism a couple of launch in the February window.
When it launches, SLS will ship Orion to Earth orbit, the build the Artemis 2 crew will carry out systems checks ahead of a translunar injection burn that places them on purpose for the moon. That burn might perchance well be carried out by SLS’ period in-between cryogenic propulsion stage, which Orion and its carrier module will detach from to habits proximity maneuvering checks on their manner to lunar build.
A closeup stare at the Artemis 2 stack in the course of rollout. (Image credit score: NASA)
The Artemis 2 astronauts might perchance presumably also now not lag to lunar orbit. As an replace, the mission will wing a “free-return trajectory” that loops the capsule spherical the moon and slingshots it again to
Artemis 2 is the subsequent step in NASA’s draw to return astronauts to the lunar surface, the build the agency hopes to
Artemis 2 might perchance well be as considerable a proving ground of Orion’s lifestyles strengthen systems as Artemis 1 became once for the spacecraft’s core get. Any unexpected tempo bumps in the course of the upcoming mission might perchance presumably also trigger further delays for Artemis 3, the anticipated launch date for which is already beginning to trip previous NASA’s hopeful 2027 purpose.
Artemis 2 crew participants had been practicing at KSC, conducting launch-day rehearsals over the previous a number of months in preparation for their mission, and had been latest to inquire their SLS rocket roll out for the first time today.
Editor’s demonstrate: This story became once updated at 2:30 a.m. EST on Jan. 18 with the recordsdata that the SLS-Orion stack reached the launch pad.
Josh Dinner is the Group Creator for Spaceflight at Location.com. He’s a creator and photographer with a fondness for science and build exploration, and has been working the build beat since 2016. Josh has covered the evolution of NASA’s commercial spaceflight partnerships and crewed missions from the Location Waft, as well to NASA science missions and more. He also enjoys building 1:144-scale model rockets and human-flown spacecraft. Secure some of Josh’s launch photography on Instagram and his web online page, and apply him on X, the build he largely posts in haiku.
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