The SLS rocket arrives at Kennedy Space Center in preparation for a manned lunar mission

This development represents an important stage in preparation The first manned lunar mission in more than half a century, scheduled to be carried out next February. The missile, which is 98 meters long and weighs about 5,000 tons, was transported on a transporter dating back to the era of the Apollo program and space shuttles, at a speed of 1.6 kilometers per hour, covering a distance of 6 kilometers over the course of an entire day. Hundreds of employees at the center and members of the Artemis-2 mission crew welcomed the arrival of the missile.

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The SLS rocket is currently placed on launch pad 39B. In early February, NASA is scheduled to conduct critical tests to fill the fuel, after which the final launch date will be determined. The agency has only five launch windows during the first half of February.

This will be the second launch of the SLS missile, and the first to carry a human crew on board, after the successful unmanned test flight that was carried out in November 2022.

The “Artemis-2” mission is to carry out an orbital journey around the moon lasting 10 days without landing on its surface. The Orion crew consists of four astronauts: Reed Wiseman (crew commander, United States), Victor Glover (pilot, United States), Christina Koch (mission specialist, United States), and Jeremy Hansen (mission specialist, Canada).

This mission will form the basis for the subsequent human landing on the moon’s surface within the “Artemis-3” mission, which is a pivotal step towards establishing a sustainable human presence on the moon, and in preparation for exploring Mars in the future.

Source: TASS

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