Watch NASA roll off an Artemis I moon rocket onto the launch pad

“Each vehicle that has carried humans beyond the confines of LEO has undergone integration and testing in the Vehicle Assembly Building, crawled down this road and launched here from the Kennedy Space Center,” Janet Petro, director of the Kennedy Space Center, where the rollout began Thursday, said.

The rocket and spacecraft together stand taller than the Statue of Liberty.

“The rollout of (the Vehicle Assembly Building) is really a special moment for this vehicle,” Tom Whitmeyer, associate director of Exploration Systems Development at NASA Headquarters, said during a press conference Monday. “Thursday will be an unforgettable day.”

Final test

The rehearsal includes running through the full range of processes to load propellant into the fuel tanks and a countdown to launch—everything that is essentially necessary for launch without the actual launch. During the pre-exercise hours, more than 700,000 gallons of cryogenic propellant will be loaded into the rocket

If the test is successful, the stack will return to the assembly building until it is ready to run.

“Artemis 1 is an important mission for us,” Howard Hu, Orion program manager at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, said during Monday’s press conference. “It collects critical engineering data and validates our performance capability as a spacecraft for our next mission and beyond – Artemis 2 with the crew and future missions as we go further and expand our capabilities in the solar system.”

Artemis has experienced many delays. The mission was originally scheduled to launch in November 2021, but the pandemic, storms such as Hurricane Ida and other factors have extended the mission’s schedule.

Artemis I is the first step in NASA’s ambitious program to land the first woman and first people of color on the Moon later in the 1920s. All in preparation for establishing a long-term presence on the Moon and preparing to explore Mars. Depending on the results of the rehearsal, the unmanned mission could begin in May, June or July.

During the flight, the unmanned Orion spacecraft will blast above an SLS rocket to reach the moon and travel thousands of miles behind it — farther than any spacecraft intended to carry humans has traveled. This mission is expected to last a few weeks and will end with Orion spray in the Pacific Ocean.

Orion’s former program manager, Kathy Corner, said in October that Artemis I will be Orion’s final test site before the spacecraft carries astronauts to the moon, 1,000 times more Earth than the space station’s location. Korner is now NASA’s Deputy Associate Administrator for Exploration Systems Development.

After the uncrewed Artemis I flight, Artemis II will be a lunar flight and Artemis III will return astronauts to the lunar surface. The launch schedule for subsequent missions depends on the results of the Artemis I mission.

“There is no doubt that we are in a golden age of human space exploration, discovery, and creativity in space, and it all begins with Artemis I,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said during the start-up.

“The Space Launch System is the only rocket capable of sending humans into deep space. It is the most powerful rocket in the world. Orion will venture farther than any spacecraft designed for humans. After a three-week journey of more than a million miles, Orion will return home faster and hotter than any vehicle before.

NASA astronaut Victor Glover Jr. was also on the show, and spoke about the importance of the Artemis program.

“This is our missile, it’s humanity’s missile,” Glover said. “When those four RS-25 motors and two solid (rocket boosters) are, I hope the whole world is watching. And I hope a lot of kids will decide to study science and math because of that. And that’s really what it’s about, inspiring kids to get out and be their best.”

creative creep

Artemis I rides on top of the Crawler-transporter 2 on its journey to the launch pad, just like the shuttle missions and Apollo Saturn V missiles once did.

The 6.6-million-pound (3 million-kilogram) crawler carries a towering missile stack and a mobile launcher at a top speed of 1 mph (1.6 kph).

The iconic crawler is one of two that have been in operation for more than 50 years at the Kennedy Space Center. They were first commissioned in 1965 and each can carry 18 million pounds (8.2 million kilograms), or the weight of more than 20 fully loaded 777s, according to NASA. It’s so wide that a professional baseball diamond can sit on top of every crawler.

It’s going to be awesome,” said Charlie Blackwell Thompson, Artemis launch manager for NASA’s Earth Exploration Systems Program at the Kennedy Space Center on Monday. “It’s been in business for over 50 years and has undergone major upgrades as part of preparing for this vehicle and Artemis operations.”

After upgrades, the Crawler Carrier 2 should be able to continue towing massive rockets to the launch pad for years to come.