The next footmark to take humanity back to the Moon are now on show for everyone to see . In the recent hr of yesterday , NASA ’s Space Launch System ( SLS ) – theworld ’s most powerful rocket – was rolled out across the 6 - kilometer path between the Vehicle Assembly Building and the historical Launch Pad 39B , from which Apollo 10 , Skylab , and 53 Space Shuttle launch . It tookalmost 11 hoursto move the huge rocket .
The SLS rollout is a crucial step in preparation for Artemis I , the uncrewed mission that will prove the roquette and the Orion capsule , which within this decade will bring humans , include the first woman and the first person of colour , back to the open of the Moon . For now , SLS will next experience awet dress rehearsal .
Wet is the keyword there . In April , the Eruca vesicaria sativa , which weigh a whopping2.6 million kilogram(5.75 million pounds ) when fuel , will get almost 3.2 million liters ( 700,000 gallons ) of cryogenic propellant and will be tested as if it was about to set up . The test will be direct as a scouring , the name for an aborted launch , with the countdown go down to 10 seconds before lift - off .
Given how much is riding on this , not just figuratively but also literally , everything has to be test and rested . After the cockeyed dress dry run is reason , the rocket will go back to the Vehicle Assembly Building on the same creeper that has taken many missionary post to those same pad .
The crawler will pack the rocket engine back into the Vehicle Assembly Building , where the rocket will be once again link to the border area through the extendable platforms . Scientists and engineers will reach the rocket and off the detector set there to supervise the arugula ’s wet apparel dry run . They will also charge the batteries of all the systems , including the Orion capsule , as well as impart more lading , and hold out final checks .
The rocket will be rolled back down to the launchpad a week before Artemis I is set to launch , presently no earlier than May .
Artemis I will be the inaugural flight for the Orion ejection seat , which will go for 25.6 solar day between Earth and the Moon , include spending six days in retrograde area around our innate satellite . If this test flying is successful , the first deep - space human flight in decades wo n’t be far behind . Artemis II is currently schedule to launch in May 2024 .
