CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA has once again transported its lunar rocket from its assembly hangar to the launch pad on Friday, marking the second such move this year as the space agency prepares to send four astronauts on a moon mission next month.
The Space Launch System rocket could potentially launch as soon as April 1 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, assuming recent repairs hold up and other conditions align favorably. The Artemis II astronaut crew entered quarantine protocols this week while stationed in Houston.
The towering 322-foot rocket started its gradual 4-mile journey during overnight hours, carried by one of the enormous crawler vehicles that have been in service since the Apollo program of the 1960s. The transport operation was scheduled to span 12 hours but encountered delays due to strong winds.
The mission will feature three American astronauts and one Canadian crew member who will travel around the moon inside their spacecraft before returning directly to Earth without landing. This mission was originally scheduled to be completed already, but technical problems including hydrogen fuel leaks and blocked helium lines caused a two-month postponement.
Engineers were able to address the fuel leak problems while the rocket remained at the launch site, but resolving the helium line blockages required returning the vehicle to the Vehicle Assembly Building, prompting NASA to move the rocket back in late February.
NASA’s last crewed lunar mission occurred during Apollo 17 in 1972. The current Artemis program has set a goal of achieving a two-person moon landing by 2028.
