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WATCH: Artemis I Moon Rocket to roll out to launch pad
This is a key step before launching the Artemis 1 on August 29, on the uncrewed mission on a journey around the moon.
Credits: NASA/Ben Smegelsky
NASA has announced that engineers and technicians at its Kennedy Space Center in Florida have completed the final testing and checkouts of the Artemis I Moon rocket ahead of rolling to Launch Pad 39B.
This is a key step before launching the uncrewed mission on a journey around the moon.
The space agency is targeting as soon as 9pm EDT of Tuesday, 16 August, for rollout ahead of a targeted 29 August launch.
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The crawler-transporter will roll inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) and under the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft later today.
Teams are currently working to prepare the integrated stack for rollout.
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Over the weekend the team completed testing of the flight termination system, which marked the final major activity prior to closing out the rocket and retracting the final access platforms in the Vab.
NASA said the Official Flight Kit was a cultural and educational ‘time capsule’.
“Many of the items included in the flight kit are symbols of cultural significance or Nasa’s collaborative efforts with STEM-focused organisations,’ the US space agency said. That includes a set of space science badges for Girl Scouts.
A small piece of moon rock from the Apollo 11 mission will also join the ride, along with a patch and a bolt from Neil Armstrong’s iconic mission, to help connect the Apollo legacy to the Artemis programme.
Shaun the Sheep’s inclusion was arranged by the European Space Agency (ESA), which built the power-providing service module for the mission.
It takes a massive vehicle to move a big rocket and the crawler-transporter is one of the coolest pieces of equipment at Kennedy Space Center.
Nasa’s Exploration Ground Systems shared a short clip of it on the move on Monday as it prepares to pick up Artemis I.
Artemis is the first step in the next era of human exploration.
Together with commercial and international partners, Nasa will establish a sustainable presence on the Moon to prepare for missions to Mars.
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