American Space Agency NASA has carried its new giant Moon rocket to the launch pad for the first time. Dubbed the Space Launch System (SLS), the rocket and its attached Orion capsule were taken to Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a fake countdown.
If this test is successful and the next tests are completed without any problems, the rocket will be declared ready for the mission where it will carry the uncrewed test capsule around the Moon. This mission could happen in the next few months.
Astronauts are targeted to use later SLS rockets to return to the Moon’s surface sometime in the second half of this decade. These missions form part of what NASA calls the Artemis program.
The agency manager, Bill Nelson, who watched the presentation, said that we are entering the golden age of manned space exploration. “The Artemis generation is poised to reach new frontiers,” he told the crowd gathered at Kennedy, adding: “This generation will send astronauts back to the Moon, and this time we will bring the first woman and first human of color to the surface to conduct groundbreaking science. NASA’s Artemis program, It will also pave the way for humanity’s giant leap forward on future missions to Mars.”
Pay capacities of different rocketsBBC SLS is a huge rocket. At just under 100 meters tall, it was designed to be more powerful than the Apollo Saturn instruments of the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Not only will it send astronauts far beyond Earth, it will also carry so much equipment and cargo that these crews can stay away for extended periods of time. Thursday’s presentation from Kennedy’s Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) was the first appearance of the rocket in the sense that everyone saw all its different elements completely assembled for the first time.
How Was the Giant Rocket SLS Moved?
Rocket has been ported to a support portal known as Mobile Launcher. This 120-metre-high and 5,000-tonne structure sat atop the same massive transport vehicle that formerly powered the Saturn Vs and later the space shuttles.
The tracked carrier travels very slowly at a cruising speed of just over 1 kilometer per hour, and engineers stop the vehicle from time to time for various checks.
NASA/AUBREY GEMIGNANI When Will the Real Launch Happen?
Assuming everything is progressing to the engineers’ satisfaction, NASA will be able to set an actual launch date. The end of May remains a possibility, but looks more likely June or July. Named
Artemis-1, this primary mission will propel the rocket’s Orion crew capsule on a 26-day journey that includes an extended orbit around the Moon. There will be no one in the capsule for the test flight. Manned flight will take place on a second mission in a few years.
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