Artemis II: SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft rolled out to launch pad
NASA took an important step towards launching the Artemis II mission, the first crewed flight of the Artemis campaign. The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion spacecraft were rolled out from the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) to Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The 6.75 km journey on a gigantic crawler-transporter took about nearly 12 hours in total.
Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronauts Jeremy Hansen and Jenni Gibbons pose in front of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft (Credit: CSA)
This rollout marks the beginning of final integration, testing, and launch rehearsals – key operations that aim to ensure a safe and successful mission.
Launch pad preparations
Once the SLS rocket and Orion reached the launch pad, NASA began connecting ground support equipment: electrical lines, fuel environmental control system ducts, and cryogenic propellant feeds. Teams powered up all integrated systems at the pad for the first time to ensure flight hardware components are functioning properly with each other, the mobile launcher, and ground infrastructure systems. The Artemis II crewmembers, Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen and NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, conducted a walkdown at the pad.
Wet dress rehearsal
Following the dress rehearsal of the launch countdown in , NASA will conduct a wet dress rehearsal in the coming weeks. The wet dress rehearsal involves loading about 2.6 million litres of cryogenic propellants into the rocket, without the crew on board. During this rehearsal, the teams will demonstrate the ability to pause the countdown and restart if necessary, and practise safely removing propellant from the rocket.
Additional wet dress rehearsals may be required to ensure the vehicle is completely checked out and ready for flight. If needed, NASA may roll back the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft to the VAB after the wet dress rehearsal, for additional work ahead of launch.
The closeout crew, including CSA astronaut Jenni Gibbons (third from right), Canadian backup for Artemis II. (Credit: NASA/Jim Ross)
The last to see the astronauts before their lunar journey
Just before launch, a closeout crew will be responsible for securing astronauts in Orion and closing its hatches. This ground teams will use the wet dress rehearsal to practise their procedures safely without astronauts aboard the spacecraft. CSA astronaut Jenni Gibbons, backup for Jeremy Hansen, is part of the closeout crew.
Next steps
Following a successful wet dress rehearsal, NASA will convene a flight readiness review to assess the readiness of all systems, including flight hardware, infrastructure, and launch, flight, and recovery teams before committing to a launch date.
Artemis II is the first crewed test flight of the Artemis campaign and the first crewed mission to deep space in over 50 years. NASA expects to learn along the way, both on the ground and in flight, and will let the readiness and performance of its systems dictate when the agency is ready to launch.