American space agency Nasa is readying its giant new Moon rocket for a maiden flight. Known as the Space Launch System (SLS), the vehicle is being taken to Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a lift-off scheduled for 29 August.
The maiden test flight will see no crew on board. Yet, future missions planned by NASA envisage astronauts landing on the moon after more than half a decade.
“To all of us that gaze up at the Moon, dreaming of the day humankind returns to the lunar surface – folks, we’re here! We are going back. And that journey, our journey, begins with Artemis 1,” said Nasa Administrator Bill Nelson.
A giant tractor is taking the near 100m-tall (328ft) SLS to its launch pad.
It started moving from its assembly building at Kennedy late on Tuesday evening, local time, but with a cruising speed of just over 1km/h (under 1mph), it could take 8-10 hours to complete the 6.7km (4.2 miles) journey, reported British broadcaster BBC.
December will witness the half-century anniversary of Apollo 17, the very last human landing on the Moon. Hence, this is a very special occasion for NASA.
Nasa sees a return to the Moon as a viable way to prepare for missions to Mars with astronauts sometime in the 2030s or soon after.
The new SLS is deemed to have 15% more thrust off the pad than the legacy Apollo’s Saturn V rockets. This extra power will enable the launch vehicle to not just send astronauts to places far beyond earth, but will also enable the carriage of more cargo so that the crew can stay away for longer periods of time.
“The first crewed launch, Artemis 2, is two years from now in 2024. We’re hoping that the first landing, Artemis 3, will be in 2025,” Nelson told BBC News.
