NASA’s moon rocket moved to launch pad for 1st test flight

CAPE CANAVERAL (Fla.

NASA’s new moon rocket arrived Wednesday at the launch pad ahead of its debut flight in less that two weeks.

The rocket, which measured 322-foot (98m) in height, was seen emerging from its enormous hangar late Tuesday night. This attracted large crowds of Kennedy Space Center employees. The rocket traveled nearly 10 hours to reach the pad. At sunrise, it pulled up.

NASA plans to launch the lunar test flight on Aug. 29. There will be three test dummies, which are sensors that measure radiation and vibration — but no one will be in the capsule that carries the crew.

After orbiting the moon for a few weeks, the capsule will return to Earth for a splashdown in Pacific. The flight should last for six weeks.

This flight marks the first moonshot for NASA’s Artemis program. The space agency aims to launch a lunar-orbiting mission with astronauts within two years, and have a crew landing on the moon by 2025. NASA didn’t expect this to happen a decade ago when the space shuttle fleet was retired. The cost of the program has increased by billions of dollar over the years because of these delays.

NASA’s SLS moon rocket is shorter than the Saturn V rockets of Apollo half a century ago. It’s still more powerful than the Saturn V rockets. The core stage is used and twin strap-on boosters are used.

It almost looks retro, when you look at the rocket. It almost seems like we’re looking back towards the Saturn V,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said This month. “But it is a totally new, highly advanced, more sophisticated, and more complex rocket and spacecraft.”

From 1969 to 1972, 24 astronauts flew to orbit the moon. Twelve of them landed on it. Artemis, Apollo’s mythological twin sister and space agency, wants a diverse team and a stronger effort.

Nelson: “I want you to stress that this is a test-flight.” said. “It’s only the beginning.”

This was the third trip of the rocket to the pad. NASA was forced to return the rocket to its hangar in April after the countdown test, which was marred by fuel leaking and other technical problems. With improved results, the dress rehearsal was again held at the pad in June.

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Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education provides support to the Associated Press Health and Science Department. All content is owned by the Associated Press.