Cape Canaveral, Florida, 18 January (H.S.): NASA’s towering 98-meter Space Launch System (SLS) rocket reached Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center on Saturday after a meticulous 12-hour crawl from the Vehicle Assembly Building, initiating final preparations for Artemis II, humanity’s first crewed lunar voyage since Apollo 17 in December 1972.
Historic Trek Signals Mission Momentum
The rollout commenced at 07:04 local time (12:04 GMT) on Saturday, propelled by the crawler-transporter at a glacial peak of 0.82 mph over 6.5 kilometers, culminating at 18:41 local time (23:42 GMT) under clear skies, as timelapse footage captured the spectacle.
Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Jeremy Hansen observed proceedings, poised for a 10-day mission orbiting the Moon without landing, venturing farther than any prior humans—up to 5,000 nautical miles beyond its far side.
Rigorous Tests Precede February Liftoff
NASA schedules a “wet dress rehearsal” next, simulating fuel loading and countdowns, ahead of the earliest February 6 launch window, with backups through April amid orbital and weather constraints; Artemis III lunar landing targets no earlier than 2027, likely 2028 per experts.
The Orion spacecraft, powered by Airbus’s European Service Module from Bremen—furnishing propulsion, solar arrays, oxygen, nitrogen, and water—ensures crew survival on the 400,000-kilometer trajectory, including Earth-orbit checkout at 40,000 miles and lunar geology scans.
Crew Reflections Fuel Global Anticipation
Koch described launch-day poise as mission readiness incarnate, while Hansen anticipates heightened lunar fascination as humanity circumvents its hidden hemisphere, advancing south pole ambitions. Artemis II chair John Honeycutt prioritizes safe return above haste, underscoring years of delays resolved without safety shortcuts, as BBC, NASA, and Space.com affirm.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
