NASA’s most powerful rocket is ready to send people to the Moon

At 7:04 am on January 17 (7:04 pm on the same day Hanoi time), SLS began to leave the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. The missile stands upright, is placed on a giant tracked transport vehicle and moves at a maximum speed of only 1.3 km/h. At 6:41 p.m. (6:42 a.m. on January 18, Hanoi time), after nearly 12 hours of traveling 6.4 km long, the rocket arrived at Launch Complex 39B.

Over the next few weeks, NASA will integrate systems and test the rocket before conducting a fueled countdown exercise, scheduled for February 2 if all goes well. February 6 is the earliest launch date for the Artemis 2 mission to bring the Orion spacecraft carrying astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch (NASA) and Jeremy Hansen (Canadian Space Agency) to space around the Moon. The flight is expected to last about 10 days.

The actual launch date depends heavily on the test results of the SLS missile system. NASA has also made a contingency plan with launch opportunities extending until February 11, with additional launch windows in March and April.

Engineers have spent the past year and a half assembling the SLS, a rocket that stands 98 meters tall and weighs about 2,600 tons when fully fueled. On both sides of the SLS, two solid fuel boosters are mounted like the space shuttle, 54 m high. In addition, this launch system is also equipped with 4 RS-25 engines, also originally designed for the space shuttle. Combined, they generate about 4,000 tons of thrust at launch, making SLS NASA’s most powerful rocket.

Artemis 2 is the second mission in the Artemis program and the first mission to send humans into space using the Orion capsule. Artemis 1 takes place in November 2022, after many delays. NASA hopes Artemis 2 will go more smoothly, expressing confidence in the rocket’s readiness as well as optimism about the launch ability in February.

According to the plan, SLS will bring the Orion spacecraft into Earth orbit, where the crew will check the system, then fire the engine to enter a transition orbit towards the Moon. This firing process is handled by the supercooled propellant stage of the SLS. After that, the Orion spacecraft will separate to perform tests on its way to space around the Moon.

Orion will not actually enter lunar orbit but fly in a “free return orbit”, allowing it to move around the Moon and then be pushed back to Earth even if there is a problem. This flight path ensures the ship and crew return safely, avoiding the risk of being stuck in lunar orbit.

If Artemis 2 is successful, NASA will continue to prepare for the Artemis 3 mission with the goal of bringing humans to set foot on the surface of the Moon. Artemis 3 was originally scheduled to take place in 2027, but currently, NASA is unlikely to complete it on schedule.