NASA’s mega-rocket travels the first meters on its way to the moon

The SLS rocket, along with the new Orion lunar capsule, is the most important part of the US space agency’s new Artemis lunar program. This first rocket will perform the Artemis 1 unmanned flight to test all systems orbiting the moon.

The next flight, Artemis 2, is now scheduled for 2024 and will put humans back in orbit around the Moon for the first time since the 1970s. A year later, astronauts are due to land on the moon with Artemis 3.

NASA is working closely on the project with international partners, ESA, Canada and Japan. The SLS rocket and Orion are built by a consortium of companies including Boeing and Lockheed Martin. The European Space Agency (ESA) provides the service module for the Orion spacecraft.

In the coming weeks there will be a “wet dress rehearsal“, a dress rehearsal during which the rocket is refueled with 2.5 million liters of liquid hydrogen and oxygen. There is a countdown of a few seconds before liftoff, to see if all the systems are working optimally.

After two days of testing, the colossus first returns to the VAB building for the final checks. In a few months, the rocket will be brought back to the platform for the real launch.

The last mission to the moon dates back to 1972: