NASA moves mobile launcher to launchpad for Artemis 2 crewed Moon mission tests

After these tests are done, the mobile launcher will be moved to the Vehicle Assembly building where it will be prepared for stacking the rocket and spacecraft.

The uncrewed Artemis 1 mission tested the foundations of the agency’s next-generation exploration systems including the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft. Artemis 2 will be the first crewed mission to test the same.

NASA will fly four astronauts around the Moon over the ten-day Artemis 2 mission to test and stress Orion’s life support systems, assuring that they are capable of supporting astronauts and allowing them to work in deep space.

The crew includes mission commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen. All but the last are NASA astronauts.

Post-launch from the Kennedy Space Center atop SLS, Orion will conduct multiple manoeuvres to raise its orbit around the Earth before eventually placing itself in a “lunar free return trajectory.” In this trajectory, our planet’s gravity will naturally pull the spacecraft back for a landing after it flies by the Moon.

As NASA prepares for the return of crewed missions for the Moon, India’s Chandrayaan-3 and Russia’s Luna-25 are rocked in a race to be the first uncrewed mission to land on the lunar south pole.