The Artemis II rocket is now at its launch pad. © NASA
NASA is preparing to send astronauts around the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years. The Artemis II rocket is now at its launch pad at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Over the weekend, engineers slowly moved the huge Space Launch System rocket from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Complex 39B. The rocket is almost 100 meters tall. The trip was 6.5 kilometers long and took about 12 hours. It was carried by NASA’s crawler transporter, a machine that has been used to move rockets for more than five decades.
When fully fueled, the Space Launch System will weigh about 2.6 million kilograms. On top of the rocket is the Orion spacecraft, marked with NASA and ESA logos. Orion is built to carry four astronauts on a 10-day mission that will fly around the Moon.
Artemis II will be the first crewed mission of the Artemis program and the first time humans have traveled toward the Moon in over 50 years.
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