At approximately 12:10 a.m. EDT on June 6 (9:10 p.m. PDT on June 5), NASA’s Artemis I Moon rocket began its journey from Kennedy Space Center’s Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). Poised atop its crawler transporter, the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft will make the 4-mile journey to launch pad 39B to undergo the next wet dress rehearsal test attempt.
The first rollout of the Artemis I rocket began on March 17, 2022, and it arrived at the launch pad for the first time on March 18. After three separate attempts at fueling the SLS rocket ended without successful completion, the rocket was packed up and departed the launch pad to be transported back to the Vehicle Assembly Building. Now it is ready to head back to Launch Pad 39B for the Artemis I wet dress rehearsal.
Teams successfully completed all major planned objectives identified during the previous wet dress rehearsal attempts, as well as some forward work previously planned for after the tanking test. The removal of the final set of platforms was completed on June 3, with the crawler transporter sitting underneath the massive rocket, spacecraft, and mobile launcher.
The four-mile trek will take approximately 8-12 hours to arrive at the launch pad, after which the crawler transporter will make its way back down the pad surface and rest outside the pad gate.
Engineers will then connect the rocket and spacecraft to the ground systems and conduct check-outs in preparation for the tanking test, planned for approximately two weeks after the rocket arrives back at the pad.
Live stream views of the departure from VAB and the arrival at the pad will be available on the Kennedy Newsroom YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZ51X3a60WM
Artemis I Wet Dress Rehearsal Live Stream.
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