We Are Going! Massive Artemis I Moon Rocket Arrives at Launch Pad [Gallery]

NASA Artemis I Moon Rocket Arrives at Launch Pad

NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft, standing atop the mobile launcher, are photographed at Launch Pad 39B at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 18, 2022. The Artemis I stack was carried from the Vehicle Assembly Building to the pad – a 4.2-mile journey that took nearly 11 hours to complete – by the agency’s crawler-transporter 2 for a wet dress rehearsal ahead of the uncrewed launch. Artemis I will test SLS and Orion as an integrated system prior to crewed flights to the Moon. Through Artemis, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the lunar surface, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a stepping stone on the way to Mars.


One of the many milestones in the leadup to the launch of Artemis is its rollout: this is when a crawler will carry the SLS rocket with Orion and ESM from the Vehicle Assembly Building to launchpad 39B. NASA’s John Giles gives us a tour of the crawler and explains the adaptations made to this “wonderful piece of machinery” since it was first built for the Apollo program in the 1960s. ESA is playing a key role in NASA’s Artemis program, which will bring astronauts back to the Moon. The European Service Module – or ESM – will provide propulsion, power, and thermal control for the Orion spacecraft. Credit: ESA – European Space Agency

7 Comments on "We Are Going! Massive Artemis I Moon Rocket Arrives at Launch Pad [Gallery]"

  1. Any idea when it will actualy launch. If they wait too long spaceX will put an adaptor on thier rocket to get the module up into space.

  2. First manned mission to the Moon happened NOT to land the first male on the Moon, but was a step for ALL humanity. Also mentioning person color is actually racist. One of the most sexist and racist mission ever.

  3. The crew going to the moon should be the most qualified and most capable. Anything less compromises mission safety. It is odd that despite Hispanics being a larger US population, they are not noted.

  4. Who cares if it’s the first woman or “colored”….?
    My Goodness, when will you all ever stop spoon feeding this nonsense of everyone being different. We attempted to get rid of that decades ago.

  5. Hispanics are absolutely “of color”. I mean come on, “Person of color means everyone but whites, then you throw Women in there and low and behold we have arrived at the future 1930s and 40s Jew……W$!+& M@!&$. Had to censor that for all our folks who has been indoctrinated a bit too much.
    America is the longest running social experiment in history, and it is finally failing.

    Truly a shame

  6. Very interesting.

    Have always wondered why Launch has to happen from the Ground.

    If essential from ground, Why not build a space port on top of a mountain , or the highest plateau {Tibet} which used to be a free nation before , not too long ago.

    Ideally we need to reimagine launch of geostationary satellites from the top of “made to order” Boeing Aircrafts. Most aircrafts fly at 35,000 feet. Build a launch pad on top of a Boeing 787 to make such launches weather Independent.

    Views expressed are personal and not binding on anyone.

    Artemis can be gently eased into space!Build a rocket launch facility in space. Better than paying boeing in perpetuity, except license fee.

    Moon with one-sixth the gravity is also a excellent idea.

  7. 🙂

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