NASA’s mega moon rocket eases onto its launchpad ready for blast off this summer.
Components for the Artemis 1 mission rolled into place at Cape Canaveral, Florida, at a third of a mile an hour on a CT-2 crawler built in 1965 for the Apollo trips.
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NASA’s mega moon rocket eases onto its launchpad ready for blast off this summer 3
Components for the Artemis 1 mission rolled into place at Cape Canaveral, Florida, at a third of a mile an hour
Around 10,000 people gathered to watch the 3,000-ton crawler begin its 11-hour, four-mile journey to the launch complex.
Artemis 1 will not be a crewed mission but will test hardware with Nasa planning to land the first woman and first person of colour on the Moon by 2025.
The rocket’s Orion spacecraft and service module should get within 62 miles of the surface in the three-week mission.
The CT-2 burns 165 gallons of diesel per mile.
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It will take about three weeks for it to complete the mission and land in the Pacific Ocean off San Diego.
Nasa also refers to the Orion spacecraft and SLS as the “Mega Moon rocket”
Nasa has said it will take about two weeks for experts to prepare for the “wet dress rehearsal”.
This means propellant will be added to the rocket tanks and a full launch countdown will take place.
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Around 10,000 people gathered to watch the 3,000-ton crawler begin its 11-hour, four-mile journey