NASA’s mega moon rocket has just begun a 900-mile journey

NASA’s powerful Space Launch System (SLS) rocket is set to blast four astronauts to space next year on the epic Artemis II mission that will come within about 80 miles of the lunar surface.

In preparation for the mission, the SLS’s 213-foot-tall (65 meters) core stage has just embarked on a rather more leisurely journey — on a barge heading for the Kennedy Space Center.

Boeing Space, which helped to manufacture NASA’s most powerful rocket to date, shared some footage of the start of the rocket booster’s journey as it departed NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility near New Orleans, Louisiana, earlier this week before being carefully transported 1.3 miles to the Pegasus barge.

Relive the rollout of the fully integrated 2nd @NASA_SLS core stage from #NASAMichoud. The core stage will travel to @NASAKennedy for final outfitting and testing ahead of #Artemis II.

Stay tuned — Artemis II is set to transport four astronauts around the Moon. pic.twitter.com/qxvgInORsZ

— Boeing Space (@BoeingSpace) July 17, 2024

The barge will sail 900 miles to the Kennedy Space Center, where the SLS will undergo final outfitting testing ahead of the highly anticipated Artemis II moon mission, which is currently set for September 2025.

The core stage being transported by Pegasus icludes the cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen tanks that will feed its four RS-25 rocket engines, and also contains the vehicle’s avionics and flight computer.

The Artemis II mission will mark the return of humankind to lunar orbit for the first time since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.

The SLS rocket, which packs a powerful 8.8 million pounds of thrust at launch, has flown only once before, in 2022. It successfully carried the Orion spacecraft to space in a test of both the rocket and the spacecraft ahead of next year’s crewed flight.

A successful Artemis II flight will pave the way for Artemis III, which will endeavor to land the first woman and first person of color on the lunar surface. The current plan is to use the SLS rocket to send the Orion to a lunar orbit. The Orion would then dock with SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft, which will transfer the two astronauts to the lunar surface.

With SpaceX still testing its Starship vehicle, it’s possible that the date for Artemis III could slip. But NASA will surely be hoping that it can get the first Artemis astronauts onto the moon before the end of the decade.