{"id":110874,"date":"2026-01-17T17:12:58","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T17:12:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2026\/01\/17\/nasas-new-moon-rocket-heads-to-pad-ahead-of-astronaut-launch-as-early-as-february\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T17:13:59","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T17:13:59","slug":"nasas-new-moon-rocket-heads-to-pad-ahead-of-astronaut-launch-as-early-as-february","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2026\/01\/17\/nasas-new-moon-rocket-heads-to-pad-ahead-of-astronaut-launch-as-early-as-february\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA’s new moon rocket heads to pad ahead of astronaut launch as early as February"},"content":{"rendered":"

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — <\/span>NASA\u2019s large new moon rocket<\/a> headed to the launch pad Saturday in preparation for astronauts\u2019 first lunar fly-around in additional than half a century.<\/p>\n

The out-and-back journey may blast off as early as February.<\/p>\n

The 322-foot (98-meter) rocket<\/a> started its 1 mph (1.6 kph) creep from Kennedy House Heart\u2019s Automobile Meeting Constructing at dawn. The four-mile (six-kilometer) trek may take till dusk.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of area middle staff and their households gathered within the predawn chill to witness the long-awaited event, delayed for years.<\/a> They huddled collectively forward of the House Launch System rocket\u2019s exit from the constructing, constructed within the Sixties to accommodate the Saturn V rockets that despatched 24 astronauts to the moon in the course of the Apollo program. The cheering crowd was led by NASA\u2019s new administrator Jared Isaacman and all 4 astronauts assigned to the mission.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat an excellent day to be right here,\u201d mentioned Reid Wiseman, the crew commander. \u201cIt’s awe-inspiring.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weighing in at 11 million kilos (5 million kilograms), the House Launch System rocket and Orion crew capsule on high made the transfer aboard an enormous transporter that was used in the course of the Apollo and shuttle eras. It was upgraded for the SLS rocket\u2019s further heft.<\/p>\n

The primary and solely different SLS launch \u2014 which despatched an empty Orion capsule into orbit across the moon \u2014 passed off again in November 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis one feels so much totally different, placing crew on the rocket and taking the crew across the moon,\u201d NASA\u2019s John Honeycutt mentioned on the eve of the rocket\u2019s rollout.<\/p>\n

Warmth defend injury and different capsule issues in the course of the preliminary take a look at flight required intensive analyses and exams, pushing again this primary crew moonshot till now. The astronauts received\u2019t orbit the moon and even land on it. That enormous leap will take come on the third flight within the Artemis lineup just a few years from now.<\/p>\n

Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and Christina Koch \u2014 longtime NASA astronauts with spaceflight expertise \u2014 will probably be joined on the 10-day mission by Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, a former fighter pilot awaiting his first rocket trip.<\/p>\n

They would be the first individuals to fly to the moon since Apollo 17\u2019s Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt closed out the triumphant lunar-landing program in 1972. Twelve astronauts strolled the lunar floor, starting with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in 1969. Solely 4 moonwalkers are nonetheless alive; Aldrin, the oldest, turns 96 on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey’re so fired up that we’re headed again to the moon,\u201d Wiseman mentioned. \u201cThey simply need to see people as far-off from Earth as potential discovering the unknown.\u201d<\/p>\n

NASA is ready to conduct a fueling take a look at of the SLS rocket on the pad in early February earlier than confirming a launch date. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have, I believe, zero intention of speaking an precise launch date” till finishing the fueling demo, Isaacman advised reporters.<\/p>\n

The area company has solely 5 days to launch within the first half of February earlier than bumping into March.<\/p>\n

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The Related Press Well being and Science Division receives assist from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute\u2019s Division of Science Schooling and the Robert Wooden Johnson Basis. The AP is solely accountable for all content material.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n