The Space Launch System rocket photographed at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, on March 17. Xinhua News Agency
NASA's new generation of lunar rocket "Space Launch System" made its first public appearance on the 17th, leaving the assembly building at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and moving slowly toward the launch pad, preparing for a rocket launch "rehearsal".
According to Agence France-Presse reported on the 17th, at 17:47 local time on the 17th, the equivalent of a 32-story "space launch system" rocket left the Kennedy Space Center spacecraft assembly building and slowly moved towards the 39B launch pad 6.5 kilometers away. The high-thrust launch vehicle is equipped with a "Orion" spacecraft on the top, with a total weight of 2608 tons.
The behemoth is moved by a huge towing device. Controlled by a team of 25 people, the unit is underlaid by a tracked tractor the size of a baseball infield, with a 120-meter-high, 5,000-ton launcher. The towing device moves slowly, only a little more than 1 kilometer per hour, and it needs to stop from time to time to let the engineers check whether everything is working properly, and it is expected to take 11 hours to transport the "space launch system" to the launch pad.
According to reports, at 17:47 local time on the 17th, the equivalent of a 32-story "Space Launch System" rocket left the Kennedy Space Center Spacecraft Assembly Building and slowly moved towards the 39B launch pad 6.5 kilometers away. After the Space Launch System is installed on the launch pad, engineers will spend two weeks conducting inspections and expect to begin a two-day launch rehearsal on April 3. Xinhua News Agency
The Space Launch System rocket photographed at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, on March 18. Xinhua News Agency
After the Space Launch System is installed on the launch pad, engineers will spend two weeks conducting inspections and expect to begin a two-day launch rehearsal on April 3. At that time, the fuel tank of the Space Launch System will be filled with liquid oxygen liquid hydrogen cryogenic propellant, and then the stage of the countdown to the launch will be simulated, aborting the process when there are only 9.4 seconds left before ignition.
If all goes well in the rehearsal, NASA will consider launching the Artemis 1 project at a later date, allowing three mannequins in spacesuits equipped with radiation detectors to complete the lunar flight aboard the Orion spacecraft. According to the BBC, the Artemis 1 project is likely to start at the end of May, but it is more likely to be launched in June or July.
Reuters reported that the first public appearance of the Space Launch System rocket was a "milestone" event after the United States postponed its return to the moon program. The U.S. government announced Artemis' new lunar landing program in 2019, initially planning to send American astronauts to the moon again by 2024. However, NASA announced last November that the return of U.S. astronauts to the moon could be delayed by at least a year than originally planned due to budget shortfalls, including in 2025. Prior to this, the Orion spacecraft is scheduled to complete a manned flight around the moon in 2024.
As a core component of the Artemis program, the development of the Space Launch System and the Orion spacecraft took more than 10 years and cost about $37 billion. NASA Inspector General Paul Martin told Congress this month that the first four missions of the Artemis program cost about $4.1 billion each.
NASA broadcast live the grand appearance of the "Space Launch System" on the 17th, and about 10,000 people came to the scene to watch. (Xinhua News Agency)
People watch the Space Launch System rocket at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 17. Xinhua News Agency