The SLS rocket stands tall as Nasa prepares for a new era of lunar exploration. (Photo: Nasa)

Nasa begins Artemis-II Moon rocket rollout, aims for April 1 launch

The Artemis-II rocket is expected to arrive at its launch pad around 5:30 pm IST, after a slow 12-hour journey.

by · India Today

In Short

  • Four astronauts in quarantine ahead of April 1 launch window
  • Mission was delayed by hydrogen leak, helium flow, electrical issues
  • Mission to orbit Moon, first crewed lunar trip since 1972

Nasa’s Artemis II moon rocket finally began its second journey to the launchpad on the morning of March 20, after months of setbacks, false starts, and an unexpected trip back to the hangar.

The four astronauts who are part of the crew that will lead the missions are already in isolation, counting down the days to liftoff.

Engineers started rolling out the Artemis II Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and its Orion spacecraft at 5:30 am IST, March 20, heading towards Launch Pad 39B at Nasa’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, US.

WATCH ARTEMIS-II ROLLOUT LIVE HERE

The rollout of the much-anticipated Artemis-II rocket is being streamed live on YouTube showing the rocket's slow stroll to the launch pad.

The transporter carrying the roughly 5,000-tonne structure moves at roughly 1.6 kmph along a roughly 6.4 kilometre route from the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) to the launchpad, a journey that can take up to 12 hours.

That means the rocket is expected to arrive at its pad around 5:30 pm IST.

The four-person crew, comprising Nasa Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen, entered quarantine at 3:30 am on Thursday in Houston, Texas, limiting their contact with others ahead of launch.

They will fly to Kennedy Space Centre approximately five days before liftoff to continue their quarantine there.

All work platforms are retracted from around Nasa’s Artemis II SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft. (Photo: Nasa)

WHY WAS THE ARTEMIS-II MISSION DELAYED?

Getting here was far from straightforward.

The Artemis-II rocket had first rolled out to launch pad 39B on January 17.

A wet dress rehearsal, which is a full practice of launch day fuelling, was conducted on January 31, though it was cut short on February 2 due to a hydrogen fuel leak. A second wet dress rehearsal on February 19 was deemed successful, but engineers later flagged a problem with helium flow to the rocket’s upper stage.

On February 25, Nasa rolled the rocket back into the VAB to fix the helium flow issue.

Engineers later had also identified a problem with an electrical harness on the flight termination system of the rocket’s core stage, which needed to be addressed before rollout could resume.

The rollout was originally pushed to March 21 before faster-than-expected repairs allowed Nasa to return to the original March 20 date.

Nasa’s Artemis II SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft were rolled back to the VAB for repairs. (Photo: Reuters))

WHAT IS NEXT FOR ARTEMIS-II?

With both the rocket’s rollout and the crew’s quarantine now underway, Nasa is targeting a launch as early as Wednesday, April 1. The launch window includes opportunities through Monday, April 6.

The 10-day mission will send the four astronauts on a free-return trajectory around the Moon and back to Earth, marking the first crewed mission to reach the Moon’s vicinity since Apollo 17 in 1972.

Glover will become the first person of colour, Koch the first woman, and Hansen the first non-American to travel to deep space.

- Ends