Artemis 2’s ride to space is at the pad to begin prelaunch tests

After a four-mile ride, Artemis 2‘s Space Launch System arrived at its launch site ahead of a pre-launch test that will determine when NASA’s return to human flights to the Moon can begin.

Saturday morning, the doors of NASA‘s largest building, the Vehicle Assembly Building, opened to allow the Space Launch System, its launch platform and tower, and everything else it needs to launch, to “drive” out to LC-39B.

Riding on top of one of NASA’s crawlers, the rocket and its launch hardware arrived at the launch mount at 6:42 PM ET, Saturday evening. These crawlers have been in use since the Apollo program, and outside of buildings, are likely one of NASA’s largest operating pieces of space hardware. Without them, the Saturn V, Space Shuttle, and now SLS rockets would have never made it to space.

Now that Artemis 2’s SLS is at the launch pad, teams from both the ground support and launch control sides can begin getting the rocket ready for launch. Ground support teams will begin attaching the rocket to ground hardware to provide it propellants and other consumables needed during launch. Once that’s complete, launch control teams will conduct a wet dress rehearsal to see how the rocket will handle launch day procedures.

NASA shares that multiple wet dress rehearsals may be needed to get the rocket to a point it can launch. NASA also shared it may need to return the SLS rocket to the VAB for additional work before launch.

The best-case scenario for NASA is that all the tests and wet dress rehearsals go well the first time, and NASA can certify the rocket ready to launch as soon as February 6 for the opening of Artemis 2’s launch window. However, the likelihood of that happening is low.

For Artemis 1, NASA had to conduct two wet dress rehearsals and over a month of launch attempts before it finally flew.

No date has been given yet on when NASA will attempt Artemis 2’s wet dress rehearsal. For now, Artemis 2 is still slated for launch no earlier than February 6, pending the rehearsal’s outcome.