SLS

Update: As of July 20, NASA says it is holding three placeholder dates for possible launch targets: August 29 between 8:33 a.m. and 10:33 a.m. ET, September 2 between 12:48 p.m. and 2:48 p.m. ET, and September 5 between 5:12 p.m. and 6:42 p.m. ET. Mission duration would be 42 days, 39 days, and 42 days, respectively.

NASA conducted its fourth wet dress rehearsal attempt for its Space Launch System rocket this week, completing a critical trial run at fueling the rocket mostly without issue. Officials were uncertain one day after the test if the Moon rocket would require another round of fueling. The agency has since communicated that it intends to launch SLS as early as last August without a fifth go at working out the kinks during fueling.

In an interview with the German publication Der Spiegel, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson discussed the question many have been asking for a while. Why doesn’t NASA ditch SLS and replace it with SpaceX’s cheaper and more capable Starship rocket?

NASA completed the wet dress rehearsal of its Space Launch System rocket Monday from start to (almost) finish for the first time. It wasn’t without some hiccups, but this is a major milestone to fuel up all four tanks on the rocket before launch.

In a media briefing Friday, NASA announced that they will attempt its next wet dress rehearsal for the Space Launch System (SLS) in just over two weeks. All of this will begin when the massive rocket begins its rollout as soon as June 6.

After a month of sitting out on LC-39B, NASA’s first Space Launch System Moon rocket will be rolled back to the Vehicle Assembly Building after failing to finish its Wet Dress Rehearsal three times. NASA will fix the faulty equipment and roll the rocket back out for another attempt.

The first launch of SLS, on Artemis I, has been a long time coming. With the SLS that will launch for Artemis I at the pad for its wet dress rehearsal, teams have resumed the test that was cut short last week due to valve issues.

Over the next 24 hours, NASA teams will begin to move the agency’s fully stacked Space Launch System rocket to LC-39B for the very first time. After decades of redesigns and delays, the rocket has finally been assembled and will be at its launch site in a final testing stage before its inaugural launch. Follow below with our rollout tracker of SLS’s progress across NASA’s Crawlerway as it makes the slow journey.

Update: Reached LC-39B

After years of delays and cost overruns, the much-anticipated Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft are set to roll out to Launch Complex 39B on Thursday, March 17 at the Kennedy Space Center.

Update: Stream time changed to 5:45 p.m. EDT (delayed 45 minutes)

Today NASA confirmed that it is prepared to support the rollout of the Space Launch System rocket from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Complex 39B on March 17 at 5 p.m. EDT. The roll is expected to take around 11 hours from start to hard down at the pad. After years of waiting and delays, we are about to see this beast of a vehicle roll for the first time.

NASA is on track to conduct its first mission of the new Artemis lunar exploration program sometime in spring 2022. It’s been a long time coming for the space agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft. It appears the historic first flight of SLS will have to wait a little longer, however, as NASA buys more time to complete prep work before liftoff.

We are inching closer and closer to the long-awaited launch of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket. Engineers just completed another milestone test working towards seeing SLS roll out from the VAB for the first time.

On Monday, NASA’s Office of Inspector General released a report detailing their finding during an audit of the Agency’s Artemis missions. The results are full of information on Starship and predicted timelines for Artemis I through III.

NASA representatives released launch windows for the agency’s Artemis I mission, launching on the newly stacked Space Launch System, in a call with the media.

Earlier this year, we reported that NASA was planning on constructing the Mobile Launcher 2 tower sections on a plot of land located in Port Canaveral. Now it appears that this site has relocated to Kennedy Space Center.

Artemis I is finally within view as SLS nears completion. Wednesday, the Orion capsule was lifted onto the SLS rocket within the Vehicle Assembly Building.

It has been a shockingly busy past week in space. From continued work towards Artemis I, to spacecraft reaching new planets, a lot has happened in the world of spaceflight and space exploration.

NASA has just completed modal testing with the mass simulator on the SLS rocket for Artemis I. With this testing complete, operations can move forward in preparation for rollout to SLC-39B.