Tag: Orion capsule

NASA’s Giant Moon Rocket Rolls Out for Artemis II

The New York Times reports, “On Saturday morning, a mammoth crawler began transporting the Space Launch System vehicle, the Orion capsule and the launch tower — 14 million pounds altogether — from the Vehicle Assembly Building to the launchpad 4.2 miles away. It reached the launchpad at 6:42 p.m. Eastern. Now, final preparations will begin — hooking up connections for electrical power and propellants and performing checks of key systems. That will lead up to a dress rehearsal of the countdown in early February.”
Full Story (New York Times – Subscription Publication)

NASA Places Artemis 2 Mission’s Orion Capsule atop SLS Rocket in Preparation for 2026 Launch

The Artemis 2 SLS rocket that will launch the next astronauts around the moon is all put together inside NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building.  SPACE reports, “Integrity, the Orion spacecraft that will fly NASA’s Artemis 2 crew around the moon as early as February 2026, was recently transported across NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) and hoisted atop SLS, completing the rocket’s assembly ahead of launch.”
Full Story (SPACE)

Artemis I Launch Weather Projected to be Favorable, Storms Expected for Saturday SpaceX Launch

Florida Today reports that Florida “summertime weather could threaten a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch scheduled for Saturday night from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. On the other hand, conditions for Monday morning’s highly anticipated liftoff of NASA’s massive Space Launch System rocket and Orion capsule from Kennedy Space Center seem to be more favorable.” On Saturday night, “SpaceX teams will likely have to contend with 40% ‘go’ conditions for the 58th liftoff of dozens of Starlink satellites at 10:22 p.m. EDT from LC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. But, Space Force forecasters expect those conditions to improve to around 60% throughout the launch window which closes just after midnight.”
Full Story (Florida Today)

 

 Watch the Artemis I launch live on NASA TV

Launch scheduled for Monday, August 29, between 8:33 a.m. and 10:33 a.m. EDT