NASA moves SLS rocket to pad for April 1 launch
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- NASA began moving the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39B at 8:00 pm ET on Thursday, a maneuver that can take up to 12 hours.
- Artemis 2 crewed lunar flyby is targeted for a launch window opening on April 1, with additional windows in the following days, aiming for a 10‑day mission with three Americans and one Canadian.
- The SLS‑Orion stack weighs about 11 million pounds and was rolled back into the Vehicle Assembly Building last month to address a helium‑flow issue, after an earlier liquid‑hydrogen leak halted a wet dress rehearsal.
- The astronauts entered quarantine in Houston on Wednesday as they ready for the upcoming mission.
- NASA expects final preparations to continue after the rocket is back on the pad, with the goal of launching the first crewed lunar flyby in over half a century.
Why it matters: The return of the SLS‑Orion stack to the pad restores the launch schedule, allowing NASA to attempt the first crewed lunar flyby in over 50 years and moving the Artemis program closer to its goal of a lunar landing, while signaling progress after recent technical setbacks.
