NASA to roll out Artemis 2 rocket to the launch pad this week

NASA’s massive Space Launch System (SLS) rocket will begin its roll out from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39B this Saturday, Jan. 17 if the schedule holds. That would set up the earliest launch attempt for Friday, Feb. 6 at 9:41 p.m. ET (Jan. 7, 02:41 UTC).

While all indications point to NASA trying to launch on Feb. 6, a launch of this magnitude, complexity and with astronauts strapped in the Orion spacecraft atop the SLS for the first time, it’s quite possible the launch is delayed. That’s why NASA has 16 launch windows available between Feb. 6 to April 30. Each window is open for 120 minutes.

There are five launch windows in February and March, and six in April as listed here.

SLS roll out to the launch pad

It’s a 6.4 km (4 miles) journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center to Launch Pad 39B which can take up to 12 hour.

In an update announcing the roll out, NASA did point out that engineers are troubleshooting several items.

“During final checkouts before rollout, technicians found a cable involved in the flight termination system was bent out of specifications. Teams are replacing it and will test the new cable over the weekend. Additionally, a valve associated with Orion’s hatch pressurization exhibited issues leading up to a Dec. 20 countdown demonstration test. On Jan. 5, the team successfully replaced and tested it. Engineers also worked to resolve leaky ground support hardware required to load gaseous oxygen into Orion for breathing air.”

Once the roll out is complete NASA will start going through a long checklist to ensure everything is as it should be. Then the astronauts will be able to conduct one last “walkdown” at the pad.

This will be followed by a wet dress rehearsal and tanking test at the end of January. NASA said that “during wet dress, teams demonstrate the ability to load more than 700,000 gallons of cryogenic propellants into the rocket, conduct a launch countdown, and practice safely removing propellant from the rocket without astronauts onsite.”

“The wet dress rehearsal will include several ‘runs’ to demonstrate the launch team’s ability to hold, resume, and recycle to several different times in the final 10 minutes of the countdown, known as terminal count.”

If the wet dress rehearsal is successful, NASA will conduct a flight readiness review and give the go, no go before committing to a launch date.