Finally! NASA's Space Launch System will be rolling out this week after several drawbacks occurred in the past.
The said rollout is expected to take about 11 hours.
NASA's Space Launch System Ready To Roll This Week
In a recent report from Tech Crunch, , the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Space Launch System will finally roll out this week twelve years after it was first introduced. Along with the launch system, the Orion spacecraft will also be rolled out to the launch pad at Florida's Kennedy Space Center on Thursday, March 17.
Following the 11-hour rollout on Thursday, NASA will perform numerous tests to assess launch readiness, which includes validating the software systems and servicing the boosters.
After the said assessment, the space agency will "commence a "wet dress rehearsal," a series of additional prelaunch tests, during which the system will be loaded with its propellant tanks," per Tech Crunch.
Explaining the date of the wet dress rehearsal, Artemis launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson stated through Tech Crunch that the wet dress could take place on April 3, adding that the rollout should go as expected.For background information, the project has had several setbacks and technological difficulties.
A year ago, NASA's Inspector General's office released a 51-page assessment on the SLS program's expenses and contracts, concluding that "increasing costs and delays" had pushed the project's overall budget far beyond its initial scope.
What Is NASA Space Launch System
According to the space agency: "NASA's Space Launch System, or SLS, is a super heavy-lift launch vehicle that provides the foundation for human exploration beyond Earth's orbit. With its unprecedented power and capabilities, SLS is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts, and cargo directly to the Moon on a single mission."
Claiming SLS as the world's most powerful rocket, NASA also stated that it can offer more payload mass, volume capacity, and energy. Compared to any other vehicle, this launch vehicle can carry more payload to deep space.
Moreover, this launch rocket was created to be evolvable making it possible to conduct more types of space missions such as "human missions to the Moon and Mars and robotic scientific missions to places like the Moon, Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter."
Apart from deep space missions, SLS also aims to send Orion or other cargos to the Moon.
In another NASA report, the renowned space agency explained that the "Orion will serve as the exploration vehicle that will carry the crew to space, provide emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during the space travel, and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities."
In relation to this, the launch system will provide the power to reach a speed of 24,500 miles per hour, the speed needed to send it to the Moon.
Both Orion and SLS will be used for the Artemis I mission.
Artemis I Mission
The Artemis I mission will be an uncrewed flight test aiming to extend human existence to the Moon and other solar systems. This mission also expects to be a four-to-six-week travel across 280,000 miles from Earth to the Moon and beyond.
