Nasa rolls artemis ii moon rocket to pad, pinning april 1 crew launch

NASA’s crawler-transporter 2 began the 6.4-km creep of the 98-m SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft to Launch Pad 39B on Friday, setting up the first crewed lunar fly-by since Apollo.

The 12-hour rollout, delayed at dawn by gusting coastal winds, positions the Artemis II stack for an April 1 blast-off that will sling four astronauts around the Moon and back in ten days. Engineers already replaced helium lines, flight-termination batteries and an oxygen seal after February’s dress rehearsal uncovered a blockage in the upper-stage plumbing. The fix forced a retreat to the Vehicle Assembly Building, a detour that now looks like a footnote rather than a show-stopper.

A rocket held together by fresh batteries and new seals

Inside the VAB, technicians swapped every battery on the upper stage, core stage and solid boosters, recharged Orion’s launch-abort system and re-mated a stubborn umbilical plate that feeds liquid oxygen to the 212-foot core. The helium line that triggered the rollback was cleared, re-tested and signed off late Thursday night. NASA says the stack is now “go” for propellant loading and terminal count.

The crew—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency rookie Jeremy Hansen—spent the week in Houston running emergency egress drills while their ride crawled toward the Atlantic at 1.6 km/h. If the weather cooperates, they will lift off at 09:07 a.m. EDT on a free-return trajectory that will take them 10 000 km past the far side of the Moon.

One more hurdle remains: a final “wet dress” at the pad next week to confirm the new seals hold under cryogenic load. After that, the only thing left is the launch window—and the nerve of four humans willing to trust a rocket that still smells like fresh paint.