Correction: Dropped word “for” was added to the headline

Steve Gorman, Steve Nesius

CAPE CANAVERAL FL. (Reuters) – NASA’s next-generation lunar rocket will make a long-awaited, slow-motion voyage from an assembly facility to its Florida launch pad. The final rounds of testing in the weeks ahead will determine when the spacecraft is ready to fly.

After years of delays, the U.S. has finally launched the Space Launch System rocket (SLS) with an Orion crew capsule on its top. This marks the start of U.S. efforts to revive lunar exploration.

Weather permitting, the process to move the SLS-Orion spacecraft from its 32-story tall Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, weighing 5.75 million tons, was set for 5 p.m. ET (2100 GMT).

It will slowly be trundled up to Launch Pad 39B by a giant crawler-transporter. The journey is expected to last approximately 11 hours and cover a distance of 4 miles (6.5 km). NASA Television will broadcast the spectacle live and NASA’s website.

The forecasts for Wednesday predicted favorable conditions on Florida’s Atlantic coast.

Last month, the rollout that would have opened the door to NASA’s Artemis I uncrewed mission around the Moon and back was delayed by technical issues the space agency claimed it had since fixed.

Charlie Blackwell Thompson (Artemis launch director), stated earlier this week that she was in good health and is ready to start the roll. She gave a briefing on NASA’s progress for reporters.

After being secured on the pad, the SLS/Orion ship will be ready for the critical preflight test known as a “wet dressing rehearsal”, which begins April 3, and takes approximately two days.

Engineers are planning to load all the SLS core fuel storage tanks with liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen propellant. Then, they will conduct a simulated launch countdown. In this simulation, the rocket’s R-25 engines would not ignite for a complete evaluation of the system.

ARTEMIS TO APOLLO

NASA will decide when it launches its rocket/capsule combination for the first time, which will be called Artemis I. SLS-Orion is the core of Artemis’ program. It aims to return astronauts to lunar orbit and establish a long-term lunar colony to aid human exploration of Mars.

From 1969 to 1972 the U.S. Apollo Program sent six crewed missions to the Moon. These were the first spaceflights to ever reach the lunar surface. Artemis is named after the twin sister Apollo in Greek mythology. It aims to be the first female astronaut and first human of color to reach the Moon.

NASA still has a lot of work ahead of it. The first is an Artemis I successful flight. This uncrewed trip will cover 40,000 miles (64,574 km) from the Moon and back. NASA stated that it is reviewing launch window options in April and May but could change the timeline depending on the results of the dress rehearsal.

After these tests have been completed, and all propellant has been drained from rockets, the ship is returned to assembly to wait for a launch date.

NASA declared in November its intention to make the first Human Lunar Landing of Artemis by 2025. It was preceded at some unknown date by an Artemis crewed flight around and back on the moon.

These missions as well as others will all be flown into space by the SLS. The SLS surpasses Saturn V, the Apollo-era Saturn V, to become the largest and most powerful rocket in the world.