After more than half a year of repairs and improvements, the launch tower that supports the first of the three Artemis lunar missions started moving again on Wednesday.
NASA’s 380-meter manned launch vehicle (ML1) lifted off from the parking lot near the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at 8:27 a.m. EDT (1227 UTC) for Launch Complex 39B. This is the first time the tower has returned to the platform since the launch of the Artemis 1 mission in November 2022.
Since commissioning, the structure has undergone a number of improvements, including crew access boom certification and the installation of an emergency exit system to help astronauts and support personnel quickly escape from the immediate area of the rocket in the event of a missile strike. emergency.
NASA will slowly roll ML1 onto the top of the tracked transport vehicle and park the vehicle in front of the gate by the end of Wednesday. He’ll be hitting the slope on Thursday and getting steady ahead of his ongoing qualifying campaign.
The Exploration Ground Systems team at Kennedy Space Center undergoes a series of tests, such as launch day demonstrations for the crew, shutdown personnel, and rescue teams.
After sufficient registration, ML1 will move from the body to the VAB to prepare for vehicle stacking, which is scheduled to begin in February. NASA aims to launch the crewed Artemis 2 mission in November 2024.
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