It's been 54 years since Apollo 17 landed on the moon. It was the last time astronauts were sent to the moon to walk on it. On April 1st at 6:24 EST Nasa will launch a crew back to the moon on Artemis II providing all goes well. A Ten Day mission they will come within 4000 miles of the moon looping around it testing the spacecraft systems paving the way for Artemis III & IV. Artemis is the program and the launch craft is called the Space Launch System(SLS). The crewed capsule on top of the SLS is called the Orion Capsule. Artemis I, an unmanned flight, launched on Nov 16th, 2022 to the far side of the moon testing the SLS for the first time in space. This is one pic it took

The SLS is built in the Vehicle Assembly Building(VAB) and rolled out to the launch pad using a Crawler Transporter(CT). Originally used to roll the Saturn V for the Apollo program and the shuttle to the launch pad it had to be upgraded to handle this SLS. This is a 4 mile trek to the pad moving at 1 mph takes 12 hours. The CT docks the SLS on the pad and returns to designated parking along side the VAB. The top layer of the Crawlerway, the track, is made up of Alabama River Rock. It is 4 inches thick on straight sections and 8 inches on curves, supported by 4 feet of crushed stone beneath. The gravel acts as a low-friction surface, which reduces the chance of sparks.

On the right side of the VAB is Launch Control. Here they, along with the crew inside the Orion, take a cold rocket and turn it on step by step launching the astronauts at T-zero

My brother and his wife came to visit us last week from Phoenix. We took them to Kennedy Space Center. WE went on the VIP tour which took us inside to the launching grounds via bus. We stopped at SpaceX to see a Falcon 9(watch the launch video) on the launch pad where it was set to launch in 2 days with Starlink satelites on board. I watched this launch as I have many others from my back yard. Artemis had been rolled out of the VAB for an earlier launch date but during a full dress out rehearsal a hydrogen leak was detected and forced a roll back to the VAB for repairs. As luck would have it Artemis was rolled back out to the launch pad the night before our visit allowing us to get an unbelievable look at it on the pad. After a few more stops giving us great views of the launching grounds our next stop was Artemis. We got within a thousand feet, 3 football fields, of Artemis II on the launch pad. This was one of the most awesome sites I had ever seen. It felt like we could reach out and touch it. Our last stop on the tour was the VAB for a few more pics. This launch has special meaning for us besides launching humans back to the moon

I did not take this pic but we stopped in the same location to take pics - Artemis

Pic of the roll-up to the launch platform. The CT keeps it level - almost there


Artemis Program - check out the Missions

Artemis II ---- The Crew

Orion Space Craft
Orion Reference Guide - this is one sophisticated capsule

I will explain what to expect on launch day. Nasa will cover Artemis II live 24/7 from launch day until splashdown. Nasa will be holding nothing back on this mission

In the meantime you can watch the SLS live until launch day

Thanks so much for this post, Orion! Very informative and helpful. You are lucky to have gotten to see some of this.

That's a lot of information, Orion! Sounds like you had a great time on the tour and with your brother!

I am so anxious for this launch to happen. Thank you for all the information... space is so fascinating to me.

Cool. Thanks for sharing

Yes this is going to be very exciting Drac. Here are a few ways to watch ... Nasa Live

NASA's Set Coverage for Artemis II Moon Mission

I would advise checking in at 7am EST on the 1st. 7:45am - Coverage of tanking operations to load propellant into the SLS rocket begins, including views of the rocket and audio from a commentator

I have followed many Shuttle launches and I know how they ran their live operations. As I said Nasa will hold nothing back on this coverage, it is gonna be phenomenal. At some point we will join up with the astronauts in the suit-up room. From there is will be one continuous ride. They will get into the transport that will take them on that 4 mile journey to the SLS. Drones and/or helicopter will follow them to the craft where they will exit and take a good look at their ride. Up the elevators they go and down the walkway to the dress out room right outside the Orion Capsule. Here one at a time they will enter the capsule get strapped in and start checking their comms. There will be cameras inside the Orion to watch the entire process. The hatch gets closed and the communications between launch control the astronauts begins continuing to turn that rocket on.

There will be special reports along the way talking everything Artemis during the live broadcast. During the entire process the countdown continues, the rocket comes alive and starts to breath and then..... 10..9..8..7..6, the core stage ignites 5..4..3..2..1..0, the 2 solid rocket boosters ignite and the SLS lifts off the pad with 4 astronauts on board heading for a journey around the moon. There will be live shots inside and outside the craft during launch

Once the SLS clears the tower Mission Control takes over the mission in Houston TX until splashdown 10 days later

Lets hope all goes well not only for the launch but for the Artemis II crew as well


Official Broadcast

Nasa Youtube

Thanks for the links and information Orion.