NASA’s mega moon rocket rolling out at Kennedy Space Center

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (WFLA) — The most powerful rocket in the world, dubbed the mega moon rocket by NASA, will be unveiled for the first time on Thursday at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft, which will be used in the upcoming Artemis I lunar mission, are scheduled to roll out of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at Kennedy for the first time around 5 p.m. Thursday. The four-mile trip from the VAB to Launch Pad 39B is expected to take between six to 12 hours.

The SLS rocket that will take us back to the moon for the first time in 50 years stands at 322 feet tall. It can take humans at least a thousand times farther than the space shuttle was able to and, according to NASA, is the only rocket that can send the Orion spacecraft, astronauts and cargo directly to the moon all in a single mission.

Both SLS and the Orion spacecraft were designed for deep space exploration, well beyond Earth’s orbit. The last time humans were launched that deep into space, it was on the Saturn V rocket. SLS is 15% more powerful than Saturn V.

Send your name around the moon on NASA’s Artemis I mission

Once the SLS rocket and spacecraft arrive at the launch pad, they will undergo heavy inspections to prepare for the main goal, which is to perform a “wet dress rehearsal.” The SLS rocket will be fully loaded with rocket fuel during a simulated countdown to launch. The countdown will test the integrated parts of the fully-assembled SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft.

The countdown will proceed up until T-10 seconds. That rehearsal is scheduled for April 1. After that, the rocket will roll back to the VAB while crews analyze the results of the tests and work any problems that may arise before the highly-anticipated launch to the moon with the Artemis program.

The first mission, Artemis I, will be an uncrewed mission that will launch the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft into orbit. It will be the first flight test of the spacecraft and rocket.

A section of the Artemis rocket with the Orion space capsule is seen inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center, Friday, Nov. 5, 2021, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Artemis will launch the next generation of deep space operations, including missions on and around the Moon. (AP Photo/John Raoux)Employees and contractors watch as the core stage of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket, that will be used for the Artemis 1 Mission, is rolled out of the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility where it was built, in New Orleans, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020. It will be placed on the Pegasus barge, where it will be transported to NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi for its green run test. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)A section of the Artemis rocket with the Orion space capsule is seen inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center, Friday, Nov. 5, 2021, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Artemis will launch the next generation of deep space operations, including missions on and around the Moon. (AP Photo/John Raoux)A section of the Artemis rocket with the Orion space capsule is seen inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center, Friday, Nov. 5, 2021, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Artemis will launch the next generation of deep space operations, including missions on and around the Moon. (AP Photo/John Raoux)In this image provided by NASA, NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen atop a mobile launcher in High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building before rolling out to Launch Complex 39B for the first time, Wednesday, March 16, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Ahead of NASA’s Artemis I flight test, the fully stacked and integrated SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft will undergo a test launch to verify systems and practice countdown procedures for the first launch. (Joel Kowsky/NASA via AP)This is an illustration provided by SpaceX shows the SpaceX Starship human lander design that will carry the first NASA astronauts to the surface of the Moon under the Artemis program. Jeff Bezos has lost his appeal of NASA’s contract with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to build its new moon lander. The Government Accountability Office Friday, July 30, 2021 ruled that NASA’s award of the $2.9 billion contract to just SpaceX was legal and proper.(SpaceX/NASA via AP)

“This is a mission that truly will do what hasn’t been done and learn what isn’t known,” Artemis I Mission Manager Mike Sarafin said. “It will blaze a trail that people will follow on the next Orion flight, pushing the edges of the envelope to prepare for that mission.”

Artemis I will lift off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It doesn’t have an official launch date yet but NASA is taking a major step toward that later this month, and is hoping to launch Artemis 1 in June. It could be later than that, however, depending on the results of the wet dress rehearsal.

WFLA meteorologist and space correspondent Amanda Holly is at Kennedy Space Center for the rollout and will provide live coverage. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter for updates.