NASA to roll out giant US moon rocket for debut launch

WASHINGTON, 17th August, 2022 (WAM) — NASA’s gigantic Space Launch System moon rocket, topped with an uncrewed astronaut capsule, began an hours-long crawl to its launchpad Tuesday night ahead of the behemoth’s debut test flight this month.

The 322-foot-tall (98-metre) rocket is scheduled to embark on its first mission to space – without any humans – on 29th August. It will be a crucial, long-delayed demonstration trip to the moon for NASA’s Artemis programme, the United States’ multibillion-dollar effort to return humans to the lunar surface as practice for future missions to Mars.

The Space Launch System, whose development during the past decade has been led by Boeing Co (BA.N), emerged from its assembly building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida about 10 pm EDT (0200 GMT) on Tuesday and began a four-mile (6-kilometre) trek to its launchpad.

Moving less than 1mph (1.6kph), the rollout will take roughly 11 hours.