{"id":353231,"date":"2026-01-22T03:38:45","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T17:38:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?guid=330ed910f0b75d352cbcc1a63efca76e"},"modified":"2026-01-22T03:38:45","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T17:38:45","slug":"nasas-artemis-ii-rocket-and-spacecraft-make-their-way-to-launch-pad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=353231","title":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s Artemis II Rocket and Spacecraft Make Their Way to Launch Pad"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"\" class=\"hds-media hds-module wp-block-image\">\n<div class=\"margin-left-auto margin-right-auto nasa-block-align-inline\">\n<div class=\"hds-media-wrapper margin-left-auto margin-right-auto\">\n<figure class=\"hds-media-inner hds-cover-wrapper hds-media-ratio-none \"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/sls-ksc-artemis-ii-rollout-1172026-33orig.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1368\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/sls-ksc-artemis-ii-rollout-1172026-33orig.jpg?w=2048\" class=\"attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048\" alt=\"NASA&#039;s Artemis II SLS rocket - with its distinctive butterscotch orange-brown color- and Orion spacecraft are on top of a massive platform. The platform has a banner with the Artemis logo on it on the left and an American flag on the right. The rocket and platform are moved by an immense machine called the crawler-transporter, which has treads like a tank. The view is from the ground up, so the deep blue sky is the background for most of this picture.\" style=\"transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;\" block_context=\"nasa-block\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/sls-ksc-artemis-ii-rollout-1172026-33orig.jpg 4240w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/sls-ksc-artemis-ii-rollout-1172026-33orig.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/sls-ksc-artemis-ii-rollout-1172026-33orig.jpg?resize=768,513 768w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/sls-ksc-artemis-ii-rollout-1172026-33orig.jpg?resize=1024,684 1024w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/sls-ksc-artemis-ii-rollout-1172026-33orig.jpg?resize=1536,1026 1536w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/sls-ksc-artemis-ii-rollout-1172026-33orig.jpg?resize=2048,1368 2048w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/sls-ksc-artemis-ii-rollout-1172026-33orig.jpg?resize=400,267 400w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/sls-ksc-artemis-ii-rollout-1172026-33orig.jpg?resize=600,401 600w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/sls-ksc-artemis-ii-rollout-1172026-33orig.jpg?resize=900,601 900w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/sls-ksc-artemis-ii-rollout-1172026-33orig.jpg?resize=1200,802 1200w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/sls-ksc-artemis-ii-rollout-1172026-33orig.jpg?resize=2000,1336 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><figcaption class=\"hds-caption padding-y-2\">\n<div class=\"hds-credits\">NASA\/Sam Lott<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>This Jan. 17, 2026, image shows NASA\u2019s SLS (Space Launch System) and Orion spacecraft rolling out of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA&#8217;s massive <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/humans-in-space\/exploration-ground-systems\/the-crawlers\/\">Crawler-Transporter<\/a>, upgraded for the Artemis program, carries the powerful SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft to Launch Pad 39B in preparation for the Artemis II mission.<\/p>\n<p>Moving at a maximum speed of just&nbsp;0.82 mph, the crawler carried the towering Moon rocket and spacecraft slowly but surely toward the pad, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/blogs\/missions\/2026\/01\/17\/nasas-moonbound-artemis-ii-rocket-reaches-launch-pad\/\">reaching its destination<\/a> at 6:42 p.m. EST after a&nbsp;nearly 12-hour&nbsp;journey. The Artemis II test flight will send NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen on an approximately 10-day journey around the Moon and back. It is another step toward new U.S.-crewed missions to the Moon\u2019s surface, leading to a sustained presence on the Moon that will help the agency prepare to send the first astronauts \u2013 Americans \u2013 to Mars.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/nasahqphoto\/albums\/72177720331471551\/\" rel=\"noopener\">See more photos from the rollout.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>Image credit: NASA\/Sam Lott<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This Jan. 17, 2026, image shows NASA\u2019s SLS (Space Launch System) and Orion spacecraft rolling out of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA\u2019s massive Crawler-Transporter, upgraded for the Artemis program, carries the powerful SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft to Launch Pad 39B in preparation for the Artemis II mission. [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15741],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-353231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-artemis-2"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=353231"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":353232,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353231\/revisions\/353232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=353231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=353231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=353231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}