NASA’s Artemis II Astronauts Head to Launch Pad for First Time Written 22 September 2023
In This Section
Artemis II NASA astronauts (front, from left) Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman, (back, from left) CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, and NASA astronaut Christina Koch depart the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building before heading to Launch Pad 39B as part of an integrated ground systems test at Kennedy Space Center, Wednesday, Sept. 20. | Credit: NASA
Florida Today reports that on Wednesday, the four person crew of NASA’s Artemis II mission “had a first chance to practice what their launch day will feel like.” In what is “called a dry dress rehearsal, the astronauts got suited up and took their new electric crew transportation vehicles for a spin to the launch pad.” Since the mission’s SLS rocket “is still in production at other NASA facilities nationwide, Wednesday’s practice run focused on preparing ground team support of the crew.” Slated to “launch from KSC as early as November of next year, Artemis II – the first lunar human spaceflight mission since 1972 – will send the four crew members on a trip around the moon and back deeper into space than any mission ever before.” This week’s launch day rehearsal “marked only the second time the prime crew of the Artemis II lunar mission has traveled to KSC since being announced in April.”
Full Story (Florida Today – Subscription Publication)