By Dean Murray
Impressive scenes show the huge rocket set to carry astronauts around the Moon next month.
NASA has shown off final preparation for the Artemis II mission to return humans to the vicinity of the Moon for the first time in more than half a century.
The Space Launch System (SLS) is a super-heavy-lift rocket generating about 8.8 million pounds of thrust at liftoff that will send the astronauts on their way.
NASA Artemis said on December 30: “The Moon is calling! Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA Kennedy, some of the retractable platforms have been pulled away from the SLS and Orion spacecraft, marking a major milestone on the road to launch. Artemis II is one step closer to liftoff.”
The space agency has said the launch window could open as early as February 5, but launching no later than the end of April.
The ten-day flight will carry four astronauts—including Canada’s Jeremyâ¯Hansen and Americans Reidâ¯Wiseman, Victorâ¯Glover and Christinaâ¯Koch—aboard the Orion spacecraft.
Their journey will loop around the Moon before returning to Earth, serving as a crucial test of life-support systems, deep-space communications and navigation ahead of the planned Artemisâ¯III landing and, ultimately, future human missions to Mars.
