NASA has begun a two-day practice countdown leading up to the fuelling of its new rocket, which will send the first humans to the Moon since 1972.
Returning humans to the Moon is a crucial test that will determine when four astronauts blast off on a lunar flyby.
Already in quarantine to avoid germs, Commander Reid Wiseman and his crew will monitor the dress rehearsal from their Houston base before flying to Kennedy Space Center once the rocket is cleared for flight.
Building on the success of the Apollo mission
NASA sent 24 humans to the Moon during the Apollo programme, from 1968 to 1972, with 12 of them walking on the surface.
Wiseman commented: “They are so fired up that we are headed back to the Moon. They just want to see humans as far away from Earth as possible, discovering the unknown.”
What makes the launch different from other Moon missions?
Weighing in at 11 million pounds, the Space Launch System rocket and Orion crew capsule on top made the move aboard a massive transporter that was used during the Apollo and shuttle eras.
The first and only other SLS launch, which sent an empty Orion capsule into orbit around the Moon, occurred in November 2022.
“This one feels a lot different, putting crew on the rocket and taking the crew around the moon,” NASA’s John Honeycutt said on the eve of the rocket’s rollout.
Could we have humans on the Moon by the end of the month?
The 98 metre Space Launch System rocket moved out to the pad two weeks ago. If today’s fuelling test goes well, NASA could try to launch within a week.
Teams will fill the rocket’s tank with more than 700,000 gallons of super-cold fuel, stopping a half-minute short of when the engines would light.
A bitter cold spell delayed the fuelling demo and the launch by two days, meaning the rocket could take humans to the Moon by 8 February at the earliest.
Riding in the Orion capsule atop the rocket, the US and Canadian astronauts will hurtle around the Moon and then straight back without stopping until splashdown in the Pacific, meaning the mission will last nearly 10 days.
