NASA's Artemis II Mission Gains Momentum as SLS Rocket and Orion Spacecraft Reach Launch Pad
In a slow but deliberate process, NASA's massive Crawler-Transporter has successfully carried the powerful Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft to Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The 12-hour journey, which clocked in at just 0.82 mph, came to an end on January 17, 2026, when the crawler reached its destination at 6:42 p.m. EST.
The upgraded Crawler-Transporter, designed for the Artemis program, played a crucial role in transporting the towering rocket and spacecraft to the launch pad. As the countdown begins, NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen, will embark on a 10-day journey around the Moon and back.
This mission marks another significant step towards establishing a sustained human presence on the Moon, paving the way for future U.S.-crewed missions to the Moon's surface. The ultimate goal is to send the first Americans to Mars, and this test flight will provide critical experience and data essential to achieving that ambitious objective.
The successful rollout of the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft brings us closer to a historic moment in space exploration. As NASA takes another giant leap towards its Artemis program, the world watches with bated breath, eager to witness the next chapter in humanity's quest for the cosmos.
In a slow but deliberate process, NASA's massive Crawler-Transporter has successfully carried the powerful Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft to Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The 12-hour journey, which clocked in at just 0.82 mph, came to an end on January 17, 2026, when the crawler reached its destination at 6:42 p.m. EST.
The upgraded Crawler-Transporter, designed for the Artemis program, played a crucial role in transporting the towering rocket and spacecraft to the launch pad. As the countdown begins, NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen, will embark on a 10-day journey around the Moon and back.
This mission marks another significant step towards establishing a sustained human presence on the Moon, paving the way for future U.S.-crewed missions to the Moon's surface. The ultimate goal is to send the first Americans to Mars, and this test flight will provide critical experience and data essential to achieving that ambitious objective.
The successful rollout of the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft brings us closer to a historic moment in space exploration. As NASA takes another giant leap towards its Artemis program, the world watches with bated breath, eager to witness the next chapter in humanity's quest for the cosmos.
?! it's crazy how far along they've come already! that 12 hour journey was pretty slow, i mean, only 0.82 mph lol, but at least the crawler-transporter did its job without any issues 
. i'm hyped to see those astronauts make it around the moon and back, it's gonna be epic 
. this mission is all about testing the waters for future manned missions to mars, which is like, a huge deal 
. NASA's making some serious progress and i'm loving every minute of it 
.
. I'm excited to see where this all leads, and I hope they're able to make good use of that experience... it's going to be interesting to watch how it all plays out 
NASA's been goin on about this for ages now & they still cant figure out how to get the space program back on track lol. slowest rocket in space history 
0.82 mph is like tryna walk on the moon with crutches 
it's been ages since we last saw them and now they're just a few days away from blast off 
can you believe nasa is actually gonna take us to the moon again?! 
the whole artemis program is so exciting i mean who needs mars when we can have MOONBASES ?? 
nasa is literally on fire 
I'm so hyped about this mission! It's crazy that it took 12 hours to get from one end of the launch pad to the other 
. I mean, we're basically talking about a giant metal beast making its way down a runway, and it's just... wow. The fact that they're going to test out the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft on a trip around the Moon is super important for their future Mars mission plans 
I mean we're one step closer to setting foot on Mars, and that's literally the most epic thing I've ever heard. The whole world is watching, and it's all about that Artemis program! 
It's about time they got that SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft on the launch pad. I've been saying it for ages - NASA needs to step up their game if they wanna make it to Mars in a decent amount of time. 12 hours at 0.82 mph? That's like, super slow! 
omg i'm literally so hyped for this mission!!! it feels like we're getting so close to making humans a sustainable presence on the moon 
One thing for sure, though - I'll be glued to my screen when it launches! 
?! We need more rocket fuel (and snacks 
) for that mission 
it's good that they have this fancy crawler-transporter thingy though, guess it'll make life easier for them when they actually launch the mission. and yeah, going to the moon is all well and good, but then they gotta go to mars too... like, isn't that just a bigger and more complicated version of the same thing? 