The NASA Artemis II mission is targeted for launch as early as Feb.
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From https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/combined_crawler-transporters_fact_sheet_final.pdf -
"Once the CT-2 makes its eight-hour trek to the pad with engineers and technicians aboard, ML1 and SLS will be lowered onto pad mount mechanisms. After platforms are lowered and power transfers are complete, the CT-2 will roll back down the pad slope and park just outside the pad perimeter gate. CT-2 will wait there until a few days prior to launch in case a rollback is required."
Looking for a video ...
@AkaSci @msbellows I assume the crawler has a leveling mechanism for going up the pad slope while loaded?
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@AkaSci How do they move the rocket from the CT to the pad?
@msbellows @AkaSci apparently no truth to the rumor they place a large hot air balloon over Congress, fill it with all the hot air and use that 🤪
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@AkaSci @msbellows I assume the crawler has a leveling mechanism for going up the pad slope while loaded?
@pixelpusher220 @msbellows
Independent hydraulic suspensions along sides and corners, raised and lowered to keep the platform level at the pad slope. -
@AkaSci How do they move the rocket from the CT to the pad?
Here is a pic of the crawler with the Artemis I SLS rocket and mobile launcher and 2 pics after dropoff at the launch pad.
I suppose the crawler goes underneath the launch pad and the entire assembly is positioned on its sides at the launch pad above a hollow area, lowered on the supporting structures, detached from the crawler which then moves out.
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Some amazing pics of NASA’s massive Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft, secured to the mobile launcher, inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at KSC, taken on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026.
All work platforms have been retracted in preparation for rollout to Launch Complex 39B at KSC in FL Saturday morning.
More pics at https://images.nasa.gov/search?q=artemis%20ii%20sls&page=1&media=image,video,audio&yearStart=2026&yearEnd=2026
9/nAssuming the weather cooperates and all goes well, the Artemis II Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion spacecraft atop the mobile launcher will look like this at Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in FL.
The pics below are of Artemis I in 2022 during wet rehearsals.
https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/exploration-ground-systems/launch-pad-39b/
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Knock knock!
It is NASA’s crawler-transporter 2 arriving at the Vehicle Assembly Building at KSC for a pick-up!
Tomorrow morning Jan. 17, at ~7 a.m. EST. it will transport NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft + Mobile Launcher to Launch Pad 39B in preparation for the Artemis II crewed mission around the Moon on ~6 Feb.
At about one mph, the four-mile journey will take 10-12 hours.
Livestream starts at 7 a.m. at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrVnsO_rdew
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/missions/2026/01/16/artemis-ii-moon-rocket-ready-for-big-move/
3/n@AkaSci Must be fun to parallel park in a (very slow) hurry.
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Assuming the weather cooperates and all goes well, the Artemis II Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion spacecraft atop the mobile launcher will look like this at Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in FL.
The pics below are of Artemis I in 2022 during wet rehearsals.
https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/exploration-ground-systems/launch-pad-39b/
10/nNASA Artemis II is on the move this morning!
Not to the moon yet, but crawling at less than 1 mph to the launch pad for tests and wet rehearsals in the coming days.
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NASA Artemis II is on the move this morning!
Not to the moon yet, but crawling at less than 1 mph to the launch pad for tests and wet rehearsals in the coming days.
Good Morning, Artemis II.
12/n -
Good Morning, Artemis II.
12/nFaster than a speeding snail, Artemis II is making its way to the launch pad from the Vehicle Assembly Building.
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Crawler-transporter 2 (CT-2) has cranked up its speed. You can see the entire assembly (CT-2, mobile launcher and the NASA SLS rocket) now moving "rapidly" to the right.
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Crawler-transporter 2 (CT-2) has cranked up its speed. You can see the entire assembly (CT-2, mobile launcher and the NASA SLS rocket) now moving "rapidly" to the right.
14/n
Quite a sight as the massive Artemis II assembly - the Crawler-transporter 2 (CT-2), mobile launcher, the NASA SLS rocket and the Orion spacecraft - marches from the VAB to launch pad 39B at the KSC.
Large number of staff members and spectators watching the historical moment.
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Good Morning, Artemis II.
12/n -
Good Morning, Artemis II.
12/n@AkaSci is this a scene from the new star wars? Will the rebels appear and destroy the base?
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@AkaSci “Faster than a speeding snail”
Love it! I’ve always wanted to watch the crawler in action, but it wouldn’t be an action-packed watch I guess. -
@AkaSci is this a scene from the new star wars? Will the rebels appear and destroy the base?
@Tattooed_Mummy @AkaSci
I was thinking the same thing - that pic is out of this world. It looks very science-fiction-y. -
Good Morning, Artemis II.
12/n@AkaSci We could have been living in the timeline where more than three people were aware of this story, and the other big news story was President Harris's tan suit.
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Here are a few vital specs of the unique NASA crawler-transporter vehicles. No other vehicle comes close.
Each CT is larger than the size of a baseball infield and powered by locomotive and large electrical power generator engines.
The crawlers are designed to roll underneath the mobile launcher (ML) along with assembled rocket, pick it up, and steadily carry it 4.2 miles to Launch Pad 39B.
@AkaSci but Bagger-288 is about 5 times heavier and has its own techno song. Yeah!l
https://youtu.be/azEvfD4C6ow
(note: there are 2 even bigger machines out there) -
Quite a sight as the massive Artemis II assembly - the Crawler-transporter 2 (CT-2), mobile launcher, the NASA SLS rocket and the Orion spacecraft - marches from the VAB to launch pad 39B at the KSC.
Large number of staff members and spectators watching the historical moment.
Almost 9 hours after the start of its epic journey, NASA Artemis II and its SLS rocket assembly aboard crawler-transporter 2 (aka CT-2 and Franz) are perched at the base of launch pad 39B, ready to make the final challenging ascent up the 2.9 degree ramp to the launch pad.
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Almost 9 hours after the start of its epic journey, NASA Artemis II and its SLS rocket assembly aboard crawler-transporter 2 (aka CT-2 and Franz) are perched at the base of launch pad 39B, ready to make the final challenging ascent up the 2.9 degree ramp to the launch pad.
Few more pics from NASA of the day's events at the rollout of the Artemis II SLS rocket aboard crawler-transporter 2 at KSC in FL.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasahqphoto/albums/72177720331471551/
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Few more pics from NASA of the day's events at the rollout of the Artemis II SLS rocket aboard crawler-transporter 2 at KSC in FL.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasahqphoto/albums/72177720331471551/
17/nStanding tall!
NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen at KSC today, ready to fly Artemis II SLS and Orion on Feb 6, 2026, for a trip around the moon.
https://images.nasa.gov/details/KSC-20260117-PH-KLS03_0048
Photographer: NASA/Kim Shiflett
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