The NASA Artemis II mission is targeted for launch as early as Feb.

[akasci@fosstodon.org]

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

[akasci@fosstodon.org]

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.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrVnsO_rdew
15/n

[grb090423@mastodon.social]

@AkaSci

Is that #ESA I can see at the top there? Where the #ESM is?

[tattooed_mummy@beige.party]

@AkaSci is this a scene from the new star wars? Will the rebels appear and destroy the base?

[ldj@mastodon.green]

@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.

[denofearth@mas.to]

@Tattooed_Mummy @AkaSci
I was thinking the same thing - that pic is out of this world. It looks very science-fiction-y.

[isaackuo@spacey.space]

@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.

[gunstick@mastodon.opencloud.lu]

@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)

[akasci@fosstodon.org]

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.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrVnsO_rdew
16/n

[akasci@fosstodon.org]

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/n

[akasci@fosstodon.org]

Standing 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
18/n

[akasci@fosstodon.org]

The future of Space Exploration.
🪐
https://images.nasa.gov/details/KSC-20260117-PH-KLS03_0026
Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
19/n

[c_dan4th@mstdn.social]

@AkaSci I wonder why so slow? The shuttle stack used to make the same journey in about half that time.

[dougfir@mastodon.social]

@c_dan4th @AkaSci
All the employees that knew how to drive were laid off?

[weekend_editor@mathstodon.xyz]

@AkaSci

Love the "DRIVE SAFELY" sign.

[hittitezombie@mastodon.me.uk]

@AkaSci

These astronauts are very brave, riding an untested rocket in a often-failed capsule all the way to there and back, and trusting a very dodgy heat shield.

It'll be just like Capricorn One, if they're not careful.

[akasci@fosstodon.org]

Good Night, Artemis II.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasahqphoto/albums/72177720331471551/with/55046879173/
20/n

[adamshostack@infosec.exchange]

RE: https://fosstodon.org/@AkaSci/115913141957128715

Our exploration, our love of science and our willingness to go to the moon, not because it was easy, but because it was hard, and to lay a plaque that said "we came in peace, for all mankind."

These are the reasons that people around the world enthusiastically wear a US Government agency logo.

[akasci@fosstodon.org]

@grb090423
Yes indeed.
ESM = European Service Module.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Service_Module

[akasci@fosstodon.org]

@markmccaughrean
^^^
You will appreciate the framing of this photograph above (post #12), taken by NASA astronaut and Commander Reid Wiseman, of the Artemis II SLS stack with the European Service Module (ESM) departing the Vehicle Assembly Building at KSC, FL.