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

[akasci@fosstodon.org]

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/n

[wtl@mastodon.social]

@AkaSci Must be fun to parallel park in a (very slow) hurry.

[akasci@fosstodon.org]

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.

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

[akasci@fosstodon.org]

Good Morning, Artemis II.

12/n

[akasci@fosstodon.org]

Faster than a speeding snail, Artemis II is making its way to the launch pad from the Vehicle Assembly Building.

#NASA #Artemis2
13/n

[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.