A
@markmccaughrean
Thanks for your insights and thoughts.
If we could somehow eliminate the political and billionaire problems, what would your vision be for the future of space exploration?
- Human exploration of the moon and Mars or robotic only?
- Human spaceflight in LEO?
- Megaconstellations?
- Space mining?
- Robotic exploration of distant planets and moons (again)
- Missions to exoplanets?
- More astronomy and space telescopes?
- More Earth observation missions
- ?
@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.
@grb090423
Yes indeed.
ESM = European Service Module.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Service_Module
Good Night, Artemis II.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasahqphoto/albums/72177720331471551/with/55046879173/
20/n
The future of Space Exploration.
🪐
https://images.nasa.gov/details/KSC-20260117-PH-KLS03_0026
Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
19/n
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
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
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.
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.
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
Good Morning, Artemis II. 
12/n
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.
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
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.
@pixelpusher220 @msbellows
Independent hydraulic suspensions along sides and corners, raised and lowered to keep the platform level at the pad slope.
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 ...
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/n
Here are a few videos of the NASA crawler-transporter in action in 2022 during the Artemis I mission.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhgPs0n3phc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBpHjQjbt2Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk226QwT_1k
8/n
The NASA crawlers were built by the Marion Power Shovel Co., a manufacturer of steam shovels, power shovels and excavators. Their power shovels played a major role in mining, the construction of the Panama Canal and excavation of Hoover Dam and the Holland Tunnel.
The idea for a crawler-launcher platform started when a NASA engineer visited his father’s farm near Paradise, KY, and observed a giant strip mining shovel in operation.
https://pophistorydig.com/topics/tag/gem-of-egypt-shovel/
https://www.marionmade.org/2019/07/marion-power-shovel-nasa-crawler-transporter/
7/n