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NASA is due to livestream the rollout of its "mega moon rocket"—the hulking Space Launch System (SLS)—on Thursday.
SLS is NASA's next moon rocket, a project that has been in development for over 10 years at a cost of more than $20 billion.
It is a truly enormous launch vehicle, expected to be the world's most powerful rocket when it begins operating. Its initial configuration, called Block 1, will be able to lift more than 27 metric tons or 59,500 pounds into orbits beyond the moon. Future upgrades in the Block 2 configuration will boost the rocket's deep space payload capacity to 46 metric tons or 101,400 pounds.
Block 1 stands at 322 feet and will weigh around 5.75 million pounds. This is not quite as tall as the historic Saturn V rocket that took astronauts to the moon under the Apollo program in the 1960s, but it will be capable of producing 15 percent more thrust, according to a NASA fact sheet.
The rocket is not ready for a moon mission just yet. First, NASA intends to carry out an unmanned mission called Artemis I that is likely to take place some time this summer, according to SpaceNews. Before that, several tests of the rocket will be carried out including a wet dress rehearsal in which the rocket is pumped full of fuel and primed for a launch that will be purposefully canceled just before the engines ignite.
NASA hopes to put people on the moon no earlier than 2025 after a previous 2024 goal proved too optimistic. That mission will be Artemis III, and before that there will be Artemis II, which will be a crewed trip around the moon and back.
Before any of this can happen, the rocket needs to be transported to an outdoor launch pad for the first time.
On Thursday, SLS will be moved from NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to Launch Pad 39B—a four-mile journey that will take between six and 12 hours.
The moving of the rocket will be broadcast live via the NASA TV streaming channel, which can be viewed on YouTube or the space agency's website here. Coverage will start at 5 p.m. EDT on March 17.
The rocket's delivery to the launch pad—called a "rollout"—involves placing the entire launch system on a slow-moving transporter.
SLS is a long time coming and has not been without its problems. Last year, news outlet Ars Technica reported that NASA was conducting an internal review into the growing costs of the SLS' development which have concerned officials. The project has also been much delayed, with the rocket originally due to launch six years ago.
