AkaSci 🛰️
The NASA Artemis II mission is targeted for launch as early as Feb. 6.
NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen will complete a 10-day journey around the Moon and back (no moon landing) to test systems and hardware, in preparation for future lunar landing missions.
It will be the first crewed mission to the vicinity of the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.
Launch vehicle: Space Launch System (SLS)
Spacecraft: Orion
AkaSci 🛰️
A pair of crawler-transporters (nicknamed “Hans” and “Franz”) were built in 1965 to move the massive Saturn V rocket from Kennedy’s VAB to Launch Complex 39. After the Moon landing and Skylab programs ended, the crawlers were used to transport the space shuttles.
CT-2 was upgraded for the Artemis program around 2012.
CT-1 was originally planned for commercial launch vehicles but its future remains uncertain.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crawler-transporter
https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/exploration-ground-systems/the-crawlers/
4/n
AkaSci 🛰️
NASA is targeting Sat. Jan 17 for the rollout of the Artemis II SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft for final integration, testing, and launch rehearsals.
The 4-mile journey to the launch pad at KSC using the crawler-transporter-2 will take ~12 hours. After system checks and tests, astronauts will conduct a final walkdown at the pad.
At the end of Jan, NASA will conduct a wet dress rehearsal, including fueling and unfueling of the rocket without astronauts onsite.
AkaSci 🛰️
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 🛰️
The crawler-transporter is able to raise and lower its sides and corners independently using its hydraulic system. It uses its hydraulic suspension to keep the mobile platform and rocket level, as it climbs up the 2.9 degree slope to the the launch pad.
https://www3.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/combined_crawler-transporters_fact_sheet_final.pdf
More pics at https://images.nasa.gov/search?q=crawler&page=1&media=image,video,audio&yearStart=1920&yearEnd=2026
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AkaSci 🛰️
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
AkaSci 🛰️
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
AkaSci 🛰️
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 🛰️
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 🛰️
The future of Space Exploration.
🚀 :starfleet: 🪐
https://images.nasa.gov/details/KSC-20260117-PH-KLS03_0026
Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
19/n
AkaSci 🛰️
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.
AkaSci 🛰️
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.
AkaSci 🛰️
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 🛰️
Good Morning, Artemis II.
🚀 😎
12/n
AkaSci 🛰️
Faster than a speeding snail, Artemis II is making its way to the launch pad from the Vehicle Assembly Building.
AkaSci 🛰️
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 🛰️
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
AkaSci 🛰️
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
AkaSci 🛰️
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.
AkaSci 🛰️
Wet Dress Rehearsal #2 for Artemis II now scheduled for Thursday Feb. 19.
The simulated launch time is 8:30 p.m., Feb. 19. The ~50-hour countdown will begin at 6:40 p.m. EST on Feb. 17.
Artemis II crew will not participate in the test.
The rocket stack has remained at the launch pad since Jan 17, as NASA personnel have diagnosed and replaced the offending filter in ground support equipment that was suspected of reducing the flow of liquid hydrogen.
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/missions/2026/02/16/nasa-eyes-next-wet-dress-rehearsal-for-artemis-ii/
28/n
AkaSci 🛰️
All is well at the NASA Artemis II wet dress-rehearsal as the team counts down to T-0, minutes from now.
"NASA teams have now officially entered the final ten minutes of today’s Artemis II wet dress rehearsal countdown known as terminal count after Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, NASA’s Artemis launch director, gave the “go” to proceed toward the simulated T-0 time of 8:42 p.m."
🤞
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/missions/2026/02/19/live-artemis-ii-wet-dress-rehearsal-coverage/
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AkaSci 🛰️
"The Artemis II wet dress rehearsal ended today at 10:16 p.m., concluding as planned at T-29 seconds in the countdown.
NASA will hold a media briefing about the test at 11 a.m., Friday, Feb. 20."
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/missions/2026/02/19/live-artemis-ii-wet-dress-rehearsal-coverage/
30/n
AkaSci 🛰️
The Artemis II wet dress rehearsal countdown was terminated at the T-5:15 minute mark due to a liquid hydrogen leak at the interface of the tail service mast umbilical.
The leak was observed earlier in the day; engineers paused to troubleshoot, resumed flow, and finished fueling two hours late; in spite of the leak, most of the steps of the wet dress rehearsal were completed.
Not clear how this will affect the mission and its schedule.
AkaSci 🛰️
NASA is now targeting March as the earliest possible launch opportunity for Artemis II. Launch windows are available Mar 6-11.
Artemis II astronauts will be released from quarantine, which they entered in Houston on Jan. 21. Crew will enter quarantine again about two weeks before the next launch opportunity.
News conference today at 1 p.m. EST.
AkaSci 🛰️
The moon beckons!
🌓
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ulalaunch/
#Artemis
22/n
AkaSci 🛰️
Nice comprehensive article about the NASA/ESA/CSA Artemis II mission around the moon at TIME Magazine.
https://time.com/7346146/artemis-ii-launch-nasa-astronauts-moon-mission/
23/n
AkaSci 🛰️
The Artemis II Wet Dress Rehearsal has been moved to Monday Feb 2, due to the cold weather in Florida.
With this change, the first potential opportunity to launch is no earlier than Sunday, Feb. 8.
"During the current cold weather, engineers have kept Orion powered and have configured its heaters for the colder temperatures. Purges, used to maintain proper environmental conditions for elements of the spacecraft and rocket, are also configured for the weather."
AkaSci 🛰️
The countdown for the Artemis II wet dress rehearsal began today at 8:13 p.m. EST, or L-48 hours, 40 minutes before the opening of a simulated launch window at 9 pm. Mon, Feb. 2. The test is expected to go until ~1 a.m. Feb. 3.
Tests include loading cryogenic liquid propellant into the SLS rocket’s tanks, conducting a launch countdown, demonstrating the ability to recycle the countdown clock, and draining the tanks to practice scrub procedures.
Details at
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/missions/2026/01/31/countdown-begins-for-artemis-ii-wet-dress-rehearsal/
25/n
AkaSci 🛰️
Good Night, Artemis II.
🏹 🌙
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasahqphoto/albums/72177720331471551/with/55046879173/
20/n
AkaSci 🛰️
Here is a hi-res image of the Artmeis II SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft, secured to the mobile launcher, as the Crawler-transporter 2 rolls it out of the Vehicle Assembly Building at KSC, Saturday morning.
Compare with the image in post #12, which looks a bit more aesthetically pleasing.
Full res image at https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasahqphoto/55046581023/in/album-72177720331471551/
More images at https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasahqphoto/albums/72177720331471551/with/55044924877
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