NASA prepares its most powerful rocket for coming launch to the Moon

NASA has moved its 322-foot-tall rocket into position for its coming Artemis 1 mission, which will be a journey around the Moon and back to Earth.

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NASA is currently preparing for its Artemis I mission, where it will launch an extremely large rocket around the Moon and then back to Earth.

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NASA has moved the first Space Launch System (SLS) rocket to launch pad 39B at the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on August 17, which moved the 322-foot-tall rocket into its correct position ahead of the scheduled test launch on August 29 or after. The SLS rocket will take NASA's Orion crew capsule on a reconnaissance mission towards the Moon, eventually cruising around in and then flying back to Earth.

The SLS rocket is the most powerful rocket that NASA has ever constructed, with 8.8 million pounds of thrust that comes from its four core stage engines along with two rocket boosters. The goal of the Artemis I mission is to gather large quantities of data regarding the journey to and from the Moon that will assist the space agency in its Artemis II mission, where it will send four astronauts back around the Moon.

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The data that will be gathered during Artemis I will give the space agency insight into all of the correct safety procedures that will need to be taken to ensure the health and wellbeing of the Artemis II and future crews. If NASA happens to miss the scheduled launch for August 29, it will have opportunities on September 2 and September 5. The Orion capsule will have some passengers on board, but they won't be human. However, they will be outfitted with high-tech sensors to monitor their "health".

Here are several images of the SLS rocket arriving at launch pad 39B on Wednesday, check the incredible photographs out below.

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In other news, NASA is planning on deliberately colliding a spacecraft with an asteroid next month in an attempt to change the asteroid's orbit. The test will use a technique called a "kinetic impactor". Russia has launched next-generation missiles that "no other country has", according to Russia's Defense Ministry.

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