NASA's (click here) first Space Launch System, or SLS, rocket and Orion spacecraft roll from the Vehicle Assembly Building toward Launch Complex 39B on Thursday. SLS will be used to launch crews to the moon and beyond in the Agency's Artemis Program.
It is a handsome rocket in that it has a color pattern to it's design. But, each LAUNCH costs over $2 billion. One thing Americans know is that any long term government program such as this has cost overruns.
NASA's $37 billion rocket system (click here) aims to return astronauts to Moon and establish a long-term lunar colony as a precursor to eventual human exploration of Mars....
...Rollout of the 32-storey-tall Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and its Orion crew capsule marks a key milestone in US plans for renewed lunar exploration after years of setbacks, and the public's first glimpse of a space vehicle more than a decade in development.
The process of moving the 5.75-million-pound SLS-Orion spacecraft out of its Kennedy Space Center Vehicle Assembly Building began shortly after 5:30 pm EDT (2130 GMT) under clear skies at Cape Canaveral. A nearly full moon rose about 90 minutes later....
It is considered the most powerful rocket built by NASA.
..."Ladies and gentlemen, the world's most powerful rocket, right here," NASA chief Bill Nelson told the crowd, gesturing toward the spacecraft minutes after the rollout started.
"Humanity will soon embark on a new era of exploration."...
Not to be left out of the limelight is SpaceX' Falcon Heavy (click here) which can be built and operated less expensively than the current NASA system. While some Americans would want to see their space program less costly and hand everything over to private enterprise, I think that is a mistake. This is space exploration and the USA should have it's own program and successes.
