{"id":612012,"date":"2026-04-18T08:17:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T08:17:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/612012\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T08:17:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T08:17:12","slug":"nasas-mobile-launcher-arrives-at-vehicle-assembly-building","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/612012\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s Mobile Launcher\u00a0Arrives\u00a0at Vehicle Assembly Building\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>After successfully\u00a0being used to\u00a0launch\u00a0the Artemis II\u00a0lunar\u00a0test flight\u00a0on\u00a0April 1,\u00a0NASA\u2019s\u00a0mobile launcher\u00a0now is inside NASA\u00a0Kennedy\u2019s\u00a0Vehicle Assembly Building\u00a0(VAB) in Florida\u00a0in preparation\u00a0for the Artemis III\u00a0test flight mission\u00a0rocket stacking operations.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>NASA\u2019s Exploration Ground Systems Program rolled the launcher on a\u00a04-mile trek from Launch Pad 39B to\u00a0the\u00a0VAB\u00a0along the\u00a0crawlerway\u00a0on April 16. The trip, which\u00a0normally takes eight to 12 hours\u00a0on\u00a0top\u00a0of\u00a0the agency\u2019s\u00a0crawler-transporter 2,\u00a0had several built-in\u00a0pauses\u00a0to allow teams\u00a0to\u00a0rest. The\u00a0launcher arrived inside the VAB\u00a0at\u00a011:40 a.m.\u00a0EDT,\u00a0Friday,\u00a0April\u00a017.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Standing 380 feet tall, the mobile launcher \u2013 which will be used to assemble, process, and launch the\u00a0Artemis III mission\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/humans-in-space\/space-launch-system\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">SLS (Space Launch System) rocket<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/humans-in-space\/orion-spacecraft\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Orion spacecraft<\/a> \u2013 contains all the connection lines,\u00a0known as\u00a0umbilicals,\u00a0and ground support equipment that will provide the rocket and spacecraft with the power, communications, fuel, and coolant necessary for launch. This\u00a0was\u00a0the mobile launcher\u2019s last solo trek out to the launch pad ahead of integration of the\u00a0SLS\u00a0rocket, and it will remain inside the\u00a0VAB\u00a0until it is ready to return to the pad with the rocket.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Now inside the VAB, technicians and engineers will finish conducting\u00a0Artemis II\u00a0post-launch inspections and repairs\u00a0in preparation\u00a0for\u00a0the\u00a0Artemis III\u00a0mission\u00a0next year.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/cropped-toni-with-sls-300x300.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>April 17, 2026 11:59AM<\/p>\n<p>More from Missions<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After successfully\u00a0being used to\u00a0launch\u00a0the Artemis II\u00a0lunar\u00a0test flight\u00a0on\u00a0April 1,\u00a0NASA\u2019s\u00a0mobile launcher\u00a0now is inside NASA\u00a0Kennedy\u2019s\u00a0Vehicle Assembly Building\u00a0(VAB) in Florida\u00a0in preparation\u00a0for the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":612013,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[4277,50776,44174,49,48,80249,5341,58045,66,306,73322],"class_list":{"0":"post-612012","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-artemis","9":"tag-artemis-2","10":"tag-artemis-3","11":"tag-ca","12":"tag-canada","13":"tag-exploration-ground-systems","14":"tag-kennedy-space-center","15":"tag-orion-multi-purpose-crew-vehicle","16":"tag-science","17":"tag-space","18":"tag-space-launch-system-sls"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=612012"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612012\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/612013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=612012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=612012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=612012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}