At the weekend NASA revealed that it had reached a rather important milestone in its ambitions to head back to the Moon.

That milestone is the stacking of the Space Launch System and the Orion spacecraft in preparation for an uncrewed test flight around the Moon dubbed Artemis I.

“With stacking and integration of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft complete, we’re getting closer and closer to embarking on a new era of human deep space exploration,” NASA administrator, Bill Nelson, said in a statement.

“Thanks to the team’s hard work designing, manufacturing, testing, and now completing assembly of NASA’s new rocket and spacecraft, we’re in the home stretch of preparations for the first launch on the Artemis I mission, paving the way to explore the Moon, Mars, and beyond for many years to come,” Nelson added.

The mission is set to launch in February 2022 but before that can happen several tests need to be conducted in preparation for launch day.

These tests include:

• Interface Verification Testing
• Program Specific Engineering Testing
• End-to-End Communications Testing
• Countdown Sequencing Testing
• Wet Dress Rehearsal Testing

This testing is important as it will evaluate the rocket and spacecraft as an integrated system for the first time. These test culminate in a simulation at the launch pad in preparation for the actual launch. You can read more about each of the tests here.

NASA goes on to say that Artemis I will have specific launch date set once all of the above testing has been completed successfully.

This is an incredibly important mission for NASA as it will help to inform and hopefully enable future missions to the Moon including Artemis II, the mission which would see humans return to the Moon.