Preparations for the uncrewed flight to the Moon are coming along swimmingly ahead of NASA’s Artemis 1 launch next week.

The Artemis missions will see the US and human beings returning to the Moon with a view to establishing a permanent presence there. Part of the mission, and perhaps the most important aspect of it, is testing the Space Launch System.

This rocket is gargantuan. It stands 54.9 metres tall and sports a five segment solid fuel rocket booster. The rocket will reportedly burn through six-tons of fuel every second and each booster provides more boost than 14 four-engine jumbo commercial liners.

Perhaps the most astonishing bit of trivia here is that the solid fuel rocket booster is only expected to be operational for little over two minutes.

NASA reports that the hydraulic power units on the rocket boosters have been serviced and the Orion crew module was closed just yesterday. While there are no humans aboard Orion there are two test dummies as highlighted by The Verge. There’s also a plush Snoopy onboard which will act as a zero gravity indicator.

The Space Launch System is expected to launch on 29th August during a two hour launch window that opens at 14:33 SAST. The one sticking point that could prevent a launch is weather.

“Meteorologists with the U.S. Space Force Space Launch Delta 45 currently predict a 70% chance of favorable weather conditions for launch on Aug. 29. The primary weather concern for the two-hour launch window is scattered rain showers,” NASA said.

This weekend there will be a flurry of activity surrounding this launch. There will be media briefings hosted on Saturday and Sunday and coverage of the launch begins at 06:00 SAST on Monday morning.

In the mean time, you can watch the stream below if you want. It’s a simple static shot of the SLS on the launch pad. As it’s currently night time in the US, you can barely see anything.

https://youtu.be/6SkLFDypXH0