NASA SLS Mobile Launcher Rolls to KSC Pad 39B for Key Workout Tests: Photos

NASA’s SLS Mobile Launcher rolls out at sunrise along the crawlerway to Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Jun. 27, 2019 for the final trip with no rocket atop time for key final testing and checkouts. Its next roll to the pad will be for the debut launch of the 1^st Space Launch System rocket and integrated Orion spacecraft in preparation for the launch of Artemis 1 slated for NET late 2020. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

Ken Kremer -- SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM – 28 June 2019

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL –  Starting at midnight Thursday NASA’s mobile launcher began to roll out from the iconic Vehicle Assembly Building on its final ‘solo trek’ to Launch Complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Center on Jun. 27, 2019 - minus the mighty Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft its designed to transport – to carry out key workout testing and checkouts. 

The Mobile Launchers next roll to the pad will be with the 1^st  integrated SLS rocket and Orion crew capsule in preparation for the debut launch of the Artemis 1 mission to the Moon slated for NET late 2020.

Thursday’s rollout along the same KSC crawlerway used during the Apollo and Space Shuttle eras actually began a 2-day affair.

The 380-foot-tall (115-meter) ML mounted atop the crawler-transporter 2 (CT-2) took about 10 hours to reach the perimeter gates of pad 39B where it halted by around 10 a.m. EDT. 

Media including Space UpClose were invited by NASA to observe and photograph the operation starting just before sunrise as the towering ML passed by the LC-39 observation tower and made a sharp right turn to head to pad 39B rather than straight ahead to pad 39A which is now leased by SpaceX for Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches.


Enjoy our gallery of Space UpClose imagery ringing KSC and the launch pad. 

Check back as the gallery grows. 

See the beautiful rainbow was water truck sprays cooling water onto crawlerway rocks to keep them cool as NASA’s massive SLS Mobile Launcher riding atop crawler-transproter-2 drives along the crawlerway to Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Jun. 27, 2019 for the final trip with no rocket atop time for key final testing and checkouts. Its next roll to the pad will be with the 1^st Space Launch System rocket and integrated Orion spacecraft in preparation for the debut launch of Artemis 1 slated for NET late 2020. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

Technicians resumed the roll operation on Friday morning, driving the ML to the top of pad 39B by lunchtime. 

Overall the roll took about 16 hours as the team worked to verify all systems.


A normal rollout from the VAB to the top of pad 39B will take about 8 hours or so as the massive structure moves at a whopping top speed of 0.85 MPH

A water spray vehicle regularly doused the crawlerway rocks to cool them from the intense heat generated by the 12 million pound stack. 

Side view of rollout of NASA’s SLS Mobile Launcher along crawlerway to pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Jun 27, 2019. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

The Mobile Launcher has been inside the VAB since last September to ready it for this rollout operation. 

“The mobile launcher has gone through a series of critical tests in the VAB,” said Dan Florez, NASA test director with Exploration Ground Systems at Kennedy. 

“We’ve conducted umbilical arm swing tests, environmental control system tests, hydraulic testing, nitrogen and helium testing and electrical tests to verify commands from the Launch Control Center are properly communicating with the ground support equipment and umbilicals.”

Artemis 1 will be the first mission launching Orion on the SLS rocket from Kennedy’s Launch Pad 39B. The mission will take Orion thousands of miles past the Moon on an approximately three-week test flight. 

NASA’s massive SLS Mobile Launcher riding atop crawler-transproter-2 drives along the crawlerway to Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Jun. 27, 2019 for the final trip with no rocket atop time for key final testing and checkouts. Its next roll to the pad will be with the 1^st Space Launch System rocket and integrated Orion spacecraft in preparation for the debut launch of Artemis 1 slated for NET late 2020 as part of NASA’s Explore Moon to Mars initiative. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

Orion will return to Earth and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California, where it will be retrieved and returned to Kennedy.

Here are further ML details from NASA:

With the mobile launcher now at the pad, some of the final testing that will take place includes water flow testing of the ignition overpressure and sound suppression systems that will help protect the SLS, Orion, the mobile launcher and launch pad from the extreme acoustic and temperature environment of launch. Testing also will evaluate cryogenic flows for the ultra-cold propellant and additional checkout of electrical and umbilical systems.

“One important test coming up involves swinging three umbilical arms on the mobile launcher simultaneously, which is the first time all three arms will move together, just as they would during launch,” said Cliff Lanham, NASA’s senior project manager for the mobile launcher at Kennedy.

The three arms being tested are the core stage intertank umbilical, the core stage forward skirt umbilical and the interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS) umbilical. The umbilicals for the intertank and forward skirt will provide power and air to purge the lines for the SLS rocket. The umbilical for the ICPS will provide cryogenic propellants – or super-cooled liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen – in addition to power and purge air to the ICPS, which provides the power and propulsion needed to send Orion to the Moon and back.

“The arms, built offsite, were first sent to the Launch Equipment Test Facility where each one was tested individually before installation on the mobile launcher,” said Florez. “Now it’s time for the integrated test to validate that all three arms can retract at the same time so that when the countdown clock hits zero, each arm swings away at the right time for that historic launch moment.”

After final testing at the pad is complete, which is slated for the end of September, the mobile launcher will roll back to the VAB for minor testing before SLS and Orion stacking.

“Once the vehicle is stacked on the mobile launcher, it will roll to the pad one final time for a rehearsal prior to launch,” said Lanham. “It’s exciting to see it all falling into place.”

Ken will be onsite at the Kennedy Space Center for live coverage of NASA’s Orion Ascent Abort-2 test launch. 

Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and more space and mission reports direct from the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia.

Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer – email: ken at kenkremer.com

Dr. Kremer is a research scientist and journalist based in the KSC area, active in outreach and interviewed regularly on TV and radio about space topics.
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Jul 1/2: Quality Inn Kennedy Space Center, Titusville, FL, evenings.  Learn more about the upcoming/recent NASA Orion Ascent-2 Abort test  Falcon Heavy, NASA 2024 Moon landing goal, SpaceX Starlink-1, SpaceX Falcon 9/CRS-17 launch to ISS, SpaceX Demo-1 launch/test failure, SpaceX Beresheet launch, NASA missions, ULA Atlas & Delta launches, Northrop Grumman Antares, SpySats and more 

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