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Along the Way to Launch Pad 39B

NASA's crawler-transporter 2 with the mobile launcher atop
A truck sprays water to reduce the dust as NASA's crawler-transporter 2 with the mobile launcher atop moves slowly along, on its trek to Launch Pad 39B.

A truck sprays water to reduce the dust as NASA’s crawler-transporter 2 (CT-2) with the mobile launcher (ML) atop moves slowly along, on its trek to Launch Pad 39B on August 31, 2018, at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. CT-2 will move the mobile launcher up to the surface of the pad where it will undergo a fit check, followed by several days of systems testing.

The 380-foot-tall mobile launcher is equipped with the crew access arm and several umbilicals that will provide power, environmental control, pneumatics, communication and electrical connections to NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion spacecraft. Exploration Ground Systems is preparing the ground systems necessary to launch SLS and Orion on Exploration Mission-1, missions to the Moon and on to Mars.

Image Credit: NASA/Cory Huston