CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA began a countdown to two days of practice Saturday to prepare for refueling its new lunar rocket, a crucial test that will determine when four astronauts will blast off for a flyby of the moon.
Lieutenant Colonel Reid Wiseman and his crew, who will become the first people to set foot on the moon since 1972, have been quarantined to avoid bacterial infection. Once the rocket is cleared for flight, they will monitor the rehearsal from their base in Houston and then fly to Kennedy Space Center.
The 322-foot-tall (98-meter) Space Launch System rocket moved to the launch pad two weeks ago. If Monday’s fuel test goes well, NASA could try to launch within a week. The team will inject more than 700,000 gallons of ultra-cold fuel into the rocket’s tanks, stopping the engine half a minute before it starts.
A severe freeze delayed the fuel demonstration and launch by two days. The rocket can currently be launched as early as February 8.
U.S. and Canadian astronauts will ride in the Orion capsule on top of the rocket, orbit the moon and then right back until they splash down in the Pacific Ocean. This mission will last nearly 10 days.
From 1968 to 1972, NASA sent 24 astronauts to the moon during the Apollo program. Twelve of them walked on the lunar surface.
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