Now that SLS has crawled out to the launch pad we can calculate when she’ll launch, right. No exactly. The next step is a “wet test” where they fill the tanks with fuel to make sure nothing leaks or explode. Once that test happens next month the crawler will be called into service again to drag the stack back to the VAB. Only then will the countdown be able to begin for launch.
When pressed for a launch date, NASA has been vague. The general consensus is “summer”. Elsewhere it’s being listed as “June”. Things get a bit more complicated when you look at the actual launch windows.
Based on the calendar published last November, Artemis cloud launch as early as June 6th. But wait a minute, Summer starts June 21st, I say.
I really hope for the sake of my summer plans when NASA says “summer”, the are quietly capitulating to the July launch window. We shall see.