NASA on Saturday rolled out the spacecraft that will take Americans on a journey around the moon, as part of the agency's Artemis II mission.
The integrated SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft — which will hold the four astronauts flying the mission — began its hours-long journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39B around 9 a.m. ET.
The agency said the four mile trek to ferry the 11 million-lb rocket stack could take up to 12 hours.
"The architecture you see behind us here with SLS and the Orion spacecraft is just the beginning," NASA director Jared Isaacman told reporters at the event.
"Now, over time, launching missions like this, we are going to learn a lot and the vehicle architecture will change. And as it changes, we should be able to undertake repeatable, affordable missions to and from the moon."
The lunar launch could be staged as early as Feb. 6, depending on team and rocket readiness.
The craft's four astronauts — Christina Koch, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman, and Canadian Space Agency Astronaut Jeremy Hansen — will first orbit Earth before traveling around the moon. The journey is expected to take around 10 days.
The goal of the Artemis program is to eventually send Americans to the moon for the first time in more than 50 years, with the longer term goal of achieving missions to Mars.
The launch of Artemis II follows the original Artemis launch, which sent a crewless craft into space in 2022.
What the lunar orbit would teach its onboard scientists, Isaacman said, "is what's going to enable missions like Artemis 100 and beyond," adding that he hoped the mission would inspire future generations of astronauts as well.
"Why are we doing this? We are doing this to fulfill a promise – a promise to the American people that we will return to the moon."
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