NASA’s enormous rocket that will soon carry astronauts around the moon has reached its launch pad.
The painstaking 11.5-hour journey from the hangar saw the rocket move upright for four miles, loaded on to the back of a Crawler Transporter 2.
The transporter itself weighs 3 million kilograms and is roughly half the size of a football pitch, while the rocket is taller than Big Ben.
The transporter burned a litre of diesel every 3.5m of the trip, travelling at just one mile per hour most of the time.
Artemis 2 is scheduled for lift-off next month and will see four astronauts travel around the moon for the first time in 50 years.
The next mission, Artemis 3, plans to land NASA astronauts on the moon’s surface.
As the rocket was making its way to the launch pad, the four astronauts told reporters what they planned on taking into space with them.
Mission commander Reid Wiseman said he has a blank piece of paper and a pen and pencil.
“I can’t wait to write some thoughts on that. I don’t know what to expect, and I don’t want to go in with any preconceived notions,” he said.
Science correspondent
NASA is in a tight space race with China to return to the lunar surface and establish a moon base.
Delays in the development of the SpaceX Starship, which is due to shuttle astronauts from the Orion capsule, while it orbits the moon, down to the surface, have pushed back US plans.
NASA has said the Artemis landing could now be 2028, three years later than original planned.
China hopes to land taikonauts on the surface by 2030.
The destination this time is the moon’s rugged south pole, where no humans have been before. Scientists believe there is water ice deep frozen in the permanently shaded craters.
That water could sustain a moon base, providing drinking water as well as oxygen to breath and the components of rocket fuel to explore further into the solar system.
There are also big plans to study the moon’s geology, and perhaps one day even mine minerals to transport back to Earth.
Mission pilot Victor Glover will take his Bible with him, along with an heirloom from each of his daughters and his wife.
“For me, it’s handwritten notes from people I love,” said mission specialist Christina Koch.
“The idea I can hold in my hands way out there something that they held in their hands. It’s really special to me.”
Mission specialist Jeremy Hansen said he’s put four moon pendants worn by his wife and children on to the rocket.
“I collected them back this summer and now they’re on that vehicle, rolling to the pad,” he said.
Be the first to get Breaking News
Install the Sky News app for free
Although the Artemis rocket is 13m shorter than the Saturn V that launched the Apollo missions, it’s about 15% more powerful.
It has 8.8 million pounds of thrust, roughly the same as 28 jumbo jets and can lift 27 tonnes to deep space.
Because of its size, it needs to reach a speed of 24,000mph to break free of the Earth’s gravity and head to the moon.
Read more space stories:
ISS astronauts back after first ever emergency return
Racing to replace the International Space Station
Inside the lab trying to protect the astronauts of the future
Once the rocket is safely on its launch pad, crews will start even more rigorous testing.
The fuelling test, called a “wet dress rehearsal”, is scheduled to take place on 2 February, four days before the first launch window.
Follow our channel and never miss an update
Based on the rocket’s performance during that test, NASA will decide if Artemis 2 will be ready for a 6 February launch.
In addition to the fuelling tests, NASA will need to perform a series of Space Launch System rocket and Orion crew capsule checks, as well as a run through with the Artemis 2 astronaut crew.
