NASA's Artemis II rocket heads to the launch pad
NASA began rolling out its giant Artemis II rocket and Orion spacecraft to Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center.
The move was expected to take up to 12 hours, with the 322-foot, 11-million-pound stack crawling four miles at about one mile per hour—slow and steady wins the space race!
What's special about Artemis II?
Artemis II will send four astronauts on a 10-day trip around the Moon—the first crewed deep-space mission since Apollo 17 in 1972.
The team: commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch (NASA) and Jeremy Hansen (CSA).
Liftoff is targeted for Feb. 6-10, 2026, with backup dates in March and April.
How can you catch the action?
NASA is livestreaming the rollout on YouTube, featuring both the Artemis II crew and NASA's Administrator.
Up next: a "wet dress rehearsal" (fueling test) on Feb. 2, 2026, where teams will fill up the rocket with over 700,000 gallons of super-cold fuel to prep for launch day.