Located in Cape Canaveral, Florida, NASA’s colossal new moon rocket headed to the launch pad on Saturday, marking a significant step toward sending astronauts on their first lunar orbit in over 50 years.

The mission, which involves a round trip to the moon, could commence as early as February.

Standing at an impressive 322 feet (98 meters), the rocket began its slow journey from the Kennedy Space Center’s Vehicle Assembly Building at dawn. This 4-mile (6-kilometer) expedition, moving at just 1 mph (1.6 kph), stretched until nightfall.

In the early morning chill, thousands of employees from the space center, accompanied by their families, gathered to witness this long-anticipated event, delayed for several years. They assembled eagerly as the Space Launch System rocket emerged from the building, which dates back to the 1960s when it was constructed for the Saturn V rockets that propelled 24 astronauts to the moon during the Apollo era. The enthusiastic crowd was led by Jared Isaacman, NASA’s new administrator, along with the four astronauts slated for the mission.

“It’s an incredible day to be here,” remarked Reid Wiseman, the mission’s commander. “The sight is truly awe-inspiring.”

Weighing in at 11 million pounds (5 million kilograms), the Space Launch System rocket and Orion crew capsule on top made the move aboard a massive transporter that was used during the Apollo and shuttle eras. It was upgraded for the SLS rocket’s extra heft.

The first and only other SLS launch – which sent an empty Orion capsule into orbit around the moon – took place back in November 2022.

“This one feels a lot different, putting crew on the rocket and taking the crew around the moon,” NASA’s John Honeycutt said on the eve of the rocket’s rollout.

Heat shield damage and other capsule problems during the initial test flight required extensive analyses and tests, pushing back this first crew moonshot until now. The astronauts won’t orbit the moon or even land on it. That giant leap will take come on the third flight in the Artemis lineup a few years from now.

Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and Christina Koch – longtime NASA astronauts with spaceflight experience – will be joined on the 10-day mission by Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, a former fighter pilot awaiting his first rocket ride.

They will be the first people to fly to the moon since Apollo 17’s Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt closed out the triumphant lunar-landing program in 1972. Twelve astronauts strolled the lunar surface, beginning with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in 1969. Only four moonwalkers are still alive; Aldrin, the oldest, turns 96 on Tuesday.

“They are so fired up that we are headed back to the moon,” Wiseman said. “They just want to see humans as far away from Earth as possible discovering the unknown.”

NASA is waiting to conduct a fueling test of the SLS rocket on the pad in early February before confirming a launch date.

“We’ve, I think, zero intention of communicating an actual launch date” until completing the fueling demo, Isaacman told reporters.

The space agency has only five days to launch in the first half of February before bumping into March.

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