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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.
NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building as Artemis 2 rocket moves to launch pad. Pic: AP
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.
Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman speaks at Cape Canaveral. Pic: Reuters
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.
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