After series of delays, US space agency hopes to carry out first crewed flyby of the moon in more than half a century
Nasa has begun returning its towering SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft to its Florida launch pad ahead of a planned flyby of the moon, after completing necessary repairs.
Artemis engineers began the manoeuvre, which can take up to 12 hours, at 8pm local time. The US space agency will then begin the final preparations before its next launch window opens on 1 April.
The immense orange and white Space Launch System rocket and the Orion vessel will be slowly wheeled out of the assembly building at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and painstakingly moved four miles (6.5km) to Launch Pad 39B.
If the tests are satisfactory, three US astronauts and one Canadian will head to the moon and fly around Earth’s satellite.
