CAPE CANAVERAL, USA: NASA’s giant new moon rocket headed to the launch pad Saturday in preparation for astronauts’ first lunar fly-around in more than half a century. The out-and-back trip could blast off as early as February. The 322-foot (98-meter) rocket began its 1 mph (1.6 kph) creep from Kennedy Space Center’s Vehicle Assembly Building at daybreak. The four-mile (six-kilometer) trek could take until nightfall. Thousands of space center workers and their families gathered in the predawn chill to witness the long-awaited event, delayed for years.

NASA says it is preparing to roll its 322-foot-tall Space Launch System rocket to the launchpad in Florida.

Artemis II mission could launch on 6 February, sending astronauts on a 685,000-mile journey