A historic moon mission edged closer to blast off today as NASA rolled out a rocket designed for its first manned lunar expedition in more than 50 years.
The Artemis II rocket began its move toward the launchpad at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The 10-day manned mission, which is set to launch as early as February 6, will be the first to travel around the moon and back to Earth since Apollo 17 in 1972.
NASA's subsequent Artemis III mission will return humans to the lunar surface sometime in 2027.
The space agency said Artemis, 'will send astronauts to explore the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to build the foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars'.
The crawler-transporter 2 vehicle carried the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft along a four-mile route from an assembly building to the launch pad - a journey that will take up to 12 hours.
Once at the launch pad, engineers will spend the next few days preparing SLS and Orion for a rehearsal test that includes loading all the propellants into the rocket.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said the mission would fulfill 'a promise to the American people that we will return to the moon'.
The Canadian former fighter pilot added: 'But now I've been staring at it a lot more. And I think others are going to join us in staring at the moon a lot more as there are humans flying around the far side.'
Koch emphasized how important adaptability is for an astronaut, especially since none of them have been to the moon and its been decades since a mission like this has been undertaken.
'This idea that, yes, you train and prepare for everything, but the most important thing is that you're ready to take on what you haven't prepared for,' Koch said.
'The moon is like a witness plate for everything that's actually happened to Earth but has since been erased by our weathering processes and our tectonic processes and our other geologic processes.
'We can actually learn more about solar system formation, more about how planets form maybe around other stars, more about the likelihood of life out there - starting with studying the moon.'
At the end of the mission, Orion will splash down in the Pacific Ocean, and the spacecraft and crew will be recovered with the help of the US Navy.