Nasa readies Artemis rocket for launch ahead of first Moon mission in 50 years

The Nasa Artemis II rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard leaves the Vehicle Assembly Building moving slowly to pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida., Friday, 20 March, 2026 - (AP Photo/Terry Renna)

Nasa has rolled its Artemis II rocket to the launch pad in Cape Canaveral ahead of a mission to send astronauts around the Moon for the first time in more than five decades.

The US space agency is hoping to use the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft to send four astronauts around the Moon in their capsule before returning directly to Earth next month.