NASA rolls colossal moon rocket to launch pad for Artemis II crewed lunar mission

NASA moved the 11-million-pound Space Launch System rocket with the Orion crew capsule from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center for rollout, a key pre-launch step toward Artemis II — a four-astronaut, 10-day crewed mission that will orbit Earth before the Moon. The process leads into a wet dress rehearsal and a potential February 2026 liftoff window, with Artemis III planned for 2027 to land near the Moon’s south pole.