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Our First Views of NASA’s Long-Awaited Megarocket, Fully Stacked and on the Launch Pad

SLS leaving the Vehicle Assembly Building and moving slowly on its 10-hour, 28-minute trek to Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

SLS leaving the Vehicle Assembly Building and moving slowly on its 10-hour, 28-minute trek to Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Photo: John Raoux (AP)

NASA’s megarocket designed to carry humans to the Moon has reached historic Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Standing 322 feet tall, the Space Launch System is an impressive sight—one we’ve waited ages to finally see—as these striking photos attest.

Space Launch System, NASA’s biggest-ever rocket, began its crawl from the Vehicle Assembly Building to the launch pad yesterday. This is the critical centerpiece of NASA’s Artemis program, which seeks to land the first woman and first person of color on the lunar surface later this decade. The uncrewed inaugural mission, Artemis 1, is set to launch this spring or summer.