NASA’s giant rocket has been moved to its launch pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida, as final preparations are underway for the first manned mission to the moon in more than 50 years.

The 98-meter-tall space launch system was transported vertically on a four-mile (6.5-kilometer) journey from the vehicle assembly building to the pad, which took nearly 12 hours.

It is now in place and will undergo final tests, checks and a dress rehearsal before being given the green light for the 10-day Artemis II mission that will take four astronauts around the moon.

NASA says the earliest the rocket can launch is February 6, but there are more launch windows later in the month and in March and April.

The rocket began its journey at 07:04 local time (12:04 Japan time) and arrived at Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center at 18:41 local time (23:42 Japan time).

The rocket was carried by a gigantic machine called a crawler transporter, speeding up to 0.82 mph (1.3 km/h). Live broadcasts captured the scene moving slowly.

NASA said preparations for the rocket, called a “wet dress rehearsal” that tests fuel operations and countdown procedures, will take place over the next few days.

The Artemis II crew, including NASA’s Reed Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, watched the rocket move at Kennedy Space Center.

In just a few weeks, the four astronauts will be strapped into a spacecraft and placed atop a rocket, ready to blast off to the moon.

This will be the first manned mission to the moon since Apollo 17 landed on the moon in December 1972.

NASA said the mission will take astronauts farther into space than ever before.

Artemis II is not scheduled to land on the moon, but will instead lay the foundation for future moon landings led by the Artemis III mission.

NASA has said it is “not too late” to launch Artemis III by 2027, but experts believe 2028 is the earliest date.

Koch said he felt great when he saw the rocket.

“Astronauts are some of the most level-headed people on launch day, and I feel that way…because we’re ready to carry out the mission that we came here to do and trained for,” she said.

Hansen said he hopes the mission will inspire the world.

“The moon was something I took for granted. I’ve been looking at the moon all my life, just glancing at it and looking away,” he said.

“But now I’m staring at the moon more, and I think other people will join us in staring at the moon more. There will be humans flying around on the other side of the world, and that’s good for humanity.”

Before Artemis II heads to the Moon, it will spend the first two days of its mission in orbit around Earth.

“We’re going to be in orbit almost immediately 40,000 miles away, which is one-fifth of the moon’s orbit,” Koch told BBC News.

“We will be looking out the window at the Earth as a single sphere, and no one has ever seen it from that perspective.

“And we’re going to travel 250,000 miles away…and we’re going to do a lot of science and operations along the way.”

While flying around the far side of the moon, the crew will spend three hours observing the moon, gazing at it, taking images, and studying its geology. This will help plan and prepare for future landings on the Moon’s south pole.

Critical parts of the Orion spacecraft carrying the astronauts were manufactured in Bremen, Germany.

The European Service Module behind the crew capsule is the European Space Agency’s contribution to the mission and was built by Airbus.

“The European Service Module is very important. You basically can’t go to the moon without it,” said Airbus spacecraft engineer Sian Cleaver.

“It will provide the propulsion Orion needs to take us to the moon.”

Its large solar array will generate all of the spacecraft’s power, she added.

“We also have these large tanks filled with oxygen and nitrogen, which can be mixed to create air and water to provide everything the astronauts need for the crew module to stay alive during the journey.”

Inside the clean room, the team is busy building more modules for future Artemis missions. Each one takes about 18 months to assemble, but the design took thousands of engineering hours. Everything on board must function perfectly.

“We have to take astronauts to the moon and bring them back completely safely,” Cleaver said.

The rocket is currently on launch pad 39B, and the Artemis team is working around the clock to prepare for launch.

The mission has already faced years of delays, and NASA is under pressure to get the astronauts out as quickly as possible. However, the US space agency said it would not compromise on safety.

“I have one job, and that’s to get Reed and Victor, Christina and Jeremy back safely,” said John Honeycutt, chairman of the Artemis mission management team.

“We will fly when we are ready…The safety of our crew will be our top priority.”