NASA released wild aerial footage of its moon megarocket flying to space

A rocket is in town.

In a historic launch, NASA's new Space Launch System rocket blasted a craft to the moon. The first astronauts to the moon were sent by the legendary Saturn V rocket. SLS will be used to build a permanent presence on the moon.

Dramatic footage of the megarocket's recent flight into space has been released by NASA. There are events at just over two minutes into the journey from the Kennedy Space Center. Two powerful, white side boosters are stuck to the side of the rocket. 75 percent of SLS's thrust, or force pushing down against Earth, is provided by these parts.

The boosters blast away from the rest of the rocket after they have spent their fuel.

The two boosters are powerful. John Blevins, the chief engineer for NASA's SLS rocket, said that the boosters were the largest ever built.

After the boosters fell away to the Atlantic Ocean, the rocket's orange booster continued to propel the SLS rocket beyond Earth. The spaceship broke away from the last booster and flew towards the moon.

There isn't a crew on this mission. Future astronauts will be able to fly on the next mission, Artemis II, if the spacecraft successfully completes a series of orbits around the moon and then survives an extreme plunge through the Earth's atmosphere. There is a chance Artemis II could fly in a few years. It's possible that astronauts will step foot on the moon again by the year 25.

Tweet may have been deleted

(opens in a new tab)

Sign up for more science and tech news. If you sign up for the newsletter, you'll get top stories.

NASA wants to establish a permanent presence on the moon. Water ice may one day be used by NASA and commercial companies to make fuel and survive in space.

Many of these missions, at least for the next decade or so, will be carried out by the "pickup truck" that is SLS.