Watch NASA roll out its new mega-rocket, the Space Launch System, for the first time

This afternoon, NASA will begin the very slow process of rolling out its brand new rocket, the Space Launch System, transporting the fully stacked vehicle out to its primary launchpad at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It is a major moment for the rocket, which has been in development for the last decade, but after numerous delays and hiccups, the vehicle may finally be on the horizon.

The Space Launch System, or SLS, has spent most of the last year tucked away in NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building, a massive warehouse structure that used to house and integrate giant rockets. The pieces of the vehicle have been put together and tested to make sure they are ready for this moment.

The vehicle will embark on an 11-hour journey across four miles of KSC terrain on top of NASA's crawler-transporter, a tank-like platform with massive tracked wheels that will slowly roll the rocket over the ground. The mobile launch platform that SLS will take off from in the future is on top of the crawler. It has a platform that is about 355 feet tall. The main launch pad for SLS is LC-39B, which was once used to launch Apollo missions to the Moon and the Space Shuttle.

If all goes well today, NASA will conduct a wet dress rehearsal in early April, a major event where engineers will mimic an actual launch day, filling the vehicle up with propellant and counting down close to the moment of launch. After rolling the SLS back to the VAB, NASA will conduct more tests on the rocket before launching it again.

This is the first time that the fully stacked vehicle will see the light of day, though SLS still has a ways to go before launch. Don't expect a lot of drama. The SLS will be taking a while to get across KSC because the transporter moves at a mile per hour.

HOW DO I WATCH?

NASA plans to broadcast the SLS launch on its dedicated channel, NASA TV. You can watch the feed on NASA's website.

WHAT TIME IS ROLLOUT?

SLS will start rolling out of the VAB on March 17th.

New York: 5PM, San Francisco: 2PM, London: 9PM, Berlin: 10PM, Moscow: 12AM, New Delhi: 2:30AM, Beijing: 5AM, Tokyo: 4AM.