NASA's Artemis 1 moon rocket reaches the launch pad

The NASA Artemis 1 rocket is on its way to a launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Thursday, March 17, 2022.

John Raoux/AP

A moon rocket has made it to a launch pad for the first time in nearly 50 years.

The Artemis 1 rocket traveled from the Vehicle Assembly Building to the pad after reaching Launch Complex 39B early Friday morning.

The journey marked a key milestone in NASA's next chapter of deep space exploration.

Randy Bresnik says it is a huge moment.

The Apollo program of the 1960s and 1970s brought Neil, Buzz, and other Americans to the moon. The Artemis program is named after Apollo's twin sister, the goddess of the moon in Greek myth, and could bring astronauts back to our rocky neighbor after a half-century absence.

The Space Launch System is a 5-million-pound rocket that stands more than 300 feet tall and is designed to carry NASA's Orion capsule, a spaceship that could one day ferry humans to the moon and back.

The Artemis I mission will not have a crew. Instead, it will test the rocket and spacecraft's capabilities for carrying astronauts on a trip to the moon.

The mission is not ready to leave the planet just yet.

Artemis will go through a wet dress rehearsal.

"We treat it like a real countdown," says NASA's Carlos Garcia-Galan. Kennedy Space Center will practice fueling the vehicle and counting down to liftoff.

Artemis engineers and technicians will be keeping a close eye on any issues during the wet dress rehearsal.

If everything works on the launch pad, it will be a great opportunity to see the integrated systems.

The rocket will make its way back to the Vehicle Assembly Building one last time before launching to the moon as early as June.

Following a successful Artemis I mission, a crew of astronauts will launch on Artemis II on a mission around the moon and back, followed by Artemis III, which includes landing on the lunar surface.

A woman and a person of color will be part of the Artemis III crew. Randy Bresnik says it will be easy to find astronauts willing to go.

Bresnik says that every single person in a blue flight suit is ready to volunteer for Artemis to fly.