Nasa set for first crewed lunar flight in decades

Nasa’s giant new moon rocket headed to the launch pad on Saturday in preparation for astronauts’ first lunar fly-around in more than half a century.

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The out-and-back trip could blast off as early as February.

The 98-metre rocket began its 1.6 kph creep from Kennedy Space Center’s Vehicle Assembly Building at daybreak. The six-kilometre trek could take until nightfall.

Thousands of space center workers and their families gathered in the predawn chill to witness the long-awaited event, delayed for years. They huddled together ahead of the Space Launch System rocket’s exit from the building, built in the 1960s to accommodate the Saturn V rockets that sent 24 astronauts to the moon during the Apollo programme.