the status by queen victoria. good afternoon. nasa is to launch a new era of moon exploration. later today the most powerful rocket it s ever built will blast off from the kennedy space center in florida. the artemis test flight will orbit the moon and it s hoped will help pave the way for a crewed mission to the lunar surface in three years. our science editor, rebecca morelle reports. it s almost time. standing on launch pad 39b, the same one used by the apollo missions, the most powerful rocket nasa has ever built is ready for liftoff. the rocket is simply enormous. and it s only when you re standing here that you really get a sense of its size. and this is the last chance we ll see it up close. the launch pad is closing and fuelling is about to begin. because in just a few hours time, this will be blasting off. the first step in our return to the moon for 50 years. we talk about moonshots as things that humans can do when we put our differences aside and we focus on the
although this turned out to be frost in a crevice. but it was an issue with an engine that spell the end. launch director charlie blackwell thompson has called a scrub for today. nasa s administrator, bill nelson, was on hand to explain. this is a very complicated machine, a very complicated system, and all those things have to work. and you don t want to light the candle until it s ready to go. they came so close, the countdown stopping at t 40 minutes. there were too many technical problems to contend with. you have to remember, though, that this is a new rocket, and it hadn t really been put through its paces, so it s no surprise the engineers were being extra cautious. the plan is for the rocket to push a capsule, called orion, into deep space, to go into orbit around the moon before it returns to earth with a splash down. if the maiden flight is a success, the next time, astronauts will come along for the ride. but they are not surprised by the delays. this is the first
at d ao minutes. there were just too many technical problems to contend with. live from our studio in singapore. this is bbc news. it s newsday. it s 7am in singapore, and 4am in pakistan where the government says a third of the country is now under water. millions of homes are now destroyed and much of its richest farmland is now flooded. the disaster has killed over 1,100 people and affected 33 million. and the catastrophe isn t over water is still surging down the indus river, and will flood the low lying sind province even further over the next few days. latest reports say 45% of the country s cotton crop has been washed away. pumza fihlani reports. a moment of quiet in the middle of chaos. inside a crowded hall, families that have been displaced by the floods in northern pakistan have found temporary refuge. for many, it was a narrow escape. translation: our. houses have collapsed because of the floods. we had a home and it was enough for us. now all our belongings a
in bangladesh, an explosion and fire at a storage depot kills at least 49 people and injures hundreds more. russian missiles strike the ukrainian capital of kyiv for the first time in more than a month. and in sport, wales beat ukraine 1 0 in cardiff to qualify for the world cup for the first time in 64 years. a huge pageant along the mall has ended with an appearance by the queen. the event concludes four days of celebrations to mark her majesty s platinum jubilee. more than 10,000 people, including the military, performers and key workers, took part in the parade, which depicted key moments from each decade of her 70 year reign. sir cliff richard, ed sheeran and gary lineker were among the celebrities taking part. in the last few moments, buckingham palace has issued this statement on behalf of the queen. it says: when it comes to how to mark 70 years as your queen, there is no guidebook to follow. it really is a first. but i have been humbled and deeply touched that so ma