good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. nasa is hoping to launch its most powerful rocket yet in a launch window which begins in just over half an hour for an un crewed mission, the first step in taking astronauts back to the moon. hundreds of thousands of people have gathered near cape canaveral in florida to watch the launch of artemis i. the craft will orbit the moon before returning to earth in six weeks time. if successful, the plan is for astronauts to be on board the flight in two years time. our science editor rebecca morelle is at kennedy space center in florida. rebecca, however things looking for this launch? ~ rebecca, however things looking for this launch? this launch? well, it is a big day here and as this launch? well, it is a big day here and as you this launch? well, it is a big day here and as you can this launch? well, it is a big day here and as you can see - this launch? well, it is a big day here and as you can see behindl this launc
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
rebecca, however things looking for this launch? this launch? well, it is a big day here and as this launch? well, it is a big day here and as you this launch? well, it is a big day here and as you can this launch? well, it is a big day here and as you can see - this launch? well, it is a big day here and as you can see behindl this launch? well, it is a big day - here and as you can see behind me, the weather is looking pretty perfect, but the team has been beset by technical problems. and we are waiting to find out if, when or if, they are going to go ahead with the launch. currently we are filling that liquid oxygen tank. final preparations early this morning. standing on launch pad 39 b, the same one used by the apollo missions, the most powerful rocket nasa has ever built is getting ready for liftoff. the first step in returning humans to the moon for 50 years. we talk about moon shots as things humans can do when we put our differences aside and we focus on the mission and
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 mission and do great things together. well, now we re going to have our own moonshot, right? and so this is our generation, like, we get to now say we did it. if we do this successfully monday, we have sent something like that, a human rated spacecraft to the moon. for its maiden launch, the rocket will push a capsule called orion into deep space, where it will go into orbit around the moon before it returns to earth. no astronauts will be on board this time. this is a test flight. with such new technology, there are lots of things that could go wrong. we have done so much testin