will be uncrewed to test if the technology works. if it s successful, it will pave the way for human beings to return to the moon. our science editor rebecca morelle reports from cape canaveral in florida. 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 lift off. the rocket is simply enormous, and it s only when you re standing here that you realise 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 are going to have our own moonshot, right? and so this is our generation.
of testing it in flight, and that s what we are excited about doing monday. so much is riding on this. the next step is to get astronauts on board. nasa s ultimate plan is to land the first woman and the first person of colour on the lunar surface. along the causeways around cape canaveral, people are getting ready to watch the launch, setting up early to bag the best spot. hundreds of thousands are expected in the area. i m really excited because it s one of the biggest rocket launches in 50 years. it s the largest so far that s going to be going up, and it will be extremely loud. i ve been watching this stuff ever since, well, i i watched this space landing in 69. - the weather might have other ideas, though. above the launch pad, the storms keep on coming. nasa will need a break in the clouds to get this rocket off the ground. rebecca morelle, bbc news, at the kennedy space center, florida.
it will be the first of the artemis mission and this flight will be uncrewed to test if the technology works. if successful, it will pave the way for human beings to return to the moon. 0ur science editor rebecca morelle reports from cape canaveral in florida. 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 lift off. the rocket is simply enormous, and it s only when you re standing here that you realise 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 are going to have our own moonshot, right? and so this is our generation.
this is bbc news. the headlines: more than a thousand people have now died in pakistan where floods have been described by the country s foreign minister as a catastrophe. bilawal butto zardari told the bbc the disaster was on a scale he has never seen before. pakistan s government has issued a fresh appeal for more international aid. nasa is preparing to launch its new rocket for its first mission to the moon in 50 years. it s the first of the artemis mission an uncrewed test flight to see if the technology works. it could pave the way for human beings to return to the moon. roland mesnier, the veteran white house pastry chef, has died at the age of 78. the french born confectioner spent 27 years serving five us presidents.
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 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 0rion 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. w