NASA's new moon rocket heads to the pad ahead of astronaut launch as early as February

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s giant new moon rocket headed to the launch pad Saturday in preparation for astronauts’ first lunar fly-around in more than half a century.

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

The 322-foot (98-meter) rocket began its 1 mph (1.6 kph) creep from Kennedy Space Center’s Vehicle Assembly Building at daybreak. The four-mile (six-kilometer) 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 program. The cheering crowd was led by NASA’s new administrator Jared Isaacman and all four astronauts assigned to the mission.

“What a great day to be here,” said Reid Wiseman, the crew commander. “It is awe-inspiring.”

Weighing in at 11 million pounds (5 million kilograms), the Space Launch System rocket and Orion crew capsule on top made the move aboard a massive transporter that was used during the Apollo and shuttle eras. It was upgraded for the SLS rocket’s extra heft.

The first and only other SLS launch — which sent an empty Orion capsule into orbit around the moon — took place back in November 2022.

“This one feels a lot different, putting crew on the rocket and taking the crew around the moon,” NASA’s John Honeycutt said on the eve of the rocket’s rollout.

Heat shield damage and other capsule problems during the initial test flight required extensive analyses and tests, pushing back this first crew moonshot until now. The astronauts won’t orbit the moon or even land on it. That giant leap will take come on the third flight in the Artemis lineup a few years from now.

Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and Christina Koch — longtime NASA astronauts with spaceflight experience — will be joined on the 10-day mission by Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, a former fighter pilot awaiting his first rocket ride.

They will be the first people to fly to the moon since Apollo 17’s Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt closed out the triumphant lunar-landing program in 1972. Twelve astronauts strolled the lunar surface, beginning with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in 1969. Only four moonwalkers are still alive; Aldrin, the oldest, turns 96 on Tuesday.

“They are so fired up that we are headed back to the moon,” Wiseman said. “They just want to see humans as far away from Earth as possible discovering the unknown.”

NASA is waiting to conduct a fueling test of the SLS rocket on the pad in early February before confirming a launch date.

“We've, I think, zero intention of communicating an actual launch date" until completing the fueling demo, Isaacman told reporters.

The space agency has only five days to launch in the first half of February before bumping into March.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

NASA's new moon rocket, Artemis II, makes its way from the Vehicle Assembly Building to pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

NASA's new moon rocket, Artemis II, makes its way from the Vehicle Assembly Building to pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

NASA's new moon rocket, Artemis II, makes its way from the Vehicle Assembly Building to pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

NASA's new moon rocket, Artemis II, makes its way from the Vehicle Assembly Building to pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

The Artemis II rocket makes its way from the Vehicle Assembly Building to pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

The Artemis II rocket makes its way from the Vehicle Assembly Building to pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

In this photo provided by NASA, the Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft, secured to the mobile launcher, is seen inside the Vehicle Assembly building as preparations continue for roll out to Launch Pad 39B, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (Aubrey Gemignani/NASA via AP)

NASA's Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft, secured to the mobile launcher, is seen inside the Vehicle Assembly building as preparations continue for roll out to Launch Pad 39B, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (Keegan Barber/NASA via AP)

RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Senegal has made extensive complaints about the way its national soccer team is being treated in Morocco ahead of Sunday’s Africa Cup of Nations final against the host nation.

The Senegalese Football Federation, known as FSF, issued a statement in the early hours of Saturday morning in which it criticized a lack of security arrangements for the team’s arrival in Rabat, problems with the team’s accommodation, issues with the training facilities, and difficulties getting a fair ticket allocation for its supporters.

It called on the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the local organizing committee to “immediately take every corrective measure to guarantee respect for the principles of fair play, equal treatment, and security indispensable for the success of this celebration of African football.”

Senegal 's players traveled by train from Tangier to Rabat on Friday, but found what the federation said was a “clear lack of adequate security measures” upon their arrival. Social media videos showed the players and staff surrounded by crowds of people jostling to get selfies and photos as they attempted to make their way to the team bus.

“We have to say what happened is abnormal, abnormal. For a team like Senegal to be left with the crowd like that, the players were in danger. Anything could have happened through the actions of malicious people,” Senegal coach Pape Thiaw said Saturday at the pre-match news conference.

Anger boiled over during the news conference when a Moroccan journalist suggested CAF was to blame for the shortcomings and not the local organizing committee. Senegalese media objected to his statement.

The federation said the lack of security at the train station "exposed the players and technical staff to overcrowding and risks incompatible with the standards of a competition of this magnitude and the prestige of a continental final.”

The federation said it had to file a formal written complaint to get adequate hotel accommodation for the team after its arrival in Rabat. It did not describe the condition of the accommodation the team was first offered.

The federation said it notified CAF of its “categorical refusal” to hold team training sessions at the Mohammed VI Complex, which is where the Morocco team has been based for the whole tournament. Morocco was to train there also Saturday.

The federation said it “raises a question of sporting fairness” and that it still waiting to be informed of where the Senegal team could train. The Olympic Stadium was finally announced as the venue Saturday 1½ hours before the training session was due to take place.

The federation said the ticketing situation was “concerning.” It was only able to purchase 2,850 tickets for its supporters, the maximum according to limits authorized by CAF.

The federation said the allocation is “insufficient given the demand” and that it “deplores the imposed restrictions, which penalize the Senegalese public.”

The capacity of the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, which is hosting the final, is 69,500 fans. Morocco has been buoyed by vociferous support in all its games so far.

Morocco is bidding to end a 50-year wait for its second Africa Cup title.

Senegal, which won the 2021 trophy, is also going for its second title.

“Up to today, the organization was great, it’s being talked about all over the world, and a big thank you to Morocco for this wonderful organization. They’ve really raised the bar for calmness, and let’s hope it continues” Thiaw said. ”But after what happened yesterday, whatever anyone might say, I don’t know, we all saw it, we’re all witnesses to what happened yesterday. It shouldn’t happen again. It’s the image of Africa ... I’m not speaking as a Senegalese coach, I’m speaking as an African. And I'm speaking on behalf of Africans. And once we get out of this, we’re going to focus on this final. We want to bring home this trophy."

AP at the Africa Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/africa-cup-of-nations

Senegal squad pose before the Africa Cup of Nations semifinal soccer match between Senegal and Egypt, in Tangier, Morocco, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohamed Bounaji)