A NASA astronaut on the ISS captured the Space Launch System rocket for Artemis 2, a mission that aims to bring four astronauts around the moon as soon as Feb. 6.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- 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.

NASA announced that the earliest launch window for Artemis II is Feb. 6, 2026, with 12 more possible dates available from February-April. The Artemis mission, a followup to the Apollo program, hopes to have astronauts back on the moon’s surface by 2027.

America's next mission to the moon is happening in only a few weeks.

NASA moved the rocket slated to carry four astronauts around the moon to the launch pad on Saturday, a key step as the Artemis II moon mission nears.

Slowed by four main parachutes in predawn darkness, the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft descended and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on Thursday, Jan. 15, wrapping up NASA's first-ever astronaut medical evacuation from the International Space Station.