Artemis 2 moon rocket rolls back to launch pad | Space photo of the day for March 20, 2026

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NASA's Space Launch System rocket was back on the move overnight ahead of its second mission to the moon, which will be the first time the vehicle carries a crew.

What is it?

This photo, taken by Space.com senior producer Steven Spaleta, shows NASA's Space Launch System rocket (SLS) rolling out of the agency's massive Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) in the early morning hours on March 20, 2026.

SLS started the move around 8 p.m. EDT on March 19 (0000 GMT on March 20) and slowly inched its away across the 4-mile (6.4-kilometer) path to historic Launch Pad 39B atop NASA's massive Crawler-Transporter 2 vehicle. The journey took around 12 hours.

This was the second time NASA has rolled out the rocket. After the first rollout on Jan. 17, the Artemis 2 team conducted a wet dress rehearsal (WDR), fueling the rocket and running through a mock countdown. That identified a liquid hydrogen propellant leak, which was fixed on the pad. On Feb. 21, NASA identified another issue with the rocket's helium flow, prompting mission managers to roll the Artemis 2 rocket back to the VAB.

After fixing the issue earlier this month, SLS was once again rolled out to Launch Pad 39B overnight today.

Why is it amazing?

SLS is scheduled to launch NASA's Artemis 2 mission no earlier than April 1, sending a crew of four astronauts around the moon and back in the agency's Orion spacecraft.

Artemis 2 will see NASA's Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency become the first people to fly beyond low Earth orbit since the Apollo 17 in 1972.

If NASA can't launch on April 2, there are other opportunities throughout the month. The agency is eyeing another launch window that opens in May, but has yet to announce any potential dates past April.