The towering rocket that will help propel a group of astronauts on NASA's first human moon mission in half-a-century may soon be visible in Florida.

The United States is preparing to send astronauts around the Moon for the first time in more than half a century, riding a towering new rocket that is now assembled and undergoing final checks in Florida.

NASA’s Crawler-Transporter 2 vehicle will carry the SLS-Orion stack from the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center to Launch Pad 39B for the first manned lunar mission in more than 50 years. The four-mile trip to the launch pad could take up to 12 hours.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman talked to FLORIDA TODAY about the Crew-11 astronaut evacuation, Artemis II rocket rollout, and the status of NASA HQ.

"It’s amazing to think that this thing I have been working on in various capacities for the last eight years is about to send four astronauts around the moon for the first time in a half-century.”

NASA selects two Colorado companies to develop technology used on its next space telescope, which will search for life on other planets