Nasa returns moon rocket to pad and targets 1 April launch | Nasa

Nasa has begun returning its towering SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft to its Florida launch pad before a planned flyby of the moon, after completing necessary repairs.

Artemis engineers began the manoeuvre, which can take up to 12 hours, at 8pm local time. The US space agency will then begin the final preparations before its next launch window opens on 1 April.

The immense orange-and-white Space Launch System rocket and the Orion vessel will be slowly wheeled out of the assembly building at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and painstakingly moved 4 miles (6.5km) to launch pad 39B.

If the tests are satisfactory, three US astronauts and one Canadian will head to the moon and fly around Earth’s satellite.

The mission, due to last about 10 days, would be a huge step towards Americans once again setting foot on the lunar surface, a goal announced by President Donald Trump in his first term. But that ambition has been plagued by delays.

Late last month, Nasa detected an issue with helium flow and decided to roll the Artemis 2 stack – which weighs 5,000 tonnes – back into the vehicle assembly building to investigate the problem and make the necessary repairs.

That meant a March launch was out of the question. Before that setback, Nasa had discovered other technical problems, including a liquid hydrogen leak that cut short a “wet dress rehearsal” for the launch.

The agency is now hopeful that the first crewed flyby in more than half a century will get off the ground in early April. The first opportunity is 1 April, with several more following in the subsequent days.

Meanwhile, the Artemis 2 astronaut crew entered quarantine on Wednesday in Houston as they prepared for liftoff.