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‘The world will have a look’: Rollout of NASA’s Artemis II stack gets underway

Stay tuned to WTOP for ongoing coverage of the Artemis II mission. [audio wav="https://wtop.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/redfern-turn.wav" hide_title="false" hide_author="true" title="WTOP space guy Greg Redfern breaks down the Artemis II rollout and its impact on NASA's return to the moon." hide_date="true"][/audio]

Saturday marks a big day at the Kennedy Space Center as the Artemis II stack is scheduled to rollout from the Vehicle Assembly Building in Florida.

WTOP has a livestream below.

Pivotal to NASA’s rollout is its crawler-transporter, which will ensure that the stack remains leveled as it makes its way to Launch Pad 39B. The journey will be hourslong and move at a pace of about 1 mph.

Artemis Launch Director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson said during a Friday news conference that the much-anticipated event marked a “milestone.”

“When I am with you, it means there is a milestone upon us. And we are approaching a big one for us,” she told reporters.

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“It takes a little while to get out of the VAB but about an hour after first motion you will get to see this beautiful vehicle cross the threshold, come outside and the world will have a look.”

As always, the scheduled date for each evolution can change very quickly.

Follow my daily blog to keep up with the latest news in astronomy and space exploration. You can email me at skyguyinva@gmail.com.

Eyes to the Skies: Summer solstice, a strawberry moon and Milky Way visible at night

“Eyes to the Skies” is a recurring feature and publishes on the first of every month. You can find it on WTOP’s The Space Place. Email Greg your space questions and he might answer them in the next edition. Each month WTOP’s “Eyes to the Skies” feature previews the best the sky has to offer stargazers regarding the moon, planets and stars. Space-related events that might interest you taking place in the D.C. region will be included as well.
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