NASA Readies Boeing-Lockheed Craft for Moon Race With China (1)

NASA began rolling out a costly rocket to the launchpad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Saturday, a milestone in a lunar space race between the US and China.

The 4-mile trip to move the Boeing Co. Space Launch System rocket and Lockheed Martin Corp. Orion spacecraft from the assembly building to the launch site will take the team as long as 12 hours, according to a NASA news release.

Once the rocket and spacecraft arrive at the site, NASA will begin other preparations for the flight, including connecting ground support equipment, testing hardware components and checking ...