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.

Four astronauts are about to become the first humans to venture near the moon in more than half a century since NASA's iconic Apollo era ended.

"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.”

The rise of the commercial space industry precipitated a steeper decline at Rocketdyne. Boeing sold the Rocketdyne division to Pratt & Whitney in 2005 for $700 million, or approximately $1.2 billion adjusted for inflation. This was the year before SpaceX launched its first rocket, and a few years before NASA wound down the Space Shuttle program.