CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA is accelerating its plans to send humans back to the moon by 2024.

It's a tall order — launching astronauts to the moon from the Kennedy Space Center in just five years.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine has been promoting the effort on Twitter this week by documenting his travels across the south and highlighting the efforts going on to get humans back to the moon.

"Behind me, we have really 4/5ths of the rocket assembled, and that is really an astonishing accomplishment given how fast we have accelerated the manufacturing of this rocket," Bridenstine said.

Bridenstine was in New Orleans Thursday where teams are assembling the core stage of the Space Launch System rocket. Over the next few months the most complex part of the rocket, the engine section, will be attached to the core.

After a critical Green test run of the core stages, the rocket will be brought to the Kennedy Space Center where it will launch an uncrewed Orion spacecraft on its first mission around the moon, which is set for the end of next year.

The second SLS-Orion mission will have astronauts on board for another mission around the moon. If all of that is successful, then the first woman and next man will land on the moon during the third SLS launch of Orion.

Another important piece needed to land on the moon is the lander. Bridenstine will be at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama Friday where they will manage the program to develop the lunar lander.

A lot of funding is needed to get humans to the moon by 2024, and so far, Congress hasn't approved an extra $1.6 billion NASA needs in next year's fiscal budget.