Overview
- Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen arrived in Florida on Friday, moving into final checks as managers prepare to start the 48-hour launch countdown after a Monday review.
- NASA is targeting Wednesday at 6:24 p.m. EDT for liftoff, with backup opportunities through April 6 and an additional chance on April 30.
- The roughly 10-day flight will follow a free-return path around the Moon, passing about 4,100 miles from the surface before a Pacific splashdown near San Diego around April 10 if schedules hold.
- The launch windows are tight because Orion must align with the Earth–Moon geometry and avoid long periods in darkness so its solar arrays can power the capsule and keep temperatures stable.
- This first crewed test of the Space Launch System and Orion follows repairs for a liquid-hydrogen leak and a helium-flow problem that prompted a rollback, and NASA is skipping another full wet dress rehearsal in favor of pad checks while also flying with an adjusted re-entry profile after Artemis I heat-shield charring.