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Artemis II Set to Roll to Pad as Crew Enters Quarantine for Early-April Launch

Continuous solar monitoring with Orion radiation alerts will protect the crew during the 10-day lunar flyby.

Image
The crew of Artemis II (from left) Jeremy Hansen, Christina Koch, Victor Glover and Reid Wiseman pose for pictures as their ride to the moon is transported from the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center, FL to the launch pad January 17, 2026. The rocket is tentatively scheduled to launch in early February. Craig Bailey/FLORIDA TODAY via USA TODAY NETWORK
The Artemis II Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft returns to the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center on Feb. 25, 2026.

Overview

  • The SLS and Orion are scheduled to begin a 4‑mile move from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39B at 8 p.m. ET on March 19 aboard the crawler-transporter, a trip expected to take up to 12 hours.
  • Engineers resolved a helium flow blockage by replacing a seal, refreshed rocket and Orion batteries, completed tests, and a flight readiness review cleared the stack for an early‑April launch attempt.
  • Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen began quarantine on March 18 in Houston and plan to transfer to Kennedy Space Center about five days before liftoff.
  • For the deep-space leg beyond Earth’s magnetic field, NASA and NOAA will track solar flares and coronal mass ejections using a network of spacecraft, with Mars’ Perseverance providing early views of far‑side sunspots.
  • Orion houses multiple cabin radiation sensors and the crew will wear active dosimeters, with procedures to add equipment as shielding, and NASA expects baseline exposure comparable to about one month on the ISS absent solar storms.