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5d ago

NASA Readies Artemis II for April 1 Moon Flyby Launch

The crewed test will prove Orion systems for future lunar landings.

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The Artemis II rocket on a launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at sunrise.
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People look at NASA's next-generation moon rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion crew capsule, on Pad 39B ahead of the Artemis II mission launch at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Overview

  • Mission managers planned a final readiness review Monday to clear a two-hour launch window that opens at 6:24 p.m. ET Wednesday from Kennedy Space Center’s Pad 39B.
  • Forecasts call for roughly an 80% chance of acceptable weather for liftoff, with backup opportunities through April 6 and a later window beginning April 30 if needed.
  • Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen will fly a roughly 10-day free‑return loop around the moon without landing.
  • The flight will test life‑support, navigation, communications, and Orion’s heat‑shield during high‑speed reentry after NASA fixed a helium‑flow seal in the rocket’s upper stage.
  • NASA will stream the countdown and flight on NASA+, NASA TV, and YouTube, and success would set up later Artemis missions that aim to return astronauts to the lunar surface around 2028.