NASA Set to Launch Artemis II, First Crewed Lunar-Distance Mission in 50 Years

Overview

• NASA’s Space Launch System with the Orion capsule targets a Wednesday liftoff from Kennedy Space Center at 10:24 p.m. local time, with about an 80% chance of acceptable weather and backup opportunities through April 6.
• The roughly 10‑day flight will check out life‑support, navigation and communications in Earth orbit, then send Orion on a free‑return swing around the Moon before a Pacific Ocean splashdown.
• Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian Jeremy Hansen form the crew that will include the first woman, the first Black astronaut and the first non‑American assigned to a lunar mission.
• This will be the first crewed flight of both the SLS rocket and Orion capsule after fixes for earlier hydrogen leaks and a blocked helium pressurization line, with NASA also reviewing Orion’s heat‑shield wear seen on Artemis I.
• Success would clear the way for later Artemis missions that aim to land on the Moon and build a sustained presence, and the crew has stayed in quarantine as flight directors enforce strict launch‑weather and hardware criteria.