Overview
- Engineers began a two-day countdown simulation that will culminate in loading more than 2.6 million liters of super-cold propellant into the 98‑meter SLS and stopping about 30 seconds before engine ignition.
- An unusual cold snap delayed fueling by two days, prompting heater and purge-system adjustments to protect Orion and rocket hardware and pushing the earliest liftoff to no earlier than Feb. 8.
- NASA will not set a specific launch date until the wet dress rehearsal is successfully completed and a flight readiness review is finished, with additional opportunities identified through March and April.
- The Artemis II crew—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen—remains in quarantine in Houston and will head to Kennedy Space Center only after the vehicle is cleared for flight.
- The roughly 10‑day test flight will send Orion around the Moon, including the far side, before a Pacific Ocean splashdown, validating systems needed for future lunar landing missions and coordinated recovery operations.