Overview
- NASA plans to lift off Wednesday, April 1 at 6:24 p.m. EDT in a two-hour window from Kennedy Space Center’s Pad 39B, with backup opportunities through April 6.
- Meteorologists from the 45th Weather Squadron will enforce strict launch-weather limits that could postpone the first attempt if clouds, winds, or lightning risks exceed thresholds.
- Those rules bar launches near thunderstorms or electrified clouds, a caution shaped by Apollo 12’s lightning strike and reinforced by lessons from cold-weather damage in the Challenger era.
- The crew—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canada’s Jeremy Hansen—will spend about 10 days testing Orion’s life support on a free‑return loop past the moon before a Pacific splashdown off San Diego.
- NASA moved to this April window after February countdown testing exposed hydrogen leaks and helium flow problems, and the crew has since entered quarantine and arrived in Florida for final prep.