Artemis II: NASA readies to launch astronauts to moon
April 1, 2026
The four astronauts of the Artemis II mission are locked in their seats in the Orion capsule, with technicians performing critical checks to ensure safety.
This is the first time since 1972 that astronauts will fly to the vicinity of the moon if weather conditions remain favorable.
NASA is targeting a two-hour launch window that opened at 6.24 p.m. ET (10:24 p.m. GMT) today.
The April launch windows for the mission run from today through to April 6, with the potential for a launch on any of those days.
If a launch is not successful in that window, Artemis II would have to wait till April 30 to launch again.
What do we know about Artemis II mission?
Four astronauts of the Artemis II flight are expected to take off for the moon on Wednesday night, in what would mark NASA's most ambitious space mission in decades.
The 10-day flight around the moon marks a major step toward returning humans to the lunar surface, taking place before China's first crewed landing.
It would mark the farthest humans have ever traveled in space, sending them some 252,000 miles (406,000 km).
Are astronauts going to land on the moon?
Astronauts aren't going to land on the moon this time, but the Artemis mission is set to see if components of the Artemis space program can send astronauts to the moon and back.
What do we know about the rocket and astronauts?
Launching from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Artemis II mission's towering 322-foot (98-meter) Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, topped with the astronauts' Orion crew capsule, will launch as early as 6:24 p.m. local time (2224 GMT).
NASA astronauts Christina Koch, Victor Glover and Reid Wiseman and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, landed in Florida from Houston on Friday after a two-week quarantine leading up to liftoff.
Artemis promises moon base
The astronauts are not expected to land on the moon. Instead, they will travel several thousand miles beyond it, perform a U-turn and return to Earth.
They will not circle around the moon nor perform a moonwalk. But on the flight, they are expected to test critical life-support systems of the Orion capsule, crew interfaces and communications.
The Artemis II mission ultimately represents the opening shot of NASA's plans for a permanent moon base. The agency hopes for a proper moon landing near the lunar south pole in 2028.
Edited by: Srinivas Mazumdaru, Alex Berry