The countdown clock at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center is ticking down towards a potential launch of the Artemis II mission Wednesday evening, sending a crew of four on a mission around the moon and back.
It’s the first time in more than 50 years KSC is counting down for a crewed lunar mission, this time to a first two-hour launch window that opens Wednesday at 6:24 p.m.
Mission managers say that all the issues with the rocket – like its leaking hydrogen and faulty helium system – are fixed. Launch Director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson said they’ll keep a close eye on the rocket and only launch when ready, “but certainly, all indications are right now we are in excellent, excellent shape as we get into count.”
Once that count hits zero, NASA’s massive SLS rocket will launch the Orion space capsule and its crew of four: NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen.
“This is a test flight,” said Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman. "This is the first time we're going to try. This is the first time we're loading humans on board. And I will tell you the four of us we are ready to go. The team is ready to go and the vehicle is ready to go. But not for one second do we have an expectation that we are going. We will go when this vehicle tells us it's ready and when the team is ready to go.”
Based on a weather briefing issued Monday by the Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron, there is a 20% chance that weather could impact the launch, with clouds and ground winds the primary concern.
Should there be a delay, NASA has identified additional launch windows through Monday, and an additional opportunity on April 30.
A new moon mission
The 10-day mission will test out key systems of the Orion vehicle like its life support and control systems as it travels around the moon and back – taking the crew farther into deep space than any other mission. After their lunar fly-by, the crew will return to Earth, with a planned splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
The mission is a key step in NASA’s ambitious plan called Artemis to return humans to the surface of the moon. While Artemis II won’t land on the moon – instead, the capsule will fly around it – the crew will take key observations for future landings.
Two commercial companies – SpaceX and Blue Origin – are developing and building the landers that will take future astronauts to the surface. Last week, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced the agency’s Ignition program, which restructures NASA’s current lunar plans, scrapping a planned space station around the moon and instead focusing on developing a permanent science base on the surface, with dozens of launches delivering equipment scientific payloads.
The Artemis III mission will test how the Orion spacecraft and the landing system interact in low-Earth orbit. The following mission will take humans to the surface – the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972.
But all that hinges on the success of Artemis II.
“It is our strong hope,” said Artemis II mission specialist Christina Koch, “that this mission is the start of an era where everyone, every person on Earth, can look at the moon and think of it as also a destination.”
