Today may be the day that the Artemis II rocket launches for the moon. This mission, carrying a crew of four – Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialist Christina Koch from NASA, and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen from the CSA (Canadian Space Agency), won’t land on the moon. Instead, this mission will take the four explorers around the moon, making this the farthest humans have gone from Earth since the Apollo missions ended.
On Wednesday, NASA reported the rocket was fueling for launch at some point during a two-hour window.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Artemis II mission so far:
- NASA is targeting a two-hour launch window that opens at 6.24 p.m. ET today (April 1). The rocket is currently undergoing fueling.
- The space agency has said there’s an 80% chance of favorable weather conditions to launch Artemis II today. Today’s conditions are forecast to be the best of all the days in the current launch window.
- The April launch windows for Artemis II run from today through to Monday (April 1 to 6), with the potential for a launch on any of those days. After Monday, the next launch window is April 30.
- This window will be NASA’s last chance to launch the rocket on time, as the mission is meant to lift off no later than April 30.
NASA reports that fueling is ongoing and the pre-launch countdown is underway. As of this writing, it looks like today might be the day.
The countdown for NASA’s Artemis II test flight is underway at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with members of the launch team arriving at their consoles inside the Rocco Petrone Launch Control Center. The onsite countdown clock started ticking down at 4:44 p.m. EDT to a targeted launch time of 6:24 p.m. on Wednesday, April 1. Artemis II is the first crewed launch of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft.
With countdown officially underway, engineers are powering up flight hardware, checking communication links, and preparing the rocket’s cryogenic systems for the precise fueling sequence required to load hundreds of thousands of gallons of super-cooled liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. At Launch Pad 39B, teams will begin filling the sound suppression system’s massive tank with water, which will unleash a protective deluge at liftoff to shield the vehicle from the roar of its own engines.
It’s an exciting time to be a space nerd and to be an American.
Read More: THE ESSEX FILES: NASA’s Moon Reset Shows Why Mission First Still Matters
Artemis II Gets Go-Ahead: 4 Astronauts Shooting Back to the Moon Within Weeks
The only complaint I would register about this is simply, “What took so long?” We sent men to the moon in 1969 and brought them safely home. Some of us remember that. The Apollo missions were using 1960s technology; imagine going into space in a 1967 Rambler, and you’ll have some idea of how much things have changed. So, finally, we’re going back, and this test flight may well pave the way for people going back to land on Luna. There is talk about setting up a permanent base on the moon; maybe even two, although I suspect that they will not be named Moon Unit Alpha and Moon Unit Zappa, nor will there be a giant “laser.”
Stay tuned. We’ll bring you updates as things develop – hopefully the launch will go off on Wednesday as planned.
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