NASA’s Artemis II crew — Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen — are set to attempt launch as early as Wednesday, April 1 at 6:24 p.m. Eastern. A live stream of the countdown and liftoff begins at 12:50 p.m. Eastern.
If the mission succeeds, it will be the first time humans have traveled to the moon in more than 50 years, fulfilling a promise made by Apollo 17 commander Gene Cernan in 1972 when he scratched his daughter’s initials on the lunar surface and spoke of returning with peace and hope for all mankind.
An Orion crew capsule sitting atop a 322-foot rocket will lift off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida and carry the four astronauts on a roughly 10-day mission. The spacecraft will first orbit Earth to verify key systems, then depart on a figure-eight trajectory around the moon that will take the crew farther from Earth than any humans have flown before, before returning home.
Artemis II is the first crewed flight in NASA’s Artemis program, following the uncrewed Artemis I test in 2022 that sent an empty Orion on a three-week lunar circuit. This mission is mainly to validate spacecraft performance with people on board and to rehearse maneuvers and procedures needed for future lunar landings and a sustained human presence on and around the moon with international partners.
Weather looks promising: Mark Burger of the Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron reported about an 80% chance of favorable conditions for launch day, though teams will continue to monitor forecasts closely. Jeff Spaulding, senior NASA test director, noted that the reality of sending humans to the moon often hits in the final minute before ignition, when the firing room grows quiet for the countdown and everyone realizes how close they are to going.
Tune in to the live stream starting at 12:50 p.m. Eastern to follow the countdown, launch, and early mission milestones.