Missions

As the Artemis II countdown moves steadily toward liftoff no earlier than 6:24 p.m. EDT, Wednesday, April 1, launch teams at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida continue completing a sequence of highly choreographed steps to ready the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft for the crew’s journey around the Moon.  The weather forecast for launch 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 […]

Ahead of call to stations at 4:34 p.m. EDT on Monday, and the countdown clock beginning at 4:44 p.m., engineers continue preparations toward the launch of the Artemis II mission from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The agency is targeting no earlier than Wednesday, April 1, for launch. The weather forecast shows an 80% […]

Teams at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida are making final preparations toward beginning launch countdown activities for the Artemis II mission, set to launch as early as Wednesday, April 1. The weather forecast for launch day shows an 80% chance of favorable weather conditions with primary concerns being cloud coverage and the potential for […]

The four astronauts set to fly around the Moon on NASA’s Artemis II test flight arrived at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Friday, March 27. NASA continues to target as soon as Wednesday, April 1, for launch within a two-hour window that opens at 6:24 p.m. EDT. During remarks at Kennedy’s Launch and […]

Teams at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida continue preparing the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft for its crewed launch as early as Wednesday, April 1. After rolling to Launch Pad 39B on top the mobile launcher on March 20, teams began securing the rocket, spacecraft and launch platform to the pad […]

At 11:21 a.m. EDT on Friday, March 20, NASA’s Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft arrived at Launch Pad 39B after an 11-hour journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.  NASA’s crawler-transporter 2 began its 4-mile trek with the integrated SLS and Orion stacked on top of the mobile launcher at 12:20 a.m. EDT. Moving […]

NASA’s Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft slated to send four astronauts around the Moon began rolling to Launch Pad 39B at 12:20 a.m. EDT on Friday, March 20. Rollout operations at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida were delayed earlier in the day due to high winds in the area.  The trek to the pad is […]

NASA’s Artemis II rocket and its four-person crew are all making progress toward a launch pad meet up in April. Engineers are targeting 8 p.m. EDT on Thursday, March 19, to start rolling the Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft to Launch Pad 39B at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in […]

Due to quicker than expected completion of close-out activities, NASA now may roll out the Artemis II rocket from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39B, on Thursday, March 19.  A final decision on start time will be made on Wednesday, March 18.  The rollout was originally scheduled for March 19, but engineers identified an electrical harness on the flight termination system of the core stage of […]