Final Steps Underway for NASA's First Crewed Artemis Moon Mission
NASA is preparing to roll out the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft to the launch pad for final integration testing and launch rehearsals ahead of the first crewed deep space mission in over 50 years.
NASA plans to roll the Artemis II SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39B no earlier than Jan 17, a 4-mile, 12-hour trek. A wet dress rehearsal will follow, loading 700,000+ gallons of cryogenic propellant. The crew includes NASA's Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and CSA's Jeremy Hansen for a ~10-day lunar flyby. The launch window opens as early as Feb 6. This is NASA's first crewed Artemis flight, marking humanity's return to deep space after more than 50 years.
NASA's SLS (Space Launch System) rocket inside High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building as teams await the arrival of Artemis II crewmembers to board their Orion spacecraft on top of the rocket as part of the countdown demonstration test, December 20, 2025, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
As NASA moves closer to the launch of the Artemis II test flight, the agency will soon roll its SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft to the launch pad for the first time at Kennedy Space Center in Florida to begin final integration, testing, and launch rehearsals.
NASA is targeting no earlier than Saturday, January 17, to begin the multi-hour trek from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39B. The four-mile journey on the crawler-transporter-2 will take up to 12 hours. Teams are working around the clock to close out all tasks ahead of rollout. However, this target date is subject to change if additional time is needed for technical preparations or weather.
"We are moving closer to Artemis II, with rollout just around the corner," said Lori Glaze, acting associate administrator for NASA's Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate. "We have important steps remaining on our path to launch and crew safety will remain our top priority at every turn, as we near humanity's return to the Moon."
Engineers have been troubleshooting several technical issues in recent days and weeks:
- Replacing a cable involved in the flight termination system that was bent out of specifications, with testing of the new cable planned for the weekend
- Successfully replacing and testing a valve associated with Orion's hatch pressurization that exhibited issues before the December 20 countdown demonstration test
- Resolving leaky ground support hardware required to load gaseous oxygen into Orion for breathing air
Once the integrated rocket and spacecraft reach the launch pad, NASA will immediately begin launch pad preparations, including connecting ground support equipment. At the end of January, NASA will conduct a wet dress rehearsal, which is a prelaunch test to fuel the rocket. During wet dress, teams demonstrate the ability to load more than 700,000 gallons of cryogenic propellants into the rocket, conduct a launch countdown, and practice safely removing propellant from the rocket without astronauts onsite.
The wet dress rehearsal will include several runs to demonstrate the launch team's ability to hold, resume, and recycle to several different times in the final 10 minutes of the countdown, known as terminal count. While NASA has integrated lessons learned from Artemis I into the launch countdown procedures, the agency will pause to address any issues during the test or at any other point should technical challenges arise.
The Artemis II astronauts include NASA's Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen. Once the wet dress rehearsal is complete, the astronauts will conduct a final walkdown at the pad.
While the Artemis II launch window opens as early as Friday, February 6, the mission management team will assess flight readiness after the wet dress rehearsal across the spacecraft, launch infrastructure, and the crew and operations teams before selecting a launch date.
To determine potential launch dates, engineers identified key constraints required to accomplish the mission and keep the crew inside Orion safe. These launch periods account for the complex orbital mechanics involved in launching on a precise trajectory toward the Moon while the Earth is rotating on its axis and the Moon is orbiting Earth each month in its lunar cycle.
As part of a Golden Age of innovation and exploration, the approximately 10-day Artemis II test flight is the first crewed flight under NASA's Artemis campaign. It is another step toward new U.S.-crewed missions to the Moon's surface, leading to a sustained presence on the Moon that will help the agency prepare to send the first astronauts to Mars.