On the Artemis II launch pad, NASA’s mission that will see astronauts orbit the Moon for the first time in over 50 years.
From the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, the U.S. space agency will launch today at 6:24 PM EDT (00:24 Italian time) the Artemis II mission, the first crewed flight directly to the Earth’s satellite in over five decades, after the last Apollo mission in 1972.
The crew, composed of NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, and Victor Glover, along with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, is currently in quarantine, but four hours before launch they will head to the Kennedy Space Center to don their spacesuits.
Meanwhile, technicians have begun slowly filling the SLS rocket – on which the Orion capsule housing the crew is integrated – with liquid hydrogen and oxygen. This process starts slowly, then accelerates, to prevent the ultra-cold propellants from damaging the system.
The mission, expected to last about 10 days, will take the astronauts into orbit around the Moon and will test for the first time with humans the life support systems of the Orion capsule, laying the groundwork for subsequent crewed missions in the Artemis program.
Their journey around our natural satellite will pave the way for a lunar landing and, in the future, the construction of a lunar base.
All the details.
ARTEMIS II READY FOR LAUNCH
Weather conditions are favorable, with a 20% chance of deterioration during the launch window. In case of postponement, new opportunities will be available until April 6.
The launch has experienced several delays compared to the initial February and March dates due to a hydrogen leak that required further technical checks.
THE LONGEST JOURNEY EVER UNDERTAKEN BY HUMANS IN SPACE
The Artemis II mission will take astronauts about 406,000 kilometers from Earth, surpassing the record set in 1970 by the Apollo 13 mission, which reached about 400,000 kilometers. The Artemis II crew will not land but will orbit the far side of the Moon, never visible from Earth, approaching as close as 6,500 km. This will take them farther into space than the Apollo astronauts, who orbited about 120 km from the lunar surface.
During Artemis II, astronauts will test life support systems, communications, and onboard interfaces. About three hours after launch, they will take manual control of the capsule to verify its maneuverability and stability.
The U.S. space agency is counting on the 1 million km flight around the Moon and back – the longest journey ever undertaken by humans in space – to give new momentum to its Artemis program.
NASA’S ARTEMIS PROGRAM
The Artemis II launch is already two years delayed due to issues encountered with the heat shield during the first uncrewed Artemis mission in 2022, which saw the Space Launch System and Orion capsule reach the Moon without crew onboard. In December 2024, the space agency set the deadline for the Artemis II launch by the end of April 2026.
The Artemis program represents a multi-billion dollar investment aiming to establish a stable human presence on the lunar south pole. The Orion capsule is built by Lockheed Martin, while the SLS rocket was developed with contributions from Boeing and Northrop Grumman. Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin are working on developing lunar landing modules.
At the end of February, NASA postponed the return of astronauts to the Moon, recalibrating the Artemis program milestones: the Artemis III mission will no longer perform a lunar landing in 2027 but will be a demonstration mission in low Earth orbit. The first lunar landing is now expected with Artemis IV in 2028. NASA aims to carry out a crewed lunar landing in two years with the Artemis IV mission, ahead of China’s plans, which target reaching the Moon around 2030.
Last week, NASA administrator Jared Isaacman, outlined a gradual $20 billion plan to build a lunar base, starting with occasional human missions to develop infrastructure and aiming over time for a stable presence, while abandoning the Lunar Gateway orbital station project.
Finally, if all goes according to plan, Artemis II will conclude with the return to Earth: the Orion capsule will splash down in the Pacific Ocean on the evening of April 10.
