After 52 years since the last human visit to the moon, NASA’s Artemis program is gearing up for a significant milestone with the upcoming Artemis II mission. This mission will involve four astronauts, including Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen and NASA astronauts Christina Koch, Reid Wiseman, and Victor Glover, who will orbit around the moon. The scheduled launch date is set for no earlier than Feb. 6.
Before the astronauts embark on this historic journey, the rocket and spacecraft must undergo thorough checks. The towering 100-meter tall Space Launch System (SLS) is set to roll out on Saturday in preparation for the mission. John Honeycutt, the Artemis II mission management team chair, expressed excitement during a recent press conference, emphasizing the historic nature of the upcoming mission.
The SLS and the Orion spacecraft, which will house the astronauts for 10 days during the mission, have only been launched once for the unmanned Artemis I mission around the moon in 2022. Now, they are primed to carry human passengers. Although the astronauts will not land on the lunar surface during Artemis II, they will engage in lunar observations, experiments, and spacecraft testing to prepare for Artemis III, where astronauts are scheduled to walk on the moon, tentatively set for no earlier than 2028.
The rollout of the rocket on Saturday is planned for 7 a.m. ET, with an estimated journey time of eight to 12 hours for the five million-kilogram rocket to reach the launch pad. The crew access arm, through which the astronauts will board the rocket on launch day, will be retracted in approximately 45 minutes. Subsequent connections and preparations will continue over the following day before the wet dress rehearsal, a crucial step where the rocket is fueled as if for launch to ensure readiness.
Wet dress rehearsals are essential practice sessions before launch, requiring meticulous execution. Artemis I underwent four wet dress rehearsals over several months before receiving clearance for liftoff. Reflecting on the proximity of the Feb. 2 rehearsal and the Feb. 6 launch window, Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, the Artemis launch director for exploration ground systems, highlighted the valuable lessons learned from the test flight of Artemis I.
The anticipation is high as the Artemis II mission marks a significant step in NASA’s efforts to return humans to lunar exploration.