NASA's Artemis II mission stands ready to launch from Kennedy Space Center's pad 39B, marking humanity's return to lunar orbit after more than 50 years. The 322-foot-tall Space Launch System rocket will carry four astronauts on a 10-day flyby of the moon, including NASA astronauts Victor Glover and Christina Koch, plus Canada's Jeremy Hansen. The mission represents a crewed dress rehearsal for eventual lunar landings, similar to Apollo 8 and 10 decades ago.
The SLS rocket, developed through a collaboration between NASA, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, United Launch Alliance, and Aerojet Rocketdyne, will propel the Lockheed Martin and Airbus Defense and Space-built Orion spacecraft beyond low Earth orbit. The mission will establish several historic milestones, with Glover becoming the first person of color to travel beyond low Earth orbit, Koch the first woman, and Hansen the first non-American to reach that distance.
The two-hour launch window opens Wednesday at 6:24 p.m. ET, with a backup opportunity Thursday at 7:22 p.m. ET if needed. The mission timeline reflects recent delays, as the Artemis II stack was rolled back to its hangar in late February to address technical issues that prevented an earlier launch attempt. The nearly 10-day mission duration will test critical systems for future lunar operations.
While Artemis II conducts only a lunar flyby, it serves as a crucial stepping stone for NASA's broader lunar exploration goals. The agency has restructured its timeline, with Artemis III now planned to test SpaceX and Blue Origin lunar lander vehicles in low Earth orbit, while an actual moon landing has been pushed to Artemis IV in 2028. According to NASA Chief Historian Brian Odom, the mission signals "a picking up where we last left off" with a continued "shoulders of giants" mentality.