After more than 50 years NASA is going to send humans again to the Moon with the Artemis II mission. The mission will be a lunar swing around which means no lunar orbit like Apollo 8 did back in 1968 which in my eyes is a little disappointing because there was done more already with the first journey ever of men to the Moon.
Back to topArtemis II is scheduled to be flown not later than April 2026 with a first launch windows opening from February 6 to 11 EST time zone. The rollout from the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) to Launch Pad 39B is targeted no earlier than January 17. The 4 miles (6.4 km) long journey will take about 12 hours.
Updates:
NASA performed a Wet Dress Rehearsal down to T- 5:15 minutes into the count before the test needed to be scrubbed. The count was automatically terminated because of liquid hydrogen leak. As a result the launch needed to be postponed until March when new launch windows will open. See also: NASA Conducts Artemis II Fuel Test, Eyes March for Launch Opportunity
Due to cold weather the Wet Dress Rehearsal was postpones to February 2, 2026 (EST) and consequence the launch cannot occur before February 8, 2026 (EST).
| Time to scheduled rollout January 17, 2026 07:00 EST/12:00 UTC: | On Pad 39B |
| Time to scheduled Wet Dress Rehearsal February 3, 2026 02:00 UTC: | Scrub at T- 5:15 minutes |
| Time to first launch opportunity on March 7, 2026 at 01:29 UTC: | 00 d 00:00:00 |
Clockwise from left
Christina Koch (Mission Specialist), Victor Glover (Pilot), Jeremy Hansen (Mission Specialist), Reid Wiseman, (Commander)
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