Are you excited about the first manned moon exploration in over 50 years? Here’s everything you need to know about how to watch the Artemis II launch.
The Artemis II lunar mission is on the verge of launch, sending four astronauts farther into space than any human before.
The mission, the second under NASA’s multibillion-dollar lunar program, will send three Americans and a Canadian on a 10-day journey around the moon and back. Although the astronauts are not scheduled to land, the mission will serve as an important test flight that will lay the groundwork for humans to return to Earth in as little as two years.
Along the way, the Artemis II astronauts will make history by venturing nearly 250,000 miles into space, farther than the record-setting Apollo 13 mission, and seeing the far side of the moon unlike anything humans have ever seen before.
All signs are looking positive that the mission will start on schedule as NASA prepares to soon begin loading hundreds of thousands of gallons of supercooled liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen onto a giant rocket that will begin its trip to the moon from Florida.
Are you excited about the first manned moon exploration in over 50 years? Here’s everything you need to know about how to watch the Artemis II launch.
When will Artemis II be released? What you need to know about time, date
NASA is working towards the launch of the Artemis II mission from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, April 1st. The Orion capsule, which will carry astronauts atop NASA’s 322-foot Space Launch System rocket toward the moon, is scheduled to touch the ground during a two-hour launch window that opens at 6:24 p.m. ET.
NASA says there is an 80% chance that weather conditions will be favorable for launch. However, if the launch fails due to bad weather or other factors (such as unforeseen problems with the spacecraft), NASA has other backup dates available, from April 2 to 6, in addition to April 30.
Artemis II launch countdown
How to view NASA coverage of the Artemis II mission
On April 1, NASA will provide full-day coverage of Artemis II’s preparations for liftoff, a towering Space Launch System rocket from Launch Complex 39B at Kennedy Space Center.
The livestream will be available throughout the day on Amazon Prime, NASA’s YouTube channel, and NASA+, NASA’s free streaming service.
Future NASA+ coverage will also be available during important mission milestones, such as lunar flyby attempts, return to Earth, and landings.
Artemis II lunar mission coverage schedule
Let’s take a closer look at NASA’s coverage schedule for April 1st.
- 7:45 a.m. ET: Watch and explain on YouTube the operation of loading liquid propellant into the SLS rocket, the most powerful rocket ever launched by NASA. Events will have their own streams added closer to the start time.
- 12:50pm (Eastern Standard Time): Coverage of the impending launch begins on NASA+.
- 6:24pm ET: A two-hour startup window opens. Coverage on NASA+ will end after the Orion capsule’s solar wings deploy into space, but will continue on YouTube.
- 2 and a half hours after launch: NASA plans to hold a press conference after the SLS rocket’s upper stage burns up, sending the Orion capsule and its crew into high-Earth orbit.
Real-time mission coverage will continue on YouTube throughout, including live conversations with the crew. We also plan to provide a separate live stream of the view from the Orion spacecraft, bandwidth permitting.
The latest information about these events is available on NASA’s Artemis blog.
Four astronauts orbit the moon on Artemis rocket launch
Under the Artemis program, NASA aims to return astronauts to the moon for the first time since the Apollo program ended in 1972.
But this time, astronauts won’t just plant the American flag before returning to Earth. NASA aims to use a series of manned and unmanned missions over the next few years to build a lunar base and establish a permanent foothold at the moon’s south pole.
From there, the first humans could head to Mars.
As a 10-day lunar orbit mission, Artemis II will primarily serve as a test flight, with a crew of four testing systems and hardware ahead of a future landing.
In 2027, another astronaut will reach Earth orbit aboard Orion to test docking capabilities with one or both of the commercial lunar landers being developed by Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin. The moon landing will then take place in 2028 under Artemis IV.
Introducing the Artemis II crew
The four astronauts selected for the Artemis II mission include the first woman to venture near the moon (mission specialist Christina Koch), a black man (pilot Victor Glover), and a Canadian (mission specialist Jeremy Hansen).
The mission is under the command of NASA astronaut Reed Wiseman.
All four astronauts arrived in Florida on March 27 while undergoing standard preflight quarantine to avoid exposure to the disease.
Eric Lagatta is a Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Please contact elagatta@usatodayco.com.
