The first crewed moon mission since the Apollo era will launch a week from today, if all goes according to plan.
NASA is apparently still targeting April 1 for the liftoff of Artemis 2, which will send four astronauts on a 10-day journey around the moon and back to Earth.
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The Artemis 2 stack is already at the pad — Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. It got there on March 20, making the 4-mile (6.4-kilometer) trek from KSC’s Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) atop the the agency’s huge crawler-transporter 2 vehicle.
It was the second trip to the pad for Artemis 2’s SLS and Orion. The duo first got there on Jan. 17, when NASA was targeting early February for the liftoff.
But the Artemis 2 team hit a few hurdles that pushed that timeline back. For example, a leak of liquid hydrogen propellant was detected during the mission’s first attempt at a wet dress rehearsal (WDR), a two-day-long practice run of the procedures leading up to launch.
The team fixed the leak and successfully completed a WDR on Feb. 20. But they soon discovered another issue — an interruption in the flow of helium to the SLS’ upper stage. That problem couldn’t be fixed on the pad, so the Artemis 2 stack was rolled back to the VAB for repairs.
NASA has said it doesn’t plan to perform another WDR, so there are fewer boxes to check during this second stint at the pad. Still, a launch on April 1 is far from guaranteed. Many different issues could pop up, and NASA will doubtless err on the side of caution, given that this is a crewed mission. (The four people flying are NASA’s Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency.)
If Artemis 2 can’t get off the ground on April 1, other opportunities are available each day through April 6. Another window opens on April 30, but we’re not sure how far it extends; NASA has declined to discuss May opportunities, saying it’s laser-focused on April.