Countdown begins for long-awaited Artemis II moon mission
Countdown clocks began ticking Monday, setting the stage for launch of the Artemis II moon mission early Wednesday evening.
Updated on: March 30, 2026 / 8:59 PM EDT / CBS News
For the first time in half a century, countdown clocks began ticking Monday toward launch of a three-man one-woman crew on a trip to the moon and back , a major step in NASA's accelerated drive to establish a lunar beachhead with landings in 2028, followed by construction of a moon base.
With forecasters continuing to predict an 80% chance of favorable weather, Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen hope to strap into their Orion capsule and blast off atop a giant Space Launch System rocket at 6:24 p.m. EDT Wednesday.
"We just wrapped up our L(aunch)-minus two (day) mission management team review and the team polled go to proceed towards the planned April 1 launch attempt," said Amit Kshatriya, the NASA associate administrator.
The review included "the usual readiness items — vehicle status, ground systems, flight hardware and the integrated launch operations timeline," Kshatriya said. "We also reviewed the most recent engineering assessments (and) the team concluded that everything continues to look good, and there are no issues preventing us from pressing ahead."
Assuming an on-time liftoff, the crew will pass behind the moon next Monday, sailing 4,100 miles above the lunar far side before heading back to Earth for a Pacific Ocean splashdown on the southern California coast on April 10.