Launch day has arrived for NASA's Artemis II mission—here's what to expect
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Florida —Launching to the Moon is an all-day undertaking, something the four astronauts waiting to climb aboard NASA's Artemis II rocket know well. "It is actually a very long day," said Victor Glover, the pilot on Artemis II. "We wake up about eight hours before launch, and there's a pretty tight schedule of things to get out there." Glover and his three crewmates have their schedules planned to the minute throughout the nine-day Artemis II mission. If all goes according to plan, their mission will carry them more than a quarter-million miles from Earth, farther from home than anyone has ventured in human history. After looping behind the Moon, the astronauts and their Orion capsule will fall back to Earth at some 25,000 mph (40,000 km/hr), setting another record for the fastest that humans have ever traveled. Read full article Comments
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Florida —Launching to the Moon is an all-day undertaking, something the four astronauts waiting to climb aboard NASA's Artemis II rocket know well.
"It is actually a very long day," said Victor Glover, the pilot on Artemis II. "We wake up about eight hours before launch, and there's a pretty tight schedule of things to get out there."
“It’ll go when the engines light at T-0.”
Reid Wiseman, the mission commander, will join Glover at the controls inside the Orion spacecraft’s cockpit. Mission specialist Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen round out the crew. All four have critical roles during the mission to test the Orion spaceship, which is flying with humans for the first time after 20 years in development.
The journey could begin as soon as Wednesday at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission has a two-hour launch window opening at 6:24 pm EDT (22:24 UTC). You can watch NASA’s live coverage of the countdown and launch in the YouTube stream embedded below.
