For the first time in more than half a century, a crew of astronauts is preparing to leave Earth and travel to the vicinity of the Moon. On Monday, March 30, NASA officially started the launch countdown for Artemis II — the agency’s first crewed lunar mission since Apollo 17 set Eugene Cernan walking on the lunar surface in December 1972. Liftoff is targeted for Wednesday, April 1, at 6:24 p.m. EDT from Launch Complex 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with an 80% chance of favorable weather. For a nation that has waited 54 years for this moment, the clock is finally running.
Who Is Going to the Moon
The Artemis II crew consists of NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen. The crew will spend 10 days on a journey around the Moon and back.
Each crew member carries a historic distinction. Glover would become the first person of color, Koch the first woman, and Hansen the first non-U.S. citizen to travel beyond low Earth orbit. At a distance of approximately 4,700 miles beyond the Moon, the mission would exceed previous crewed flight distance records, while an atmospheric reentry speed of about 25,000 miles per hour would exceed any previous crewed reentry speed.
Commander Wiseman set the tone on arrival in Florida. “Hey, let’s go to the moon!” he exclaimed, speaking to reporters after he and his crewmates arrived at Kennedy Space Center on Friday. “I think the nation and the world has been waiting a long time to do this again.”
What the Mission Will Actually Do
Artemis II is not a lunar landing. It is the essential step before one. The crew will spend their first 24 hours in High Earth Orbit — a safety-first approach designed to keep the astronauts close to home while they verify that Orion’s life-support systems, including the potable water dispenser and the carbon dioxide scrubbing system, are working perfectly.
Assuming Orion gets a clean bill of health after engineers review first-day data, the crew will set up for the critical trans-lunar injection burn about 25 hours after launch, using the service module’s engine. The six-minute, five-second firing will boost the ship’s velocity by about 900 mph — just enough to push it out of Earth’s orbit and begin the four-day coast to the Moon.
The science around the Moon is also significant. While Apollo astronauts flew behind the Moon near its equator, assuming an April 1 launch, 21% of the far side will be in sunlight when the Artemis II astronauts sail past — giving the crew a chance to directly observe portions of the far side of the Moon never before seen by human eyes. “There are actually places on the far side that have never been seen by human eyes,” Mission Specialist Christina Koch said. “So hopefully, when we get there, we’ll be ready to take that on.”
The mission is expected to conclude with reentry and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on April 10. Pulled in by Earth’s gravity, the Orion crew capsule will be moving at about 25,000 mph — roughly 7 miles per second — when it slams back into the atmosphere about 75 miles above the Pacific Ocean, briefly engulfed in an electrically charged fireball as its 16.5-foot-wide heat shield endures temperatures as high as 5,000 degrees.
A Road Paved With Delays
The path to Wednesday’s countdown was not smooth. A wet dress rehearsal in early February was disrupted by a liquid hydrogen leak and valve issues that required retorquing, taking longer than planned. A second wet dress rehearsal on February 19 was successful — but a helium flow issue observed on February 21 triggered a rollback to the Vehicle Assembly Building and delayed the mission to April at the earliest. The rollback began on February 25 and the rocket arrived back at the VAB at approximately 8:00 p.m. that day.
NASA rolled the rocket back to the launch pad on March 20, 2026, where it now awaits launch, with liftoff targeted for April 1. NASA launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson told reporters Monday that the run-up to the countdown start had gone extremely smooth, with only a few extremely minor ground equipment issues to deal with.
The rocket currently standing at Pad 39B is formidable. The Space Launch System is the most powerful operational booster in the world. At 322 feet tall, it towers over the Florida coastline the way Saturn V once did — a visual reminder of what American engineering can still achieve when the goal is extraordinary enough.
The Bigger Picture: A Lunar Base and a Path to Mars
NASA administrator Jared Isaacman recently announced accelerated plans, fueled by a $20 billion budget over the next seven years, to build a lunar base near the Moon’s south pole. The revised strategy aims to launch two Moon missions per year to accelerate construction of the base and set the table for a future crewed mission to Mars.
The broader Artemis program envisions Artemis III in mid-2027 as the second crewed mission, with Artemis IV planned for early 2028 as the first American crewed lunar landing since Apollo 17 in 1972. NASA plans approximately annual lunar landings thereafter.
Artemis II is, in that sense, the foundation. No lunar base gets built, no Mars mission gets planned, and no future generation of American astronauts walks on the Moon without first proving that modern hardware can carry a crew safely to the lunar vicinity and bring them home. That proof begins Wednesday evening.
What Makes This Crew Different
Beyond the mission profile, the Artemis II crew represents an explicit statement about who American space exploration belongs to.
The crew has spent the final countdown phase focused on readiness and technical verification, remaining in quarantine under strict health monitoring and completing medical checks to ensure fitness for launch. They have been following a controlled sleep schedule and nutrition plan to maintain energy and hydration, while continuing to receive regular updates on the rocket’s configuration and weather conditions.
Victor Glover, the mission’s pilot, has spoken publicly about what his presence on the crew means — not just to him, but to the children who will watch the launch and see themselves in the crew photograph for the first time. Christina Koch, who holds the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman, brings operational depth that extends back years. Jeremy Hansen represents Canada’s deepest participation in human deep-space exploration. Reid Wiseman, the commander, has described the mission as something the nation has been owed for five decades.
Upon arriving at Kennedy Space Center on Friday, Commander Wiseman exclaimed to the waiting crowd, “Hey, let’s go to the Moon!” The crew also revealed “Rise” — a small, round plush mascot that will serve as the mission’s zero-gravity indicator, floating freely in the cabin to signal when the crew has cleared Earth’s gravity well.
How to Watch
NASA will stream the Artemis II launch live across its official YouTube channel, website, and app, with coverage beginning several hours before the 6:24 p.m. EDT liftoff window on Wednesday, April 1. The Space.com and Space.com/live pages will carry live updates throughout the countdown. For Americans near Kennedy Space Center, viewing areas at the visitor complex are available for ticket holders.
The countdown clock is running. For a country that put 12 men on the Moon between 1969 and 1972, Wednesday represents both a homecoming and a beginning — the first step on a path that planners believe leads, within a decade, to a permanent human presence on another world.
