The four astronauts assigned to the Artemis II mission have begun a period of quarantine in Houston, Texas, NASA confirmed Friday afternoon. The precautionary measure is standard procedure ahead of the planned launch, currently targeted for March 6, and is designed to minimize the risk of illness to the crew during the mission.
The Artemis II crew consists of NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen. Their mission will send them on a flight around the Moon and back to Earth, testing the Orion spacecraft’s systems in deep space and paving the way for future lunar missions, according to NASA officials.
The quarantine follows a successful second dress rehearsal for the launch, completed Thursday, where the Space Launch System rocket was fully fueled with over 700,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen and oxygen. The rehearsal simulated launch-day procedures up to approximately 30 seconds before liftoff, including the sealing of the Orion spacecraft’s hatches. NASA addressed a liquid hydrogen leak identified during a previous rehearsal earlier this month, attributing it to a faulty seal and verifying the remediation efforts during the latest test.
John Honeycutt, chair of the Artemis II Mission Management Team, stated during a news conference Friday that the recent tests provided valuable data. “When we did the test three weeks ago, the hardware was talking to us, so we listened,” Honeycutt said. “The remediation activities that we took turned out really well. Again, it was just another opportunity for us to ring out the system and validate and verify that we’ve got a good system in place before we put crew on the launch vehicle of the rocket.”
Prior to the dress rehearsal, NASA highlighted the Artemis II mission during Houston Texans’ Space City Day on January 4, 2026, at NRG Stadium. Twenty-seven Johnson Space Center employees participated in the event, including unfurling the U.S. Flag during the national anthem and engaging with fans at a NASA activation area featuring the agency’s Mobile Exhibit Trailer. The event coincided with a Texans victory over the Indianapolis Colts.
Space Center Houston, the official visitor center of NASA Johnson Space Center, is hosting an Artemis II Launch Watch Party for the public. Details regarding the event, including ticket information, are available on the Space Center Houston website.
NASA’s Artemis II mission remains on track for a potential launch in March, pending the completion of the quarantine period and final pre-flight checks. The agency has not yet announced a specific date beyond the March 6 target.
