NASA’s Artemis II: Launch Date, Crew & What to Expect

The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket for the Artemis II mission is now positioned on Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, with a launch window opening as early as Wednesday, April 1, NASA announced Friday. The rocket’s arrival follows a four-mile journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) and marks a critical step toward sending astronauts around the Moon for the first time in over 50 years.

The 322-foot-tall SLS, carrying the Orion spacecraft, began its slow trek at 12:20 a.m. EDT, traveling at a maximum speed of 0.82 mph atop the crawler-transporter 2. This is the second time the rocket has been moved to the launch pad; a previous attempt in January was halted due to an issue with the helium system, requiring a return to the VAB for repairs. Engineers have since resolved the problem and are now conducting final tests.

Artemis II will carry a crew of four: Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency. The 10-day mission will send the crew on a free-return trajectory around the Moon and back to Earth. Glover will become the first person of color, Koch the first woman, and Hansen the first non-US citizen to venture to the Moon’s vicinity.

The mission represents a significant leap forward from Artemis I, the uncrewed test flight of the SLS and Orion in 2022. While Artemis I carried mannequins to measure radiation levels, Artemis II will be the first crewed deep-space mission since Apollo 17 in December 1972. The astronauts will travel at a higher altitude above the lunar surface than the Apollo missions, potentially reaching a distance of roughly 5,000 miles (8,000 km) beyond the Moon, and at an atmospheric reentry speed of approximately 25,000 miles per hour (40,000 km/h).

“We will highly likely, depending on the launch period that we launch in, see things that no human has ever seen,” Wiseman said during a recent press conference.

NASA is planning for Artemis III, targeted for mid-2027, which will attempt to land astronauts on the lunar surface using a lunar lander developed by SpaceX or Blue Origin. Artemis IV, planned for 2028, would follow with another crewed landing. The overarching goal of the Artemis program is to establish a sustained presence on the Moon as a stepping stone for future missions to Mars.