Artemis II update: NASA targets March 6 for launch of historic moon mission following successful ‘wet dress rehearsal’
NASA is targeting Friday, March 6 as the earliest possible launch date for the historic Artemis II Missionwhich will send astronauts to the Moon for the first time in five decades.
Agency officials announced the target date in a press conference on February 20following a successful “wet dress rehearsal” – a crucial test in which the Space Launch System (SLS) moon rocket is fueled and traveled for most of the launch countdown – completed on Thursday (February 19).
“There is still a lot of work to be done,” Lori Icingdeclared the head of NASA’s Moon to Mars program during the conference. “Including post-wet analyses, important work to be carried out at [launch] pad…and a multi-day flight readiness exam that will take place later next week.
The second dress rehearsal experienced a communications problem early on, when the launch control center lost contact with the ground crew. The team temporarily switched to emergency communications to continue refueling before normal communications were restored.
