NASA sets Artemis II crewed moon mission launch for April 1 : NPR
NASA employees briefed the media Thursday at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, about the Artemis II mission delay. The press conference focused on revisions and fixes to the rocket’s components.
Gregg Newton/AFP via Getty Images
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Gregg Newton/AFP via Getty Images
ORLANDO — After a critical pre-flight review, NASA plans to launch Artemis II as early as April 1 to send four astronauts on a 10-day mission around the Moon and back.
The decision was made Thursday after an extensive flight readiness review, during which officials met to discuss the mission. “All surveyed teams are ready to launch and fly Artemis II around the Moon,” said Lori Glaze, NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate.
The crew – NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen – were taking part in the flight readiness review.
NASA had planned to launch the mission earlier this month, but after a successful refueling test in February, engineers discovered a problem with the rocket’s helium system, which regulates the pressure in the vehicle’s fuel tanks. Mission leaders decided to bring the rocket back to the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center for repairs.
Technicians were able to repair the helium problem by replacing a gasket. With the problem now resolved, ground teams plan to return the rocket to its launch pad on Thursday. “Keep in mind that we still have work to do. There are still things to do within the VAB and on the ground,” Glaze said. “And as always, we will always be guided by what the hardware tells us and launch when we are ready.”
Planning for an April 1 launch, the crew will enter quarantine at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on March 18 and make the trip to Florida on March 27.
Artemis II has six days at the start of the month to launch: April 1-6. Once the mission launches, it will be the first human mission to the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.
