NASA Targets 6:24 p.m. EDT Liftoff Today for Artemis II, First Crewed Moon Mission Since 1972

NASA is hours away from launching four astronauts aboard the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft on Artemis II, the first crewed flight under the agency's lunar exploration program in more than five decades. Liftoff from Launch Complex 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida is scheduled for no earlier than 6:24 p.m. EDT on April 1, inside a two-hour window that extends to 8:24 p.m. EDT.

The mission will send NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman as commander, Victor Glover as pilot, and Christina Koch as mission specialist, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen as mission specialist, on a 10-day journey that loops around the Moon without landing before returning to Earth.

Orion will travel farther from the planet than any crewed spacecraft has since Apollo 13, reaching a distance of about 248,655 miles during the lunar flyby expected around April 6 if the April 1 launch occurs on time. The crew will test Orion's life support systems, navigation, and communication capabilities in deep space as a critical rehearsal for future landings.

According to NASA's official mission coverage page, the agency has set the primary target for April 1 with backup opportunities available daily through April 6. If none of those windows work, the next attempt would open April 30 due to orbital mechanics.

The countdown clock began ticking Monday afternoon at 4:44 p.m. EDT, placing the team roughly 50 hours from the planned liftoff as of early April 1. Tanking operations to load the rocket's liquid hydrogen and oxygen propellants started early Wednesday morning, and updates through mid-afternoon confirmed the process was proceeding smoothly with the upper stage nearing full load.

The four-person crew arrived at the launch pad in the Astrovan shortly after 2 p.m. EDT on April 1 following a walkout from the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at 1:49 p.m. EDT. They completed final suit checks with no issues reported and are now boarding Orion.

Weather teams gave an 80 percent chance of acceptable conditions for the afternoon window, the highest outlook among the early April dates, with no major technical problems under active work by the launch team.

Artemis II follows the uncrewed Artemis I test flight in 2022 and comes after multiple postponements to the current schedule. The mission slipped from an initial February target because of hydrogen fuel leaks and a later helium pressurization line issue that required the stacked rocket to roll back to the Vehicle Assembly Building for repairs before returning to the pad in late March. Those fixes have held through the final preparations.

"It is time to fly," commander Reid Wiseman said on the eve of launch via X. The flight will validate systems needed for Artemis III, which aims to return humans to the lunar surface as early as 2028.

The 10-day profile includes a high-speed pass behind the Moon's far side, where communications will drop temporarily because of the geometry, and a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean around April 10.

NASA will provide live coverage starting with tanking views at 7:45 a.m. EDT and full launch broadcast at 12:50 p.m. EDT on NASA+ and YouTube. A post-launch news conference is set for roughly two and a half hours after liftoff.