For the first time in more than half a century, a manned spacecraft is soon to set out on an adventure into space beyond Low Earth Orbit. The NASA Artemis II mission, which is expected to launch no earlier than February 6, 2026, will take four astronauts on a ten-day mission to orbit the moon before returning to Earth. Although this mission will not include a landing, it will take its human payload farther from Earth than any previous mission.
The crew, which consists of NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency’s Jeremy Hansen, will lift off from Kennedy Space Center on the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. After that, the Orion will undertake various tests within Earth’s orbit, including the life support system test, followed by the trans-lunar injection. The trans-lunar injection will place the Orion spacecraft into a free return orbit, where it will use the gravity of Earth for the return trajectory without the need for propulsion when the time for the return comes.
The preparation for this historical mission has been ongoing for a number of years. The rocket stack for the SLS rocket began at the end of 2024. The integration of the two solid rocket boosters, core stage, and upper stage of the rocket finished by mid-2025. The Orion launch abort system and service module were added at a later date of 2025. The rocket was scheduled for a roll-out to Launch Pad 39B at the end of January 2026. The rocket will travel a distance of four miles.
Once they arrive at the pad, they will begin to integrate the electrical power, environmental, and cryogenic propellant systems before turning it all on for the first time. A final walkdown will occur for the crew to familiarize themselves with their spacecraft in a launch-configured position. Toward the end of the month of January, they will execute a wet dress rehearsal. Here, they will load in excess of 700,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, simulate a full launch countdown, then safely discharge the propellants. Their dress rehearsal will also test their capability to hold, recycle, and restart their countdown position towards the end of the process. This becomes a consideration for dealing with launch day variables.
There are multiple launch windows that NASA has included in the month of February, including the 7th, 8th, 10th, and 11th of the month. Other windows exist in the months of March and April. The last window shall depend on the readiness of the spacecraft, the dynamics of the orbit, and the conditions of the Florida launch environment. The placement of the Earth and the Moon must enable the Orion spacecraft to successfully go towards its destination, yet not experience eclipses that could hamper the utilization of solar power. Weather remains an element to be considered. The 45th Weather Squadron for the United States Space Force monitors weather data such as lightning, wind shear, and cloud cover, all of which have the capability to halt a launch just seconds away from happening.
Lightning is a particular hazard because the rocket can attract a lightning strike under certain atmospheric conditions, as was observed during the Apollo 12 mission. The Artemis launch site has already experienced lightning strikes during past testing phases. Artemis II will be a transition mission and will not be a mission test. Instead, it will be a transition mission from the successful Artemis I mission in 2022 and will precede the Artemis III mission in 2027. The mission will be critical because it will provide NASA experience in operating their spacecraft in deep space and will be manned. This will be critical because it will provide NASA operational experience and confidence for any mission that will attempt to land human beings on the lunar surface. The successful return and splashdown in the Pacific off the coast of California will mark the end of an era that began in 1972 from the Apollo 17 mission and will begin a new era for space exploration. The next steps will take us to the South Pole of the Moon, then to a permanent human presence in space, and eventually to manned missions to Mars.