After a delay, NASA’s planned Artemis II mission to send four astronauts around the moon now has a targeted launch date of March 6 following a successful wet dress rehearsal.
Lori Glaze, deputy associate administrator for NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, cautioned that the date comes with caveats, noting there is still “significant work” to be completed at the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center.
“Every night I look up at the moon, I see it and I get real excited because I can feel she is calling us, and we’re ready,” Glaze said.
The launch was postponed about four weeks after the agency discovered an issue with Orion’s liquid hydrogen tank during a previous rehearsal. NASA said the tank leaked excessive liquid hydrogen into the rocket’s core stage. Liquid hydrogen is used as a propellant.
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The agency also said a valve in the crew module needed retorquing. Glaze said those fixes performed “pretty well.”
Because of the delay, the four astronauts were released from quarantine but will return to it for the next two weeks.
Artemis I, launched in 2022, marked the first mission in the Artemis program, which NASA hopes will pave the way for deep space exploration beyond the moon. While Artemis I was uncrewed, Artemis II will send four astronauts on a lunar flyby. Artemis III is expected to include a crewed mission to the moon’s surface.
The last time NASA sent astronauts to the moon was in 1972 during the Apollo 17 mission.
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