NASA appears to be inching closer to the launch of Artemis II after a successful dress rehearsal Thursday night.
CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION, Fla. — NASA appears to be inching closer to the launch of Artemis II after the success of several tests Thursday night.
The tests included fueling the space launch system rocket and performing a launch countdown in what the agency called a “wet dress rehearsal” at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
More than 700,000 gallons of liquid propellent were loaded onto the rocket, and two runs of the terminal count were performed while the Artemis II crew watched from the Launch Control Center.
NASA reported a brief loss to ground communications early on during the fueling operations, but they were able to move to a backup communication method.
NASA also revealed that the Artemis II crew is preparing to enter quarantine late Friday in Houston.
According to the agency, the “roughly 14-day quarantine helps limit the crew’s exposure to illness before launch [to preserve] flexibility in the March launch window.”
NASA has not set a formal launch date, as of Friday morning.
The space agency said it will be holding a news conference to share details about the dress rehearsal Friday morning, starting at 11 a.m. Eastern, which will be available to watch on their YouTube channel.
This is the second “wet dress rehearsal” this month. The first was held Feb. 3. The agency identified several issues during that test, which they said led to their decision to delay launch.
“With March as the potential launch window, teams will fully review data from the test, mitigate each issue, and return to testing ahead of setting an official target launch date,” NASA said of the Feb. 3 dress rehearsal.
Artemis II: The Mission
Artemis II will be a crewed mission around the moon, though astronauts won’t touch down on the moon until the Artemis III mission.
The goal of the Artemis II mission is to confirm all of the spacecraft’s systems operate as designed with crew aboard in the actual environment of deep space.
A series of potential launch days have been scheduled, but the space agency must clear several critical safety and operations tests before launch. Weather conditions also remain a variable.
Meet the Artemis II crew
Three longtime NASA astronauts with spaceflight experience—crew Cmdr. Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and Christina Koch—will be joined on the 10-day mission by Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, a former fighter pilot awaiting his first rocket ride.
After launch, the crew will spend about two days checking out Orion’s systems and performing a targeting demonstration test relatively close to Earth before then beginning the trek toward the moon.
The crew will then test the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft around the moon.
“The crew will assess the performance of the life support systems necessary to generate breathable air and remove the carbon dioxide and water vapor produced when the astronauts breathe, talk, or exercise,” according to NASA.
What this crew does will pave the way for lunar surface mission and long-term lunar science and exploration.