T-6: Artemis II gearing up for lunar launch

“Many years ago, the great British explorer George Mallory, who was to die on Mount Everest, was asked why did he want to climb it? He said, “Because it is there.”

Well, space is there, and we’re going to climb it, and the moon and the planets are there, and new hopes for knowledge and peace are there. And, therefore, as we set sail we ask God’s blessing on the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure on which man has ever embarked. “~John F. Kennedy- 1962

In 1962 perhaps the most memorable speech ever given by a president was delivered by John F Kennedy at Rice University in Texas. This speech has been heard by almost every person alive at some point, whether in school or through a myriad of films and documentaries. The speech is known simply as the “We choose to go to the moon” speech, after the most popular and prominent part of it. Just 7 short years later Kennedy’s dream of landing men on the moon would come true in July of 1969 when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin lifted off on Apollo 11. 6 more missions would follow, with 5 being successful at setting foot on the moon. The last of these launched in 1972, some 54 years ago. If all goes according to plan, man will once again visit the moon just 6 days from now.

Artemis I

Artemis 1 launched on November 16, 2022 and was the first human rated rocket to visit the moon since that final Apollo voyage of 1972. This mission sent the  Space Launch System on its maiden voyage to space, and unlike SpaceX has done with their Starship, the maiden voyage was a systems test of the full capabilities of the rocket.

The Orion capsule spent 3 weeks in space with much of that time in a high orbit around the moon. All systems were tested and very few problems arose, resulting in a successful reentry and splashdown in December 2022.

Artemis II

In late 2025, NASA announced its first launch date attempt for the next Artemis mission. It had been just over 3 years since the last. The Artemis II ship was fully stacked in the fall of 2025, and has underwent system checks until it’s first roll out of the Vehicle Assembly Building on January 18, 2026.

Following a hydrogen leak was discovered during the first “wet dress rehearsal”, the initial launch window of February was pushed to March. Then, after a successful wet dress rehearsal an unrelated helium leak caused the rocket to have to be taken back to the Vehicle Assembly Building for work during late February. This has pushed the launch date to no earlier than April 1, 2026.

The current window for launch opens at 6:24PM on Wednesday, April 1 with additional opportunities stretching through April 6th. Current forecasts show good weather for the Wednesday attempt, and additional attempts on Thursday and Friday should also see good weather.

This first mission will be akin to the Apollo 8 mission of December 1968. While both are going to the moon with no intention of landing, Apollo 8 did orbit while Artemis II is just planning to do a fly by.

If all goes as planned, Now Georgia will be covering the launch from on site in Cape Canaveral, and we’ll be keeping you up to date on the latest news both here and on our Facebook page. Keep an eye out in the coming days for additional articles about the crew and the Space Launch System itself.