Artemis II countdown begins as astronauts prepare for first crewed Moon mission in 50 years

NASA’s Artemis II is set to blast off tomorrow, with the four-person crew set to fly around the Moon on a 10-day mission that will test the Orion spacecraft with astronauts aboard for the first time

NASA’s Artemis II launch countdown is under way at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with the mission still targeting liftoff at 6.24pm EDT tomorrow.

Artemis II will be the first crewed launch of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft, and the first time astronauts have flown around the Moon in more than 50 years.

The four-person crew – commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency mission specialist Jeremy Hansen – will spend about 10 days on a lunar fly-by that NASA says will test Orion’s life-support systems with people aboard and help prepare for later Artemis missions.

A NASA image released on Monday showed the prime crew with backup astronauts Andre Douglas and Jenni Gibbons before a media event on 27 March. NASA said Douglas would step in if a NASA astronaut were unable to fly, while Gibbons would replace Hansen if a CSA astronaut could not take part.

With the formal countdown now running, launch teams have been powering up flight hardware, checking communications links and preparing the rocket’s cryogenic systems ahead of fuelling. Teams at pad 39B have also been filling the sound suppression system’s water tank, which will release a protective deluge at liftoff.

The crew remain in quarantine inside the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building, where NASA said they have been undergoing medical checks, following controlled sleep and nutrition plans, and receiving regular updates on the rocket’s status and the weather.

Weather conditions currently look favourable, with NASA saying forecasters see an 80 per cent chance of acceptable launch weather, though cloud cover and high winds remain the main concerns.

NASA will begin live coverage of tanking operations at 7.45am EDT on 1 April, with full launch coverage starting at 12.50pm on NASA+.

Meet the Artemis II crew

They are about to become the most watched astronauts of the modern space age.

When Artemis II launches, the four-person crew will become the first people to travel around the Moon in more than half a century, testing the route NASA hopes will carry astronauts deeper into space in the years ahead.

The mission brings together three NASA astronauts – Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch – with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen.

Between them are military pilots, engineers, scientists and veteran space travellers. They are also husbands, wives, mothers and fathers preparing for a mission that carries prestige, history and very real risk.

Here is a closer look at the four astronauts chosen to fly Artemis II.

Reid Wiseman

Reid Wiseman is a US Navy test pilot turned astronaut who spent six months on the International Space Station in 2014 as a flight engineer on Expedition 40. He will command Artemis II, the second flight of the Orion spacecraft and the first mission to carry people around the Moon in more than 50 years. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Wiseman has described flying as a lifelong passion, despite saying he is afraid of heights on the ground. He lost his wife to cancer in 2020 and has raised their two teenage daughters alone, calling single parenthood his “greatest challenge and the most rewarding phase” of his life. He has also spoken openly about the risks of spaceflight, saying he has made sure his daughters know where key legal documents are and what would happen if anything happened to him.

Victor J. Glover

Victor J. Glover is a former US Navy fighter pilot and test pilot who was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2013 and will serve as pilot on Artemis II, the first crewed mission of the programme to head around the Moon. He previously piloted NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission and spent nearly six months on the International Space Station as part of Expedition 64. Born in Pomona, California, Glover is married with four children and is set to become the first black person to travel to the Moon. As he prepares for the mission, he has said he has been studying original Gemini and Apollo papers for lessons that might still apply, and plans to take a Bible, his wedding rings, family heirlooms and a collection of quotations compiled by Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweickart.

Christina Koch

Christina Koch is an engineer and physicist who was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2013 and will serve as a mission specialist on Artemis II. She most recently flew as a flight engineer on Expeditions 59, 60 and 61 aboard the International Space Station, where she went on to set the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman after spending 328 days in orbit in 2019. During that mission she also took part in the first all-female spacewalk. Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and raised in North Carolina, Koch is set to become the first woman to travel to the Moon. She has said her path to Artemis began with the Apollo 8 “Earthrise” image she kept on her bedroom wall as a child, and for the mission she plans to take handwritten notes from people close to her as a tactile link to loved ones on Earth.

Jeremy Hansen

Jeremy Hansen is a former Royal Canadian Air Force fighter pilot and physicist who joined the Canadian Space Agency in 2009 and will fly as a mission specialist on Artemis II. Although he has never been to space before, he played a leading role in training new astronauts at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, becoming the first Canadian to head that work. Married with three children, Hansen traces his fascination with space back to Apollo 8 and says the risks of early lunar missions have shaped how he talks to his own family about Artemis II. If the mission goes to plan, he will become the first non-American to travel to the Moon – a milestone he sees as a sign of how far international cooperation in space has come since Apollo. He plans to carry four Moon-shaped pendants for his wife and children, engraved with the phrase “Moon and back”, as well as maple syrup and maple cookies.

READ MORE: ‘Spain’s rocket builder just landed €180 million — and Europe’s case for space sovereignty just got harder to ignore‘. PLD Space’s €180 million Series C, led by Mitsubishi Electric, marks a turning point for European launch independence, writes Marco Ryan. As ESA’s budget surges to a record €22 billion and Spain doubles its space investment to become the agency’s fourth-largest contributor, a Spanish company is building the continent’s biggest private rocket manufacturing facility and preparing to compete in a market projected to reach $27 billion by 2033.

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_{Main image: The Artemis II crew – Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen – during training at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center ahead of the first crewed mission around the Moon in more than 50 years. Credit: NASA}