NASA is poised to launch its Artemis 2 mission today, marking a significant milestone in lunar exploration with a planned liftoff of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. This mission will see four astronauts embark on a journey around the moon, aiming to travel 4,700 miles beyond its far side, setting a record for the farthest distance traveled by humans.
The launch is scheduled for 6:24 p.m. ET from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39B in Florida, with a two-hour window for liftoff. NASA has prepared the 322-foot-tall SLS rocket, fueling it with liquid hydrogen and oxygen, while resolving last-minute technical concerns related to the rocket's systems.
Among the crew are NASA mission commander Reid Wiseman, astronauts Christina Koch and Victor Glover, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen. Koch will notably become the first woman to venture beyond Earth’s orbit. Although the crew will not land on the moon, their mission is a precursor to future lunar landings, with a planned lunar base and further solar system exploration on the horizon.
With a 90% chance of favorable weather, the mission follows Artemis 1, which successfully flew an uncrewed Orion spacecraft around the moon in 2022. NASA continues to stream live coverage of the launch on multiple platforms.