BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – NASA said it would begin to roll the Artemis II rocket and spacecraft out to the launch pad at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center as early as next week, and that everything is “on track” for an April launch.
Rollback could begin as early as March 19. The first available launch date is April 1.
NASA: Here are the potential April launch dates for Artemis II
NASA has identified seven potential launch availability dates in April for the Artemis II mission:
- April 1; 6:24 p.m.
- April 2; 7:22 p.m.
- April 3; 8 p.m.
- April 4; 8:35 p.m.
- April 5; 9:40 p.m.
- April 6; 10:36 p.m.
- April 30; 6:06 p.m.
Each launch window is scheduled for 90 minutes. A NASA spokesperson confirmed to FOX 35 that those launch dates were all possibilities.
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The backstory:
NASA teams rolled back Artemis II – a Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft – back to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) two weeks after an issue was found with helium flow in the rocket’s upper stage.
On Thursday, NASA said there was an issue with a seal, which has since been fixed. Officials also made adjustments to the rocket’s flight batteries and charging systems batteries on the Orion capsule.
The distance from the VAB to the Launch Pad at Kennedy Space Center is 4 miles and takes several hours to complete.
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What is the Artemis II mission?
FILE – NASA astronauts (left to right) Christina Koch, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman, Canadian Space Agency Astronaut Jeremy Hansen. (Credit: NASA/Josh Valcarcel)
Artemis II will be the first crewed mission towards the moon in nearly 50 years.
NASA said recently that it had adjusted the overall Artemis mission. Artemis III, which is set for 2027, will “test out systems and operational capabilities in low Earth orbit.” That means Artemis IV, set for 2028, will now be geared towards a potential landing on the moon.
What astronauts will be part of Artemis II?
The four-person crew will include NASA’s Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency’s Jeremy Hansen.
The Source: This story was written with information released by NASA and from previous FOX 35 reporting.