What time is the Artemis II launch? Where to watch NASA moon mission

• The Artemis II mission will send four astronauts on a 10-day journey around the moon.
• This mission serves as a test flight to prepare for a future lunar landing.
• NASA is targeting a Wednesday, April 1 launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
• Live coverage of the launch will be available on NASA+, YouTube, and Amazon Prime.

The Artemis II moon mission is on the cusp of launching, sending four astronauts further in space than any humans before them.

The second under NASA's multibillion-dollar moon program, the mission will send three Americans and one Canadian on a 10-day journey around the moon and back. While no landing is in store for the astronauts, the mission serves as a vital test flight to lay the groundwork for humans to make it back to the surface in as little as two years.

Along the way, the Artemis II astronauts will make history, venturing about 250,000 miles in space – further than the record-setting Apollo 13 mission – while seeing sights of the far side of the moon that no human has ever laid eyes upon.

All signs are looking positive that the mission will get off the ground as schedule as NASA prepares to soon begin loading hundreds of thousands of gallons of super-cooled liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen into the massive rocket that will get the lunar journey underway from Florida.

Excited for the first human moon mission in more than 50 years? Here's everything to know about how you can watch the Artemis II launch.

When is the Artemis II launch? What to know about time, date

NASA is working toward a Wednesday, April 1, launch of its Artemis II mission from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Hitching a ride atop NASA's 322-foot Space Launch System rocket, the Orion capsule the astronauts will ride toward the moon is due to get off the ground during a two-hour launch window opening at 6:24 p.m. ET.

The weather conditions have an 80% chance of being favorable for a launch, according to NASA. But if bad weather or any other factors – such as an unforeseen issue with the spacecraft – scuttle liftoff, NASA has other backup dates available April 2-6, as well as April 30.

Artemis II launch countdown

How to watch NASA coverage of Artemis II mission

NASA will provide all-day coverage April 1 of Artemis II preparations leading up to the launch of the towering Space Launch System rocket from Launch Complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Center.

Livestreams will be available throughout the day on and Amazon Prime, NASA's YouTube channel and NASA+, the agency's free streaming service.

Future coverage on NASA+ will also be available during significant mission milestones, including lunar flyby attempts and their return to and landing back at Earth.

Schedule of Artemis II moon mission coverage

Here's a closer look at NASA's coverage schedule on April 1:

• 7:45 a.m. ET: Views and commentary on YouTube of operations to load liquid propellant into the SLS rocket, the most powerful rocket NASA has ever launched. The event will have its own stream closer to the start time.
• 12:50 p.m. ET: Coverage of the impending launch begins on NASA+.
• 6:24 p.m. ET: Two-hour launch window opens. Coverage on NASA+ will come to an end after the Orion capsule’s solar array wings deploy in space but will continue on YouTube.
• Two-and-a-half hours after launch: NASA will host a news conference after the SLS rocket’s upper stage performs a burn to send the Orion capsule and its crew to high-Earth orbit.

Real-time mission coverage will continue on YouTube throughout its duration, including live conversations with the crew. The agency also will provide a separate live stream of views from the Orion spacecraft as bandwidth allows.

Updates on these events will be available on NASA's Artemis blog.

Artemis rocket launch to take 4 astronauts around the moon

Under its Artemis campaign, NASA is aiming to return astronauts to the surface of the moon for the first time since the Apollo missions came to an end in 1972.

But this time, astronauts won't simply plant the stars and stripes before heading back to Earth. NASA is looking to establish a permanent foothold on the lunar south pole, using a series of crewed and uncrewed missions in the years ahead to build a moon base.

From there, the first humans could be venturing to Mars.

As a 10-day moon-circling mission, Artemis II primarily serves as a test flight, with the four-person crew testing systems and hardware ahead of a future landing.

In 2027, another crew of astronauts is due to ride Orion to Earth orbit to test docking capabilities with one or both of the commercial lunar landers being developed by Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin. A lunar landing would then come in 2028 under Artemis IV.

Meet the Artemis II crew

The four astronauts selected for the Artemis II mission include the first woman (mission specialist Christina Koch,) Black man (pilot Victor Glover) and Canadian (mission specialist Jeremy Hansen) to venture near the moon.

The mission is under the command of NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman.

All four astronauts arrived March 27 in Florida while in standard preflight quarantine to avoid exposure to any illnesses.

Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at [email protected]