NASA Artemis II launch countdown begins for April 1 launch

• NASA teams have given the "go" for the Artemis II mission to proceed toward launch.
• The four-person crew is scheduled to lift off from Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday, April 1.
• The 10-day test flight will take the Orion spacecraft on a journey around the moon.

The countdown clock at the Kennedy Space Center Press Site began moving just before 5 p.m. Monday, March 30, as Artemis II moves toward launch.

NASA announced that teams have polled "go" after an L-2 briefing, moving toward a liftoff as soon as 6:24 p.m. Wednesday, April 1.

On launch day, commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen will liftoff from Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center spacecraft atop NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket, taking the Orion spacecraft on a 10-day test flight around the moon.

NASA Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya said Monday that everything continued to look good and there's nothing preventing the team from moving forward with the launch attempt.

The Orion spacecraft was powered up Monday evening, said Launch Director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson. The core stage of the rocket and ICPS upper stage will follow.

Chief Flight Director Emily Nelson said the astronauts got some time to rest Monday. On Tuesday, they'll get time with their families and receive some last minutes NASA team briefings ahead of launch day.

When will SLS fueling begin?

If all continues to go smoothly, the SLS rocket will begin fueling at 7:34 a.m. Wednesday, April 1 for a launch attempt that evening.

The countdown will then progress to a T-10 minute hold to do final checks before moving toward the final countdown.

Artemis II launch weather

As of Monday, March 30, weather is forecasted to be 80 percent favorable during the launch window. NASA has two hours to make the launch, which gives them some room to wait out any weather constraints that arise.

As of now, the biggest weather threat is a cumulus cloud violation. Those clouds can bring the threat of lightning.

When is the Artemis II launch?

While the launch is currently set for no earlier than 6:24 p.m. Wednesday, April 1, additional available launch times are as follows:

• 7:22 p.m. April 2
• 8:00 p.m. April 3
• 8:53 p.m. April 4
• 9:40 p.m. April 5
• 10:36 p.m. April 6
• 6:06 p.m. April 30

Brooke Edwards is a Space Reporter for Florida Today. Contact her at [email protected] or on X: @brookeofstars.