NASA TARGETS APRIL 1 FOR ARTEMIS II CREWED MOON FLYBY
Read Time:2 Minute, 4 Second
Agency Report
NASA on Thursday announced that the long-delayed launch of Artemis II, the first crewed flyby mission to the Moon in more than 50 years, could take place as early as April 1.
Speaking at a press conference, senior NASA official Lori Glaze said the agency was working toward the new launch date after technical issues forced the postponement of the mission originally scheduled for February.
“We are on track for a launch as early as April 1, and we are working toward that date,” Glaze said, noting that although the mission is a test flight, the team and spacecraft are prepared.
“It’s a test flight, and it is not without risk, but our team and our hardware are ready,” she added.
According to NASA, the first launch window would open on April 1 at 6:24 p.m. (2224 GMT), with several additional opportunities within the following days.
Glaze said the agency expects about four possible launch opportunities within a six-day period, depending on technical and weather conditions.
The mission will mark the first human flyby of the Moon in over half a century, since the era of the Apollo program.
The spacecraft will carry three American astronauts—mission commander Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch—along with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen.
After launch, the spacecraft will first circle Earth before leaving orbit and heading toward the Moon for a lunar flyby, without landing, before returning to Earth and splashing down in the ocean.
NASA said the spacecraft’s distance from the Moon will vary depending on the launch date, with the crew expected to pass between 4,000 and 6,000 miles (6,437 to 9,656 km) above the lunar surface.
Although the earlier Artemis I mission passed closer—about 80 miles above the Moon—the agency said the Artemis II crew would still travel tens of thousands of miles farther into space than any human has in more than five decades.
“At this distance the Moon will appear to the crew to be about the size of a basketball held at arm’s length,” NASA explained.
The Artemis II mission is expected to pave the way for Artemis III, which aims to dock with a lunar lander in low-Earth orbit before attempting a landing.
A subsequent mission, Artemis IV, is planned to support a lunar landing in the late 2020s as part of the broader Artemis programme aimed at returning humans to the Moon.
Happy
0 %
Sad
0 %
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
0 %
Surprise
0 %
0
0