The countdown for the launch of NASA’s Artemis II mission around the Moon has begun.
The 32-story Space Launch System (SLS) rocket is ready to launch from Kennedy Space Center Florida On Wednesday, four astronauts were sent on a 10-day flight that ended with a splash over the Pacific Ocean.
In a briefing by NASA On Monday, Chief Flight Director Emily Nelson said teams and crew members at mission control are “ready to go.”
Artemis II: Everything You Need to Know
The Artemis I mission did not carry any astronauts, but it was successfully launched into lunar orbit in November 2022.
Artemis II takes it a step further with its crew, but it wouldn’t be until Artemis III that astronauts would actually land on the Moon.
The US space agency hopes to use Artemis to build a base camp on the surface and potentially be used to transport humans to Mars.
Astronauts at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Monday before the Artemis II launch. Photo: NASA/AP
After a liquid hydrogen leak during a practice launch in February, NASA was forced to delay the operation Till Wednesday.
At 98 metres, the SLS rocket is approximately the height of Parliament’s Elizabeth Tower, which houses Big Ben. Humans have not touched the surface of the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.
The astronauts onboard are NASA’s Reed Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, as well as the Canadian Space Agency’s Jeremy Hansen.
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British astronaut Major Tim Peake has said that Europe, including Britain, is extensively involved in the Artemis program.
“We were there on Artemis I … we built the European Service Module that powers the Orion spacecraft that provides all the electrical power, life support systems, propellant,” he said.
NASA has the first six days of April to launch Artemis II before pausing through the end of the month.
