The Artemis II: First launch opportunity now March 6
A full Moon is seen shining over NASA's SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft in the early hours of . (Credit: NASA/Sam Lott)
NASA concluded a wet dress rehearsal for the Artemis II test flight early Tuesday morning, successfully loading cryogenic propellant into the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket tanks, sending a team out to the launch pad to close out Orion, and safely draining the rocket. The wet dress rehearsal was a prelaunch test to fuel the rocket, designed to identify any issues and resolve them before attempting a launch.
Engineers pushed through several challenges during the two-day test and met many of the planned objectives. To allow teams to review data and conduct a second wet dress rehearsal, NASA now will target as the earliest possible launch opportunity. On that date, the launch window opens at 8:29 pm ET for two hours.
Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen and his Artemis II crewmates will be released from quarantine, which they entered in Houston on . They will not travel to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida today, as tentatively planned. The crew will enter quarantine again about two weeks before the next targeted launch opportunity.