NASA’s Artemis II Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft and the launch gantry at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 31, 2026.
Fifty-four years after the last Apollo mission to the moon, NASA’s Artemis II mission is set to return. The Space Launch System rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft is scheduled to take off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday afternoon. The four-person crew, made up of American and Canadian astronauts, will be 250,000 miles from Earth at its farthest point in the journey to orbit the moon. This is everything you need to know about NASA’s mission, its dreams for a future lunar base and this new age of space exploration.
How to watch Artemis II moon launch
Takeoff is scheduled for Wednesday at 6:24 p.m. ET / 3:24 p.m. PT from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Delays are common during launches, especially due to weather, so we’ll keep this story updated if the takeoff time changes.
You can watch the livestream on NASA’s YouTube, official website and social media accounts. If you’re looking for coverage in Spanish, check out NASA’s Spanish YouTube channel.
Here’s all the ways you can keep up with the Artemis II mission.
What to expect from this mission to the moon
The Artemis II mission is designed to orbit the moon on a 10-day trip. The astronauts will not be touching down on the moon’s surface this trip, but they will be testing the system’s life support systems for the first time, according to NASA. This mission also sets the stage for future Artemis missions, including Artemis IV, scheduled for 2028, which should put humans back on the moon.
We’ll be keeping up-to-date on all the latest Artemis II news, so check back here today and throughout the week for updates.
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