The NASA Artemis II mission is scheduled for liftoff at 6:24 p.m. EDT (3:54 a.m.) on Thursday (April 2, 2026). If the lift-off is successful, the giant rocket will send humans to near the moon for the first time in more than half a century. In so doing, it will make an important milestone for the U.S. space programme.Read: Artemis II, the international space race, and what is at stake for the U.S.The Artemis II mission uses the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the crew capsule is called Orion. The SLS will propel Orion into a free-return trajectory around the far side of the moon, reaching around 7,500 km from the moon’s surface before the earth’s gravity pulls them back to splash down in the Pacific Ocean in a little over a week.Also Read | ‘I’m really proud’: Ed Dwight — first Black astronaut candidate reflects on historic Moon missionThe mission does not plan to land on the moon. Instead, NASA is flying it to prove that the whole system — from the ground teams to the rocket and its crew — works as designed and the processes to land humans on the moon are ready.
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This phase follows the completion of liquid oxygen fast fill and topping, ensuring the oxidizer remains at flight-ready levels throughout the final countdown. –nasa.gov.in
NASA teams are in fast fill of liquid oxygen (LOX) into the interim cryogenic propulsion stage as part of the Artemis II launch countdown.
This phase rapidly loads the oxidizer after chilldown is complete, bringing the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket upper stage closer to full readiness for its role in sending the Orion spacecraft into a high Earth orbit ahead of a proximity operations demonstration test and Orion’s translunar injection burn.
NASA is set to launch four astronauts as soon as Wednesday evening on a 10-day flight around the moon, marking the most ambitious U.S. space mission in decades and a major step toward returning humans to the lunar surface before China’s first crewed landing.
NASA mission managers on Monday polled “go” to launch the Artemis II mission’s towering, 322-foot (98 m) Space Launch System rocket topped with the astronauts’ Orion crew capsule as early as 6:24 p.m. EDT (2224 GMT) on Wednesday.
It will launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida just one pad away from where the last moon-bound astronauts of the U.S. Apollo program lifted off more than half a century ago.
-Reuters
— nasa.gov.in
After completing the chilldown phase, this step rapidly loads super-cold LH2 into the SLS upper stage tanks, ensuring the upper stage is fueled and ready to perform its fundamental role of raising the Orion spacecraft into a high Earth orbit ahead of a proximity operations demonstration test and Orion’s translunar injection burn.
Fast fill accelerates the fueling process while maintaining safety, marking another major milestone in the countdown as Artemis II moves closer to liftoff.— nasa.gov.in
The rocket is now more quickly filling with liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. When the core stage is completely full, it will contain 196,000 gallons of liquid oxygen and 537,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen.
What is the NASA Artemis II mission?
Discover NASA’s Artemis II mission, the first crewed lunar flight since 1972, testing systems for future moon landings.
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