NASA eyes March 6 to send four astronauts to moon under Artemis 2 lunar launch

NASA is targeting March 6 as the earliest possible launch date for its Artemis 2 lunar launch, as the space agency is almost set to send four astronauts to the moon and back under one of its most-awaited missions.

Artemis 2 would be the first crewed flyby mission to the Moon in more than 50 years. Lori Glaze, a senior official with the US space agency, cautioned that more pad work and a dress rehearsal remained in order to meet that date.

"We need to successfully navigate all of those but assuming that happens, it puts us in a very good position to target March 6," Glaze said during a briefing on Friday.


The U.S. space agency on Thursday night capped a nearly 50-hour rehearsal of the Artemis II ‌launch countdown, fueling the rocket with around 730,000 gallons ⁠of propellant without running into the pesky hydrogen leaks that hobbled an initial rehearsal last month, officials said during a news conference.

NASA will use the Orion spacecraft as the exploration vehicle to carry and sustain the crew on Artemis missions to the Moon and return them safely to Earth. Orion spacecraft will launch on NASA’s new heavy-lift rocket, the SLS (Space Launch System).

NASA’s SLS rocket is part of its backbone for deep space exploration and Artemis. SLS is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts, and cargo directly to the Moon in a single launch, the space agency says.

Artemis II crew includes Mission Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover and Mission Specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen.

(With inputs from agencies)