Artemis

The Orion crew module hatch was closed for launch Thursday morning after technicians at pad 39B completed final closeouts and outfitting inside the spacecraft before liftoff next week on the unpiloted Artemis 1 test flight around the moon.

The 10 CubeSats hitching a ride to deep space on NASA’s Space Launch System moon rocket promise new discoveries about the moon, space weather, and asteroids. But some of the small spacecraft will launch with their batteries only partially charged after sitting inside the rocket for more than a year.

European space officials have hailed the importance of NASA’s upcoming inaugural Artemis mission and the vital role ESA is playing in supporting a return to the moon.

NASA began the two-day launch countdown for the Artemis 1 lunar test flight at 10:23 a.m. EDT (1423 GMT) Saturday. Liftoff of the Space Launch System moon rocket remains set for Monday during a two-hour window opening at 8:33 a.m. EDT (1233 GMT).

NASA’s first Space Launch System moon rocket arrived on pad 39B early Aug. 17 after an overnight rollout from the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Three instrumented mannequins strapped into seats on NASA’s Orion spacecraft awaiting liftoff on the first flight of the huge Space Launch System rocket will help engineers evaluate the human experience for future astronauts trips to the moon.

NASA’s towering 322-foot-tall Space Launch System moon rocket and Orion spacecraft arrived at their seaside launch complex early Wednesday after an overnight rollout from an assembly building at the Kennedy Space Center, moving a step closer to liftoff no earlier than Aug. 29 on an unpiloted test flight around the moon.

NASA’s Space Launch System moon rocket emerged from the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center around 10 p.m. EDT Tuesday (0200 GMT Wednesday) for an overnight ride to launch pad 39B. The rocket arrived at the seaside launch complex about 10 hours later. The Artemis 1 mission is set for launch Aug. 29 on its inaugural test flight carrying NASA’s Orion spacecraft around the moon.