NASA is one step closer to launching historic Moon mission

The show must go on…even when the rocket springs a leak.

That’s the motto at NASA this week, where scientists are running a wet dress rehearsal of the space agency’s Artemis II Moon mission—including a simulated launch later tonight—that’s designed to mirror the real thing as closely as possible.

Some quick background: The mission’s predecessor, Artemis I, launched in November 2022 and successfully orbited the Moon without a crew, testing the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft as part of NASA’s overall goal to return humans to the Moon’s surface.

• Artemis II, which represents NASA’s first crewed lunar mission in over five decades, aims to send four astronauts on a 10-day test flight around the far side of the Moon to validate Orion’s life-support systems for future lunar landings.

It hasn’t been all smooth sailing: A test earlier this month uncovered a hydrogen leak in SLS rocket’s 212-foot core stage, pushing back Artemis II’s timeline for launch to March at the earliest.

What’s happening tonight?

During the wet dress rehearsal, which concludes with the simulated launch tonight, NASA scientists run through the full launch-day playbook, from fueling the SLS rocket with roughly 700,000 gallons of liquid propellant—hence the term “wet”—to a mock countdown at the end.

• Once finished, the propellant will be drained as if a real launch had been scrubbed.
• Engineers at Kennedy Space Center, along with support staff at Johnson Space Center in Houston and other NASA facilities, will be monitoring every step along the way.

Looking ahead…NASA has yet to confirm a new Artemis II launch date, though its previously announced window for March included the 6th–9th as the earliest possibilities.