NASA moving forward with Artemis II launch to moon — potentially in February | Houston Public Media

NASA officials are moving forward with a potential launch date in February for the manned Artemis II mission to the moon, though several criteria must be met in the next three weeks to do so.

“We have, I think, zero intention of communicating an actual launch date until we get through wet dress [rehearsal],” Jared Isaacman, the newly confirmed NASA administrator, said during a Saturday news conference. “But look, that’s our first window, and if everything is tracking accordingly, I know the teams are prepared, I know the crews are prepared. We’ll take it.”

The four astronauts heading to the moon — Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen — stood next to Isaacman at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Looming in the distance behind them was the Artemis II spacecraft, slowly being transported from a vehicle assembly building to the launch pad.

NASA will soon begin preparing for a “wet dress rehearsal.” That rehearsal will emulate the launch process, up to about 30 seconds until takeoff.

“We need to get through wet dress, we need to see what lessons that we learn as a result of that,” Artemis launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson said. “And that will ultimately lay out our path toward launch. With a wet dress that is without significant issues, if everything goes to plan, then certainly there are opportunities within February that could be achievable.”

Artemis II has several potential launch windows, the earliest of which is Feb. 6. Launch attempts can also be made Feb. 7, 8, 10, and 11, before the next potential launch windows in March and April.

At a news conference on Friday, a reporter asked whether or not NASA leaders were in a rush to launch the Artemis II mission. Jeff Radigan, Artemis II’s lead flight director, said he took issue with the labeling of the mission as rushed.

“This is not a rush,” he said. “That’s not where we’re at right now. We are preparing to launch Artemis II. As Charlie mentioned, we’re working towards wet dress. … There’s a lot of preparation going on, but there absolutely are constraints.”