Artemis II readies historic crewed lunar mission

NASA's Artemis II crewed lunar mission aims to lift off from Kennedy Space Center in a two-hour window opening at 6:24 PM ET on April 1, 2026, with an 80% chance of favorable weather; the Orion spacecraft atop the SLS will carry four astronauts—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen—from the Vehicle Assembly Building toward the Moon, with launch opportunities through April 4–9 and a deadline of April 30; this mission marks NASA's first crewed lunar flight since Apollo and sets the stage for future lunar exploration.