NASA begins final countdown for crewed Artemis II Moon mission

NASA has launched the final countdown for its Artemis II test flight, marking a major step in its plan to return humans to the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years.

The countdown officially began on March 30 at Kennedy Space Centre, where engineers initiated critical pre-launch procedures for the agency’s Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft, Caliber.Az reports via NASA.

Liftoff is targeted for 6:24 p.m. EDT (2224 GMT) on April 1.

Artemis II will be the first crewed flight of the SLS rocket and Orion capsule, carrying four astronauts on a 10-day mission around the Moon and back. The crew includes NASA astronauts G. Reid Wiseman, Victor J. Glover and Christina H. Koch, alongside Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency.

Launch teams have begun powering up flight systems, testing communications and preparing for fuelling operations involving large volumes of super-cooled liquid hydrogen and oxygen. At the launch pad, crews are also readying the sound suppression system, which releases a high-volume water deluge at liftoff to protect the rocket from acoustic damage.

The astronauts remain in quarantine at the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building, undergoing medical checks and maintaining controlled sleep and nutrition schedules as part of final preparations.

Weather conditions remain a key factor, with officials from the U.S. Space Force monitoring forecasts that currently show an 80% chance of favourable conditions, though cloud cover and high winds could pose risks.

Live coverage of fuelling operations is set to begin early on launch day, with full mission coverage to follow across NASA’s digital platforms.

Artemis II is a critical milestone in NASA’s broader Artemis programme, which aims to establish a sustained human presence on the Moon later this decade.