NASA aims for April moon launch with Artemis astronauts

Spacecraft News

NASA aims for April moon launch with Artemis astronauts
Space LaunchesAerospace And Defense IndustryNational Aeronautics And Space Administration
  • 📰 AP
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 287 sec. here
  • 25 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 184%
  • Publisher: 51%

NASA has cleared its moon rocket for an April launch with four astronauts after completing the latest round of repairs. Mission managers made the call Thursday at Florida's Kennedy Space Center. NASA says the Space Launch System rocket will roll out of the hangar and back to the pad next week.

All 6 crew members on a US refueling plane that crashed in Iraq are dead, US military saysTrump administration sues California over the state's nation-leading vehicle-emission rulesDemocratic senators file war powers resolution to check Trump on CubaIran soccer team pushes back on Trump comments, says 'no one can exclude' it from the World CupCracks emerged in a resilient US economy before war in Iran sent oil prices rocketingViral phenomenon in Argentina has young people identifying themselves as animalsInjured mother manatee and calf are rescued in Florida and taken to SeaWorldA photo captures black spots on clothespins that reveal the environmental toll of conflict in TehranThe World in PicturesHuman waste backing up in basements is a gut-churning sign of US infrastructure problemsSome people tape their mouths shut at night.

Doctors wish they wouldn'tColorectal cancer is rising in younger adults. Here's who is most at risk and symptoms to watch forGoogle overhauls its Maps app, adding in more AI features to help people get aroundPhotos show the dramatic dawn flight of migrating snow geeseWhat to know about Reform Judaism after an attack on one of its largest US synagoguesCancelan reunión entre Gustavo Petro y Delcy Rodríguez en la frontera colombo-venezolana Doctors wish they wouldn'tColorectal cancer is rising in younger adults. Here's who is most at risk and symptoms to watch forGoogle overhauls its Maps app, adding in more AI features to help people get aroundPhotos show the dramatic dawn flight of migrating snow geeseWhat to know about Reform Judaism after an attack on one of its largest US synagoguesCancelan reunión entre Gustavo Petro y Delcy Rodríguez en la frontera colombo-venezolanaNASA cleared its moon rocket on Thursday for an April launch with four astronauts after completing the latest round of repairs. NASA’s Artemis II SLS moon rocket with the Orion spacecraft slowly rolls back towards the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. NASA’s Artemis II SLS moon rocket with the Orion spacecraft slowly rolls back towards the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. NASA’s Artemis II SLS moon rocket with the Orion spacecraft slowly rolls back towards the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. NASA cleared its moon rocket on Thursday for an April launch with four astronauts after completing the latest round of repairs. NASA’s Artemis II SLS moon rocket with the Orion spacecraft slowly rolls back towards the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. NASA’s Artemis II SLS moon rocket with the Orion spacecraft slowly rolls back towards the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. NASA’s Artemis II SLS moon rocket with the Orion spacecraft slowly rolls back towards the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. NASA’s Artemis II SLS moon rocket with the Orion spacecraft slowly rolls back towards the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. NASA’s Artemis II SLS moon rocket with the Orion spacecraft slowly rolls back towards the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. NASA’s Artemis II SLS moon rocket with the Orion spacecraft slowly rolls back towards the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. The 322-foot rocket will roll out of the hangar and back to the pad next week at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center, leading to a launch attempt as early as April 1. It will mark humanity’s first trip to the moon in more than 50 years. The Artemis II crew should have blasted off on a lunar flyaround earlier this year, but fuel leaks and other problems with the Space Launch System rocket interfered.The space agency has only six days at the beginning of April to launch before standing down until April 30 into early May. “It’s a test flight and it is not without risk, but our team and our hardware are ready,” NASA’s Lori Glaze told reporters at the end of the two-day flight readiness review.History has shown that a new rocket has essentially a 50% chance of success, said John Honeycutt, chair of the mission management team. There’s so much gap since the only other SLS flight — more than three years ago without anyone on board — that it’s difficult to understand any risk assessment numbers, Honeycutt said. “It’s not the first flight,” Glaze said. “But we’re also not in a regular cadence. So we definitely have significantly more risk than a flight system that’s flying all the time.”Dissatisfied with the slow pace and lengthy gaps between lunar missions, he added an extra practice flight in orbit around Earth for next year. That is now the new Artemis III, with the moon landing by two astronauts shifted to Artemis IV. Isaacman is targeting one and maybe even two lunar landings in 2028. NASA’s Office of Inspector General warned in an audit this week that the space agency needs to come up with a rescue plan for its lunar crews. Landing near the moon’s south pole will be riskier than it was for the Apollo astronauts closer to the equator given the rough polar terrain, according to the report. The report cited the lunar landers as the top contributor for potential loss of crew during the first few Artemis moon landings. It listed the space agency’s loss-of-crew threshold at 1-in-40 for lunar operations and 1-in-30 for Artemis missions overall. Contracted by NASA to provide the moon landers for astronauts, Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin have accelerated work in order to meet the new 2028 target date. The inspector general’s office said many technical challenges remain including refueling their landers in orbit around Earth before flying to the moon. NASA sent 24 astronauts to the moon during Apollo, 12 of whom landed on it. All but one of the moonshots — Apollo 13 — achieved their prime objectives. The program ended with Apollo 17 in 1972.The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

AP /  🏆 728. in US

Space Launches Aerospace And Defense Industry National Aeronautics And Space Administration Space Exploration General News Florida Texas TX State Wire FL State Wire Technology Lori Glaze Jared Isaacman Elon Musk U.S. News Jeff Bezos Kennedy Space Center Science John Honeycutt U.S. News

 

United States Latest News, United States Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

NASA Artemis II updates: March rollout, 7 April launch date opportunitiesNASA Artemis II updates: March rollout, 7 April launch date opportunitiesNASA said it would begin to roll the Artemis II rocket and spacecraft out to the launch pad at Florida's Kennedy Space Center as early as next week, and that everything is 'on track' for an April launch.
Read more »

NASA clears its Artemis moon rocket for an April launch with four astronauts following repairs -NASA clears its Artemis moon rocket for an April launch with four astronauts following repairs -CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA cleared its moon rocket on Thursday for an April launch with four astronauts after completing the latest round of repairs.
Read more »

NASA clears its Artemis moon rocket for an April launch with four astronauts following repairsNASA clears its Artemis moon rocket for an April launch with four astronauts following repairsNASA has cleared its moon rocket for an April launch with four astronauts after completing the latest round of repairs.
Read more »

NASA clears its Artemis moon rocket for an April launch with four astronauts following repairsNASA clears its Artemis moon rocket for an April launch with four astronauts following repairsA launch attempt could happen as early as April 1.
Read more »

NASA clears its Artemis moon rocket for an April launch with four astronauts following repairsNASA clears its Artemis moon rocket for an April launch with four astronauts following repairsNASA has cleared its moon rocket for an April launch with four astronauts after completing the latest round of repairs.
Read more »

NASA clears its Artemis moon rocket for an April launch with four astronauts following repairsNASA clears its Artemis moon rocket for an April launch with four astronauts following repairsNASA has cleared its moon rocket for an April launch with four astronauts after completing the latest round of repairs.
Read more »



Render Time: 2026-04-01 01:07:40