NASA officials are set to outline final preparations for the Artemis II mission during a pre-launch news conference at Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday.
by JESSICA A. BOTELHO | The National News DeskIn this handout provided by NASA, NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Artemis II commander, left, Victor Glover, Artemis II pilot, Christina Koch, Artemis II mission specialist, and CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen, Artemis II mission specialist, right, stop for a group photograph as they visit NASA's Artemis II SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft, on March 30, 2026 in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
NASA is aiming for an early April launch date for the first crewed moon mission in 50 years. They discussed the progress they've made on what will be the first crewed flight of the agency’s return-to-the-moon program in more than 50 years. Mission managers and engineers said testing of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft is complete, with teams focused on final safety checks and integration work ahead of the launch. The Artemis II crew – mission specialist Jeremy Hansen of CSA , mission specialist Christina Koch, commander Reid Wiseman and pilot Victor Glover – stand together after arriving at the Kennedy Space Center on March 27, 2026 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The astronauts arrived to begin preparations for an April 1, 2026 launch for a 10-day mission, which will take them around the Moon and back to Earth. Managers said the rocket is doing well following the latest round of repairs. Forecasters said the weather should cooperate. After a day in orbit around Earth, their Orion capsule will propel them to the moon and back. There are no stops -- just a quick U-turn around the moon.“Our team has worked extremely hard to get us to this moment,” said launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson. "Certainly all indications are right now we are in excellent, excellent shape.” The lunar flyby mission will mark NASA’s first crewed journey beyond low-Earth orbit since the Apollo era. The flight is designed to test the spacecraft’s life support systems, navigation and performance in deep space before future missions attempt a lunar landing. Officials said the crew has been training extensively for the mission, including simulations of launch, deep-space operations and emergency scenarios. NASA emphasized that Artemis II is a critical step in its broader goal of establishing a sustained human presence on and around the moon, as well as preparing for eventual missions to Mars. The mission is expected to build on the success of Artemis I, an uncrewed test flight that orbited the moon and returned safely to Earth in 2022.More than a decade after Washington legalized recreational cannabis, a new survey suggests many clinicians are increasingly worried about the mental-health riskA Bellevue, Washington, tax preparer who built a client base among tech workers was convicted of assisting in the creation of false tax returns, federal prosecuA person is dead after being pulled from the water at Green Lake, according to the Seattle Fire Department.A weakness in the system used to detect improper payments in subsidized child care contributed to an estimated $37M in questionable payments.Gov. Bob Ferguson has signed the Driver Privacy Act, Senate Bill 6002, into law, creating new statewide rules for automated license plate readers, cameras commo
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