Before NASA sends its astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen on their Artemis II
NASA’s crawler-transporter carries the powerful SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft on the Mobile Launcher from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center in preparation for the Artemis II mission on Jan.
17, 2026.Before NASA sends its astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen on their Artemis II mission around the Moon, the launch team at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and teams across the country will begin counting down about two days before liftoff. A launch countdown contains “L Minus” and “T Minus” times. The “L minus” indicates how far away liftoff is in hours and minutes. The “T minus” time is a sequence of events built into the launch countdown. Pauses in the countdown, or “holds,” are built in to allow the launch team to target a precise launch window, and to provide a cushion of time for certain tasks and procedures without impacting the overall schedule. During planned holds in the countdown process, the countdown clock is intentionally stopped and the T- time also stops. The L- time, however, continues to advance. All times are approximate for when these milestones occur. L-49H40M – Countdown clock beginspreparations for vehicle loadingL-42H10M – L-40H30M: Interim cryogenic propulsion stage powered upL-34H45M – L-34H10M: ICPS is powered downL-31H30M – L-24H30M: Charge core stage flight batteriesL-15H30M – L-14H: All non-essential personnel leave Launch Complex 39BL-13H15M – L-11H45M: Ground launch sequencer activationL-10H50M – Launch team decides “go” or “no-go” to begin tankingL-10H40M – L-9H55M: Core stage LH2 chilldownL-9H55M – L-9H25M: Core stage LH2 slow fill startL-9H30M – L-6H40M: Core stage LOX fast fillL-8H30M – L-7H45M: ICPS LH2 fast fill startL-7H45M – L-7H20M: ICPS LH2 vent and relief testL-6H40M – L-6H10M: Orion communications system activated L-6H40M – L-6H30M: ICPS LOX main propulsion system chilldownL-6H05M – terminal count: Core stage LOX replenishL-5H45M – L-5H30M: ICPS LOX vent and relief testL-5H10M – All stages replenishL-4H40M – L-4H10M: Flight crew deployment to padL-3H10M – L-2H45M: Counterbalance mechanism hatch sealpress decayL-1H40M – L1H30M: Launch abort system hatch closure for flight L-1H10M – Launch director brief – rocket & thermal protection system scan results with the imagery consoleL-50M – Final NASA test director briefing is held L-25 minutes and holding L-17M – Launch director polls team to ensure they are “go” for launchT-10 minutes and counting T-6M – GLS go for core stage tank pressurization T-5M57S – Core stage LH2 terminate replenishT-5M20S – NTD lets commander knows LAS capability is availableT-4M – GLS is go for core stage auxiliary power unit startT-3M30S – ICPS LOX terminate replenish T-2M – Booster switches to internal batter powerT-50S – ICPS LH2 terminate replenishT-30S – Core stage flight computer to automated launching sequencer T-10S – GLS sends the command for core stage engine start
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