NASA announces historic moon mission launch date
The space agency is working hard to send astronauts on the first lunar mission, more than five decades after the Apollo program ended.
Don't expect to see any "first step for man" moments again, or moon landings being shown across the world.
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However, NASA is preparing for another historic moon mission, sending four astronauts into deep space.
The Artemis II launch was delayed after the space agency announced several issues following a wet dress rehearsal.
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The rehearsal is a hands-on test during which launch controllers fill up the Space Launch System, or SLS rocket, with more than 700,000 gallons of super-chilled propellants and simulate the countdown to liftoff.
It is a crucial test of the towering rocket system that will launch the spacecraft.
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The mission, which was expected to launch on February 8th, has now been postponed to March 2026, but NASA believes it will be ready by then.
In a public report, NASA stated that the problems included cold weather that delayed the rehearsal and hydrogen leaks during the filling of Artemis II’s Space Launch System rocket with propellant.
The second rehearsal is scheduled for 19 February.
With the conclusion of the wet dress rehearsal today, we are moving off the February launch window and targeting March for the earliest possible launch of Artemis II.
— NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman (@NASAAdmin) February 3, 2026
With more than three years between SLS launches, we fully anticipated encountering challenges. That is precisely…
Other delays could also require additional steps before the official launch.
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If the March date is moved, some batteries on the rocket's upper portion will need to be replaced.
Ultimately, the mission will see the first astronauts, NASA’s Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, as well as the Canadian Space Agency’s Jeremy Hansen, commence a 10-day journey beyond the far side of the moon.
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This could break the record for the farthest distance humans have ever travelled from Earth.
The astronauts will enter quarantine two weeks before the current launch date, which is between 6 and 11 March.
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