Launch window opens for Orion: the Artemis II mission set to take humans deeper into space than ever before.

 

In 1969 as a young boy, I was lucky to have watched, along with the entire world, Apollo 11 launch and land on the Moon and return safely to the Earth. A mission started by the leadership of President John F. Kennedy. Now my children will soon see humans again land on the Moon. Today is the first launch window, of about 2 hours in duration, for a chance to launch Artemis-II into Earth orbit with four NASA astronauts, three Americans and one Canadian. The Orion spacecraft has just over 355,000 parts, built by NASA and prime contractor Lockheed Martin. If all systems are go, once in orbit, the spacecraft will inject itself into a flight into deep space around the moon to return to Earth. 

You can see the design of the spacecraft here as provided by NASA. It has three main sections.

Orion spacecraft. The European service module, the crew module, and the launch abort system (LAS).

The Orion space system comprises the European service module, the crew module, and the launch abort system (LAS). This system made its first mission without crew during Artemis-I and travelled farther from Earth than any previous crew-carry system. 

Artemis 2 will take humans farther away from Earth than any previous time. A Canadian crew member will make Canada the second nation on Earth to send a citizen beyond Earth orbit, and also the second national to go beyond the Moon. The four astronauts selected for NASA’s Artemis-II mission: Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch from NASA, and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency. You can learn more about the crew themselves here from NASA video: (Opens in a new window.)

You can watch the launch today and information leading up the launch here at NASA's website feed for Artemis II:  Visit NASA's video feed here. (Opens in a new window.)

If the launch is delayed today (April 1, Wednesday), then about 6 more days are available for launch. The window on any day is only about 2 hours due to the desire to have the Moon in a specific location relative to the Florida side of Earth, location of Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center.