NASA Approves Artemis II Launch for April 1

NASA has given the green light for the Artemis II mission, targeting a launch as early as April 1 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, marking the first crewed voyage to the Moon in more than 50 years. The Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft, recently repaired after technical setbacks, are set to carry four astronauts on a 10-day journey around the lunar far side and back to Earth.

The crew consists of NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman as commander, Victor Glover as pilot, and Christina Koch as mission specialist, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen. They will test the Orion capsule's systems during the flight, which follows the uncrewed Artemis I mission in 2022. The trajectory will take the spacecraft into a high Earth orbit before a translunar injection burn propels it toward the Moon, reaching a point up to 4,000 miles beyond the lunar far side and potentially breaking the record for the farthest distance traveled from Earth, set by Apollo 13 in 1970 at 248,655 miles.

Agency officials completed a two-day flight readiness review on March 12, polling go for preparations to roll the 322-foot rocket from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch...