NASA Prepares SLS Wet Dress Rehearsal for Artemis II

NASA is preparing for a critical wet dress rehearsal of its Space Launch System rocket this weekend at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, as it eyes a potential launch for the Artemis II mission as early as February 6. The test, if successful, would clear a major hurdle for the first crewed lunar flight since 1972, sending four astronauts on a 10-day journey around the Moon aboard the Orion spacecraft.

The Artemis II crew includes NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman as commander, Victor Glover as pilot, and Christina Koch as a mission specialist, along with Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency as the other mission specialist. Koch will become the first woman to travel to the Moon, while Hansen will be the first non-American astronaut on such a voyage. The team has accumulated 660 days in space from prior missions to the International Space Station and has conducted 12 spacewalks combined. The astronauts are currently in quarantine ahead of the flight.

The wet dress rehearsal, set to begin as early as Thursday evening and simulate a launch countdown through Saturday, January 31, or into early February 1, will involve loading the fully stacked SLS rocket and Orion...