The four astronauts scheduled to fly around the moon during NASA’s Artemis II test flight leave the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, during launch day training on Dec. 20, 2025. From left are CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, and NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Reed Wiseman, and Christina Koch.
The launch day rehearsal, called the countdown test, simulates the launch day schedule, including the crew donning their spacesuits and climbing in and out of the Orion spacecraft. Because the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket it will be launched on has not yet reached the launch pad, the crew boarded Orion inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy, where engineers are making final preparations for the spacecraft, rocket and ground systems.
Through Artemis, NASA will send astronauts to explore the Moon for scientific discoveries, economic benefits and to build the foundation for the first manned missions to Mars.
Image credit: NASA/ Jim Ross