NASA’s integrated SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft for the Artemis II mission are moving closer to launch — literally.
The agency is targeting no earlier than 7 a.m. EDT, Saturday, January 17, to begin the multi-hour journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building to launch pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
A pre-launch press conference for the mission, a live broadcast of the mission, and a media package will be broadcast on NASA Channel YouTube channel. Individual streams for each of these events will be available from that page. Learn how to stream NASA content across a variety of online platforms, including social media.
Release time is subject to change if additional time is needed for technical or weather preparations.
All times are Eastern. The events are as follows:
Friday 16 January:
12 noon: Artemis II launch, mission overview press conference
- John Honeycutt, head of the Artemis II mission management team
- Charlie Blackwell Thompson, Artemis launch manager, Exploration Ground Systems
- Jeff Radigan, Artemis II principal flight director, Flight Operations Directorate
- Lily Villarreal, landing and recovery manager at Exploration Ground Systems
- Jacob Bleicher, senior exploration scientist, Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate
Saturday 17 January:
7 a.m.: Artemis II Live Views begin broadcast from Kennedy Space Center
9 a.m.: Artemis II crew media event
- NASA Administrator Jared Isaacs and the Artemis II crew, including NASA astronauts Reed Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, will answer questions about their preparations and the mission for media in person at the countdown clock.
NASA’s Crawler 2 transfer vehicle will carry the 11-million-pound stack at about one mile per hour along the four-mile route from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39B, a journey that will take up to 12 hours.
To participate in the teleconference, media outlets must RSVP no later than two hours before the start at: ksc-newsroom@mail.nasa.gov.
These events will only be open in person to media that have been pre-approved for the launch. The in-person certification deadline for Kennedy’s Artemis II events has passed.
The launch on the platform marks another milestone leading up to the Artemis II mission. In the coming weeks, NASA will complete final preparations for the rocket and, if necessary, will move SLS and Orion to the Vehicle Assembly Building for additional work. As the Artemis II launch window opens early Friday, February 6, the mission management team will assess flight readiness after training on the spacecraft, launch infrastructure, crew, and operations teams before setting a launch date.
Follow NASA’s Artemis blog for mission updates.
Through Artemis, NASA will send astronauts to explore the Moon for scientific discoveries and economic benefits, and to build the foundation for the first manned missions to Mars.
Learn more about Artemis at:
https://www.nasa.gov/artemis
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Rachel Kraft/Lauren Lu
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
rachel.h.kraft@nasa.gov / lauren.e.low@nasa.gov
Tiffany Fairley
Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
321-867-2468
tiffany.l.fairley@nasa.gov