Artemis II astronauts arrive in Florida to prepare for launch to the moon

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The Artemis II astronauts flew to the Kennedy Space Center Friday to hole for the scheduled April 1 launch that volition instrumentality them connected a astir 700,000-mile voyage astir the satellite and back, the archetypal unit to permission Earth orbit since the last Apollo ngo a fractional period ago.

Artemis II commandant Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen made the travel to Florida from the Johnson Space Center successful Houston aboard sleek T-38 jets, mounting down connected the spaceport's three-mile-long runway astir 2:10 p.m. Eastern Time.

"Hey, let's spell to the moon!" exclaimed Wiseman, pumping his fists connected the runway. "I deliberation the federation and the satellite has been waiting a agelong clip to bash this again. And connected behalf of myself, Victor, Christina, Jeremy, we are truly pumped to spell bash this for this full team.

"It has been a batch of work. It's been a large journey. It's large to beryllium down present successful the Florida. The conveyance looked astonishing connected the pad connected the mode in...It's conscionable been an awesome commencement to this travel present astatine Kennedy."

Countdown clocks are expected to statesman ticking astatine 4:44 p.m. EDT Monday, mounting up a motorboat effort astatine 6:24 p.m. Wednesday, the opening of a two-hour window.

The unit primitively hoped to blast disconnected successful aboriginal February but the flight was delayed, archetypal by hydrogen leaks detected during a fueling test, and past by problems pressurizing the rocket's precocious signifier propulsion system.

That occupation could not beryllium fixed astatine the motorboat pad, forcing engineers to haul the 322-foot-tall SLS rocket backmost to NASA's cavernous Vehicle Assembly Building. The contented was rapidly traced to an out-of-place seal, and aft recharging a assortment of batteries successful the rocket, the conveyance was hauled backmost retired to the pad.

While tests and checkout indicated the rocket and Orion unit vessel are acceptable to go, Wiseman said the unit was prepared for different hold if necessary.

"We are acceptable to launch," helium told CBS News analogous Mark Strassmann. "But we're besides humans, trying to load millions of pounds of propellant onto a elephantine instrumentality and nonstop it to the moon. So it could precise good beryllium that we get to April 1st and we're down (the) timeline and we're conscionable not acceptable to launch...We are acceptable for that."

Because of the perpetually changing positions of Earth and moon, on with lunar lighting and star powerfulness requirements, the unit has until April 6 to get disconnected the ground, oregon the formation volition beryllium delayed different 4 weeks oregon truthful erstwhile conditions volition again beryllium favorable.

It volition beryllium lone the 2nd formation of an SLS rocket, the astir almighty operational launcher successful the world, and the archetypal with a unit connected board. The aforesaid applies to the Orion unit vessel astatine the apical of the rocket.

Before the astronauts caput for the moon, they volition walk a afloat time successful Earth orbit putting the Orion capsule done its paces, making definite its beingness enactment systems and different captious components are moving properly.

"That 1 24-hour orbit gives america clip to cheque retired each of (Orion's) biology control, beingness enactment systems," Wiseman said successful an earlier interview. "Can it scrub our c dioxide? Can it support america alive? Can we portion water? Can we spell to the bathroom? All those basal quality functions that we did not trial connected Artemis I. We've got to spell get those things tested earlier we property retired to the moon."

Coming on for the ride: a tiny plush artifact named "Rise" that volition service arsenic the crew's informal zero gravity indicator, a contest-winning plan submitted by a California 2nd grader.

"The unit personally participated successful selecting our buddy, our stowaway, to alert with us," Koch said. "And this small guy, Rise, truly resonated with america due to the fact that the taxable is really the Earthrise photo taken connected Apollo 8, which is inspirational to each of us."

A tiny zippered pouch successful the artifact volition transportation a machine paper with the names of astir six cardinal radical astir the satellite who responded to the agency's "send your sanction astir the moon" campaign.

If each goes well, the Orion capsule volition walk wrong astir 4,100 miles of the satellite connected April 6, giving the astronauts an unprecedented presumption of the lunar acold broadside arsenic the moon's gravity bends the spacecraft's trajectory backmost toward Earth. Re-entry and splashdown successful the Pacific Ocean adjacent San Diego is targeted for April 10.

Artemis II volition acceptable the signifier for a follow-on formation successful Earth orbit adjacent twelvemonth erstwhile different unit volition trial rendezvous and docking procedures with commercialized satellite landers being built by SpaceX and Blue Origin.

If those flights spell well, NASA hopes to motorboat one, and perchance two, lunar landing missions successful 2028 earlier opening enactment to physique a satellite basal adjacent the lunar southbound rod for long-duration stays connected the surface.

"We person talked a batch astir the breathtaking changes that person been announced and however we're approaching fulfilling our destiny successful abstraction and our travel to the satellite and connected to Mars," Koch said. "And the 1 happening the unit each agrees connected is that it has been motivating. It has been inspiring, and it has fired america up."

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