NASA Artemis Moonshot Countdown
This photo provided by NASA shows NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Artemis II commander, from left, Victor Glover, Artemis II pilot, Christina Koch, Artemis II mission specialist, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, Artemis II mission specialist, right, in a group photograph as they visit NASA's Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft, Monday, March 30, 2026, at Launch Complex 39B of NASA's Kennedy Space Center, in Cape Canaveral, Fla.
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The countdown has begun toward humanity’s first launch to the moon in 53 years. NASA’s countdown clocks started ticking late Monday afternoon at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. The 32-story Space Launch System rocket is poised to blast off Wednesday evening with four astronauts. After a day in orbit around Earth, their Orion capsule will propel them to the moon and back. NASA says the rocket is doing well after the latest round of repairs. The last time NASA sent astronauts to the moon was during Apollo 17 in 1972.
Everything seems to be going NASA's way as the countdown proceeds toward a Wednesday launch of astronauts' first trip to the moon in more than half a century. Officials said Tuesday that the rocket is doing well on its Florida pad and the weather looks promising. The four astronauts assigned to the Artemis II mission will become the first lunar visitors since Apollo 17 in 1972. They'll zip around the moon without landing or even orbiting and come straight back. The launch team will begin fueling the 32-story rocket Wednesday morning for an evening send-off.
