It took a while, but Artemis II is back at the launch pad, and preparations have begun to launch the mission intended to return humans to cislunar space for the first time in over fifty years. In Houston, Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen have entered quarantine, with the rocket and crew both aiming for a launch as soon as April 1st.

Trip To LC-39B Delayed By Winds, But Slow And Steady Won The Race

Originally planned for an early evening start to its trip from the VAB to the pad, the launch stack and mobile launch platform remained in the VAB until after midnight thanks to crisp north winds peppered by gusts that spiked close to the weather criteria for the move.

Slowly, though, the breezes abated, and finally, the stack saw first movement at 2:20 AM EDT. Eleven hours and one minute later, it arrived at LC-39B. It was a long night for the ground crews at Kennedy, and probably the start of a long string of them in the days leading up to the launch of Artemis II. There’s a lot of work to do, and that work has begun in earnest.

Astronauts In Quarantine

Meanwhile, in Houston, Wiseman, Glover, Koch and Hansen re-entered quarantine on March 18th. They will continue working until they come to the Cape on or around March 27th, or five days before their scheduled launch date.