All was eerily quiet at Launch Complex 39B this morning. There was no hubub of last minute activity to prepare SLS or its ground support hardware for what’s planned to come this week: a launch window that opens late in the day April 1st and a start to the first translunar journey undertaken by humans in nearly 54 years. There will activity here, and a lot of it, soon.

“The crew is ready, the rocket is ready, the spaceship is ready, the ground systems are ready,” said Sean Quinn, NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems Program Manager, during a press briefing Sunday afternoon. “We only need the weather to cooperate on Thursday — we’re ready to go.”

Quinn said Sunday’s countdown pretest briefing — the final major review before the actual launch countdown begins Monday afternoon at approximately 3:00 p.m. EDT — was among the best the program has ever seen.

“Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, our launch director, commented to me that in all the years she participated in shuttle launch countdowns, they’ve never had one that was as clean as this one,” Quinn said, noting there were no significant open work items and all non-conformances had been closed.

The Artemis II launch countdown begins roughly two days before liftoff, with the launch team arriving on station at L-49 hours 50 minutes. A few minutes later, the clock starts ticking, and a long sequence of events that leads to ignition and launch some two days later, if all goes well. That will hopefully start tomorrow evening, and the Cape will come alive with launch preparations.

The four Artemis II astronauts — Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and CSA Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen — arrived at Kennedy on Friday, March 27. They are quarantined and preparing for their flight, as is customary before any mission. The crew are said to be in good spirits and looking forward to a good launch followed by a successful mission.

“They are more than ready. They can’t wait to get off the ground,” Dr. Lori Glaze, NASA’s said. “It was really terrific to see them arrive in Florida.”

Monday afternoon, NASA’s Mission Management Team assumes primary authority over launch readiness decisions. The MMT will meet Monday to review the closure plan for the handful of open work items identified during the Flight Readiness Review held earlier this month.

Current Status

(At March 29, 2026, at 2:00 PM EDT. This timeline will change.)

Date	Activity	Status
Ground Processing & Rollout
Jan. 17, 2026	SLS/Orion rollout to LC-39B (first) ~12-hour crawl from VAB to Launch Pad 39B	✓ Complete
Feb. 2, 2026	Wet Dress Rehearsal 1 LH₂ leak identified; Orion hatch valve required retorquing	✓ Complete
Feb. 6–11, 2026	February launch window — scrubbed LH₂ leak, helium flow anomaly, cold weather delays; window not used	✓ Passed
Feb. 21, 2026	Wet Dress Rehearsal 2 LH₂ leak confirmed resolved; helium flow to upper stage identified as new issue	✓ Complete
Feb. 25, 2026	Rollback to Vehicle Assembly Building Helium flow repair to ICPS; helium component in launch vehicle stage adapter inspected/replaced	✓ Complete
Mar. 6–11, 2026	March launch window — scrubbed Vehicle remained in VAB for repairs; window not used	✓ Passed
Mar. 12, 2026	Flight Readiness Review — polled GO Agency FRR completed; all teams polled GO for April 1 launch attempt	✓ Complete
Mar. 19–20, 2026	SLS/Orion rollout to LC-39B (second) Originally targeted Mar. 19; FTS electrical harness issue pushed to Mar. 20	✓ Complete
Launch Countdown & Crew Operations
Mar. 27, 2026	Crew arrival at Kennedy Space Center Wiseman, Glover, Koch, Hansen arrive at KSC for pre-launch quarantine operations	✓ Complete
Mar. 30, 2026	Launch countdown begins (~L-48 hours) ~6:24 PM EDT · Terminal countdown begins approximately two days before liftoff	Upcoming
April 2026 Launch Windows
Apr. 1, 2026	Primary launch attempt — NET 6:24 PM EDT · 2-hour window · 80% favorable weather · ~1.3 hrs before sunset	🚀 NET Launch
Apr. 3, 2026	Backup launch opportunity 8:00 PM EDT · 2-hour window · ~0.3 hrs after sunset	Backup
Apr. 4, 2026	Backup launch opportunity 8:53 PM EDT · 2-hour window · ~1.2 hrs after sunset	Backup
Apr. 5, 2026	Backup launch opportunity 9:40 PM EDT · 2-hour window · ~2.0 hrs after sunset	Backup
Apr. 6, 2026	Backup launch opportunity 10:36 PM EDT · 2-hour window · ~2.9 hrs after sunset	Backup
Apr. 30, 2026	Next monthly window — first opportunity 6:06 PM EDT · 2-hour window · ~1.9 hrs before sunset	Contingency
In-Flight Milestones (NET Apr. 1 baseline)
L+0 · Apr. 1	Liftoff from LC-39B SLS Block 1 with Orion; crew: Wiseman, Glover, Koch, Hansen	Upcoming
L+~2 days	Trans-lunar injection burn ICPS upper stage fires to send Orion toward the Moon	Upcoming
L+~4–5 days	Lunar flyby Free-return trajectory; closest approach ~4,700 mi beyond the Moon	Upcoming
L+~10 days · Apr. 11	Splashdown — Pacific Ocean off San Diego Steeper direct reentry profile; recovery by U.S. Navy San Antonio-class ship	Upcoming

Sources: NASA Artemis II Mission Availability (updated Mar. 12, 2026) · NASA Artemis Blog · Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Launch windows subject to change. All times EDT. ✓ = completed  ▶ = in progress  🚀 = NET launch attempt.

Ground teams are making final preparations toward beginning launch countdown activities, and the weather forecast for launch day shows an 80% chance of favorable conditions, with primary concerns being cloud coverage and the potential for violations. We’ll take it, that sounds like just another day on the Space Coast.

If the mission does not launch on April 1, additional opportunities exist through April 6. After that, the next available date is April 30.

When Artemis II does fly, the stakes are hard to overstate. Artemis II will carry the first woman, first person of color, and first non-U.S. citizen beyond low Earth orbit and to the Moon’s vicinity. As a bonus other records will be set by Artemis II: at roughly 4,700 miles beyond the Moon, this flight will be the farthest and fastest human spaceflight in history. It will be a big moment not only for NASA, but also for spaceflight in general.

A Once-in-a-Generation Eclipse View

There’s an additional highlight waiting for the crew if they launch Wednesday: a rare solar eclipse opportunity visible from their unique vantage point in lunar space.

Glaze said the crew will have a chance to observe the solar corona as the moon eclipses the sun from their perspective during the outbound leg of the mission — a phenomenon made possible by the specific geometry of the April 1 trajectory.

“I think it’ll be really fascinating and a great observation opportunity for the crew,” Glaze said. “It’s going to be a unique thing on this one.”

Distance Record on the Books

If Artemis II launches April 1, the spacecraft will carry its crew to a maximum distance of 252,799 statute miles from Earth — placing the crew 4,144 statute miles farther from Earth than any Apollo crew ever traveled.

Orion Program Manager Howard Hu confirmed those figures Sunday and said his team is still working out the exact distances for subsequent days in the April 1–6 window.

“Let’s launch on the first and go from there,” Hu said.

NASA continues to target a Wednesday liftoff, with a two-hour window opening at 6:24 p.m. EDT.