Artemis II update: NASA targets March 6 for launch of historic moon mission following successful 'wet dress rehearsal'

A photo of Artemis II's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft on Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. — NASA's Space Launch System rocket on the launch pad. The Artemis II moon mission could launch as soon as March 6. (Image credit: Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo / AFP via Getty Images)

NASA is targeting Friday, March 6 as the earliest possible launch date for the historic Artemis II mission, which will fly astronauts to the moon for the first time in five decades.

Agency officials announced the target date in a news conference on Feb. 20, following a successful "wet dress rehearsal" — a crucial test in which the Space Launch System (SLS) moon rocket is filled with fuel and taken most of the way through the launch countdown — completed on Thursday (Feb. 19).

"There's a lot of forward work that remains," Lori Glaze, NASA's Moon to Mars program manager, said at the conference. "Including the post-wet-dress analyses, some significant work to be completed out at the [launch] pad… and a multi-day flight readiness review that will come up later next week."

Wet dress doesn't leak

Thursday's wet dress rehearsal was the second attempt to fuel the SLS rocket on the lunach pad. The first fueling test, which concluded on Feb. 2, was marred by hydrogen leaks and various other issues, prompting NASA to scrub the test with about five minutes left on the countdown clock.

In Thursday's rehearsal, mission crew successfully completed the terminal launch countdown twice, according to NASA.

New seals have since been installed on the interface used to fuel the rocket, keeping leaks at bay and hydrogen fuel concentrations at allowable levels, the agency added.

The four astronauts selected for the Artemis II mission, including the first woman and person of color who will land on the moon. — The four astronauts selected for the Artemis II mission. From left to right: Victor Glover, Jeremy Hansen, Christina Koch, and Reid Wiseman. (Image credit: NASA)

The second dress rehearsal did experience a communication issue early on, when the Launch Control Center lost contact with the crew on the ground. The team temporarily switched to backup communications to continue fueling before normal communications were restored.

"Yesterday we were able to fully tank the SLS rocket within the planned timeline," Glaze said. "We also successfully demonstrated the launch countdown."

History in the making

Artemis II is scheduled to take four astronauts on a 10-day trip around the moon. This is the first time NASA is sending humans back to the moon in more than 50 years, and the first time that a woman and a Black man will be part of a lunar crew.

Artemis II's four-person crew includes three NASA astronauts: Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialist Christina Koch. The fourth member of the crew is Canadian Space Agency astronaut and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen.