The four astronauts selected for the Artemis II mission, which involves a flyby of the moon in November of next year, successfully completed a pre-launch practice run on Wednesday. The NASA astronauts, Christina Koch, Victor Glover, and Reid Wiseman, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, began their day by waking up inside the crew quarters at the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in accordance with launch day procedures. They then proceeded to put on test versions of the Orion crew survival system spacesuits that they will wear during the actual mission. The crew was transported to Launch Pad 39B in NASA’s new Artemis crew transportation fleet, with Wiseman and Glover in the first vehicle and Koch and Hansen following in another.
Once they reached the launchpad, the astronauts made their way to the mobile launcher and ascended the tower to the white room inside the crew access arm. On the day of the launch, the crew will enter the Orion spacecraft from this point. Victor Glover expressed his awe at the experience, saying, “When we walked out that crew access arm, I just had images of all those Apollo launches and shuttle launches that I saw as a kid and it was unreal… I actually had to stop and just stay in the moment to really let it all sink in.” NASA confirmed that the test conducted on Wednesday ensures the readiness of the crew and the ground systems teams at Kennedy for the launch in just over a year.
The Artemis II mission, lasting for 10 days, will utilize NASA’s recently tested Space Launch System rocket to send the Orion spacecraft on the first crewed lunar visit in 50 years. Following the path of the uncrewed Artemis I test flight conducted last year, the Orion spacecraft will fly close to the moon, reaching a distance of only 80 miles from its surface. The crew, introduced at a special ceremony in April, recently had the opportunity to closely examine the Orion spacecraft that will transport them. Artemis II aims to validate the safety and reliability of the Orion spacecraft for future crewed missions. Subsequently, NASA plans to collaborate with SpaceX’s lander to return astronauts to the moon in the Artemis III mission, currently scheduled for 2025, marking the first manned lunar landing since 1972.
