Friday, March 13, 2026

BACK TO THE MOON: Artemis 2 SLS Rocket Is Ready, and NASA’s Crewed Lunar Mission May Launch as Soon as April 1st

by Paul Serran
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NASA rocket launch preparations with a stunning sunset backdrop, showcasing the spacecraft and the moon in the sky.

NASA rocket launch preparations with a stunning sunset backdrop, showcasing the spacecraft and the moon in the sky.
NASA says all issues with SLS rocket have been worked out.

Humans haven’t been to the moon or its orbit since 1972 – but now, the time has come to return.

In the runup to launch last month, the SLS rocket presented issues that led it to be carted back to the assembly building for further work on it.

But now, everything seems to be ready for the greatest Space adventure of the 21st century.

Space.com reported:

“Artemis 2 managers met over the past two days, conducting the mission’s flight readiness review (FRR) ahead of rolling its Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion capsule back to the launch pad for liftoff. Repairs to the SLS were recently completed inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, where ground teams will now prepare the vehicle for transportation to KSC’s Launch Complex-39B.”

Group of astronauts celebrating at a sports event, showcasing excitement and camaraderie while wearing blue NASA flight suits.
The Artemis 2 Crew – Photo by Riley McClenaghan/Wiki Commons

The rocket and the Orion capsule are expected to be rolled out to the launch pad on March 19, with NASA targeting a launch as soon as April 1.

“’During the flight readiness review, we had extremely thorough discussions — very open, transparent’, Lori Glaze, NASA’s Exploration Systems Development acting associate administrator, said during a post-FRR press briefing today.”

Astronauts from the Artemis II mission pose in space suits with the moon in the background, highlighting NASA's goal of lunar exploration for humanity.

“’We talked a lot about our risk posture and how we’re mitigating those risks’, Glaze said. ‘We reviewed the challenges that we’ve had and how we’ve addressed them, and we talked about the work that remains, what’s left to do, and how we’re going to get through all of that’.

Artemis 2 is NASA’s first crewed mission to the moon in more than 50 years. It will launch NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, as well as Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, on a 10-day journey around the moon and back to Earth aboard the Orion spacecraft.”

Read more:

ELUSIVE MOON: Artemis II Lunar Mission Delayed Again – SLS Rocket and Orion Capsule May Have To Be Rolled Back to Vehicle Assembly Building

The post BACK TO THE MOON: Artemis 2 SLS Rocket Is Ready, and NASA’s Crewed Lunar Mission May Launch as Soon as April 1st appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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