NASA Sets Sights on April 1 for Historic Return to the Moon with First Crewed Mission Since Apollo

NASA is gearing up for an April 1 launch of its Artemis II mission, which will be the first manned journey to the moon since the Apollo missions ended in 1972.

On Thursday, officials announced the completion of a flight readiness review (FRR), setting the stage for the rocket to be moved to the launch pad on March 19. This will be followed by the final preparations necessary for liftoff.

The mission, expected to span 10 days, is set to launch at 6:24 p.m. ET on April 1. Should any issues arise, a backup launch is planned for April 2 at 7:22 p.m.

“Following the FRR, all teams gave the green light to proceed with launching and flying Artemis II around the moon, pending some final tasks before heading to the launch pad,” stated Lori Glaze, acting associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, during a briefing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

As of January 16, 2026, NASA’s Artemis II is stationed within the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

“It’s a test flight, and it is not without risk, but our team and our hardware are ready,” Glaze added.

Artemis II had been scheduled to launch in early February, but the mission was delayed after fuel leaks were discovered during a test run. A helium leak was later identified at the end of the month. The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket was transferred from the launchpad back to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) for repairs that are nearly complete.

John Honeycutt, chair of the Artemis II Mission Management Team, said the mission’s success odds range from one in two to one in 50 when asked about the risks of Artemis II.

The crew of NASA’s Artemis II mission (left to right): NASA astronauts Christina Hammock Koch, Reid Wiseman (seated), Victor Glover and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen. (NASA)

Honeycutt later said he does not want the mission’s success viewed as a 50-50 proposition.

“If you look at the data over time, over the lifespan of building new rockets, right, the data would show you that one out of two is successful. You’re only successful 50% of the time,” Honeycutt said. “I think we’re in a much better position than that.

“I don’t want people to take that as being that we should be scared to go fly because we’re not scared to go fly,” he added. “We do an outstanding job of understanding the risk, buying down the risk, mitigating the risk and putting together controls to manage the risk.”

Lori Glaze, acting associate administrator for NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, and Artemis II Mission Management Team Chair John Honeycutt addressed reporters during a news conference at Kennedy Space Center. (Gregg Newton/AFP via Getty Images)

NASA also said it will not conduct another “wet dress rehearsal,” a prelaunch fueling test for Artemis II.

“When we tank the vehicle the very next time, I would like it to be on a day that we could actually launch. I would like to do it on launch day,” Glaze said. “And if we are able to successfully fully tank the vehicle, I want to be able to go to launch.”

She added that NASA does not want to use up any days in its April launch window for a wet dress rehearsal.

NASA’s Artemis II Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft are seen at Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Feb. 20, 2026. (Gregg Newton/AFP via Getty Images)

The Artemis program was first established by President Donald Trump during his first term in December 2017.

The four astronauts involved in Artemis II — Americans Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch and Canadian Jeremy Hansen — are expected to orbit the moon before returning home in what would be the farthest human spaceflight ever.

NASA has said Artemis III, Artemis IV and Artemis V are expected to launch before the end of Trump’s current term, with Artemis IV and V aiming to return astronauts to the moon’s surface. 

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