NASA's Artemis II L-2 Countdown Status News Conference (March 30, 2026)

 

Following a key mission meeting, NASA leaders are providing a status update on Artemis II launch preparations two days before liftoff. Participants include:

• Amit Kshatriya, Associate Administrator
• John Honeycutt, chair, Mission Management Team
• Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, launch director
• Emily Nelson, chief flight director

NASA's Artemis II mission around the Moon is currently scheduled to lift off from Kennedy Space Center on April 1. The two-hour launch window starts at 6:24 p.m. EDT (2224 UTC). 

After launching into space atop NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, the Artemis II astronauts will journey around the Moon and back in their Orion spacecraft, named Integrity, on an approximately 10-day mission.

Under Artemis, NASA will send astronauts on increasingly difficult missions to explore more of the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to build on our foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars.

More about coverage of our Artemis II mission around the Moon: https://go.nasa.gov/4rWyZNY

Credit: NASA