SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - NASA is in final preparations for the historic Artemis II mission, which will send astronauts around the far side of the moon for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972 before splashing down in San Diego.
The onsite countdown clock started ticking down Tuesday at 4:44 p.m. EDT at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA has a targeted launch time of 6:24 p.m. on Wednesday, April 1. Artemis II is the first crewed launch of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft.
The Artemis II crew includes NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen. They remain in the Astronaut Crew Quarters inside NASA Kennedy’s Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building.
In an interview with ABC 10News, NASA Chief Exploration Scientist Jake Bleacher said systems are looking good, and the team is "optimistic" as they monitor the weather. Astronauts are completing their final preparations today.
"It's hard to describe the feeling here," Bleacher said.
The 10-day test flight will take the crew 685,000 miles out to the far side of the moon and back.
Bleacher noted that, depending on lighting and timing, the astronauts may see parts of the moon no human has ever viewed.
While the crew is trained to observe and describe unique lunar features, the primary goal is to test science operations and how the astronauts collaborate with the science team on Earth.
If the launch occurs on the first or second of the month, the crew aboard the Orion spacecraft will experience a unique eclipse.
"The moon will block the sun from their perspective on the Orion, so they may be able to see the solar corona," Bleacher said.
"Very unique opportunity that no one has ever seen before," Bleacher said.
The mission relies on precise mathematics and trajectories, bringing together science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. It will conclude with a splashdown off the coast of San Diego 10 days after launch.
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