The NASA Artemis II mission — which will send astronauts around the Moon and back for the first time since Apollo 17 more than 50 years ago — is set to launch from the Kennedy Space Center at 6:24 p.m. on Wednesday.
NASA’s team is counting down toward liftoff of the spacecraft — complete with parts from a Pittsburgh-based robotics company.
Here are five things to know about the launch:
What is the Artemis II mission?
The launch is the second mission of a five-part plan to send Artemis astronauts on increasingly difficult missions to explore more of the Moon for scientific discovery and to build on a foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars, according to NASA’s website.
“Today we are aligning NASA around the mission. On the Moon, we are shifting to a focused, phased architecture that builds capability landing by landing, incrementally, and in alignment with our industrial and international partners,” said Amit Kshatriya, NASA associate administrator, in a news release.
Artemis II will send four astronauts on a nine-and-a-half-day journey around the moon and back.
The test flight will be the first flight with crew aboard the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket configuration, which is the super heavy-lift rocket that launches the Orion spacecraft, carrying the crew.
What went wrong last time?
In February, NASA announced Artemis II’s launch would be delayed because of interruptions in the flow of helium to the SLS rocket needed to propel the spacecraft. This was announced following a wet dress rehearsal, which is a designated time before launch when engineers and crew conduct testing of the spacecraft, a news release from NASA said.
Both the rocket and spacecraft were moved back to the Vehicle Assembly Building for repairs, where teams troubleshot helium-related pressurization issues of the upper stage.
What is Pittsburgh’s role?
TribLive reported in March that Pittsburgh-based aerospace and robotics company Astrobotic Technology Inc. was hired by Thales Alenia Space to build a wheel system for use on the moon.
Thales Alenia Space is a joint venture between the French and Italian aerospace companies designing the Orion spacecraft.
The wheels are designed to withstand the moon’s extreme temperatures, radiation, dust and rugged terrain for at least a decade.
Who will be aboard?
Making the trip will be astronauts Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency Astronaut Jeremy Hansen.
Wiseman spent more than 165 days in space when he served as a flight engineer on the International Space Station for Expedition 41.
Glover previously served as the pilot of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission to the International Space Station as part of Expedition 64.
Koch served as a flight engineer on board the International Space Station as part of Expedition 59, 60, and 61.
Hansen will become the first Canadian to ever venture to the Moon, according to the Canadian Space Agency.
The crew received their official wake-up call for launch day at 9:25 a.m., NASA said.
Where to watch?
Live coverage of preparations leading up to the launch are shown on NASA’s YouTube channel.
The actual launch will be available on YouTube, Roku, Amazon Prime, Apple TV via the NASA app or CBS News app as well as the European Space Agency website. Weather conditions appear favorable for the scheduled launch at 6:24 p.m.