Space & Astronomy

Manned lunar mission on track to launch in less than four weeks

By T.K. Randall
January 11, 2026

Image: Artemis 2 Crew Portrait
Credit: Josh Valcarcel / (PD) NASA NASA has revealed that it is preparing to roll its Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft out onto the pad for pre-launch checks on January 17th.

If all goes to plan, it will take off on February 6th with a crew of four astronauts who will become the first humans to orbit the Moon since the Apollo 17 mission all the way back in 1972.

The astronauts flying on the mission will be NASA's Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, as well as Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency.

"We are moving closer to Artemis 2, with rollout just around the corner," said Lori Glaze - acting associate administrator for NASA's Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate."We have important steps remaining on our path to launch, and crew safety will remain our top priority at every turn as we near humanity's return to the Moon."

Artemis 2 won't actually land on the Moon - that will instead be the goal of Artemis 3.

That's not to say that it will be a quick flight, however, as the journey around the Moon and back will take a full 10 days to complete.

Fingers crossed that we won't have to wait too long for a viable launch window.

Source: Space.com

Tags: Artemis, Moon