Three NASA T-38 jets swooped down onto Kennedy Space Center’s Launch and Landing Facility runway March 27 — the four Artemis II astronauts making their entrance before their upcoming launch day.
Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen climbed out of the T-38s Friday as just down the road, their rocket stood waiting on the launch pad.
“Hey! Let’s go to the moon!” Wiseman shouted to the cheering media. “I think the nation and the world have been waiting a long time to do this again.”
On launch day — currently set for April 1 — these astronauts will liftoff from Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center spacecraft atop NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket, taking the Orion spacecraft on a 10-day test flight around the moon.
The four will be the first humans in more than 50 years to leave Earth orbit. Astronauts have not traveled beyond Earth orbit since the 1972 Apollo 17 mission.
Flying with the crew will be a zero-g indicator, a plush moon with an Earth styled hat named “Rise,” which will give a visual confirmation when the crew arrives in orbit and first experiences microgravity. Rise was created by a second grade student in California and was selected out of submissions from more than 50 countries. The design was inspired by the iconic “Earthrise” photo taken by the Apollo 8 crew from lunar orbit.
Rise will also be carrying a microSD card with the names of all members of the public who submitted their names to fly on the Artemis II mission.
“This is where that SD card will live,” Wiseman said as he pointed to a zipper on Rise.
Hansen spoke fondly of the warm sendoff the crew got in Houston Friday morning, which was followed by a warm welcome at Kennedy Space Center.
“It just feels really positive,” said Hansen. “We’re all fired up to go do this.”
“About 100 miles away, we said how much we love flying into KSC,” added Glover.
“On the way here, we had an ATC controller actually reach out and ask us how the weather was looking for launch,” said Koch. “It was really exciting to see how many people are paying attention to this.”
The mission will set the stage for the Artemis IV lunar landing in 2028, which will see astronauts return to the lunar surface on either a SpaceX Starship or Blue Origin Mark II lunar lander. NASA recently announced plans for a moon base to create a continued presence on the moon.
When is the NASA Artemis II launch from Florida?
So far, the currently announced available launch times for Artemis II are as follows:
Brooke Edwards is a Space Reporter for Florida Today. Contact her at bedwards@floridatoday.com or on X: @brookeofstars.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: They’re here! Artemis II astronauts arrive at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center
Reporting by Brooke Edwards, Florida Today / Florida Today
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
