NASA’s Artemis II astronauts ‘ready to go’ on Moon mission next year
Artemis II will be the second launch of NASA’s Space Launch System from Kennedy Space Center in Florida and the second orbit of the Moon for Orion, but this time with a crew of four astronauts onboard. The Artemis II crew revealed they have named their spacecraft, Integrity.
NASA's moon rocket roars to life launching on Artemis 1 test flight
FILE: After several delays, the Artemis 1 moon rocket successfully launched from the Kennedy Space Center early Wednesday morning.
HOUSTON – The NASA and Canadian Artemis II astronauts have reached the point in their Moon mission training of cosmic connection where they are working in tandem, even without words.
NASA's Artemis II mission commander Reid Weisman told reporters Wednesday that with less than a year until the Moon orbiting testing flight of NASA’s new lunar rocket, he and the rest of the American-Canadian crew are ready.
"You get to that point where you do not have to communicate any longer," Reisman said. "I can just see the corner of an eye and know exactly what’s happening with that person."
Weisman said this "aha" moment happened a few months ago during an Orion spacecraft simulation.
ARTEMIS I MISSION HIGHLIGHTS: FROM MEGA MOON ROCKET LAUNCH TO ORION SPLASHDOWN
The Artemis II crew (from left to right) CSA (Canadian Space Agency) Jeremy Hansen, mission specialist; Christina Koch, mission specialist; Victor Glover, pilot; and Reid Wiseman, commander, don their Orion Crew Survival System Suits for a multi-day crew module training beginning Thursday, July 31, 2025 at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Behind the crew, wearing clean room apparel, are members of the Artemis II closeout crew.
(NASA)
NASA's Artemis II Pilot Victor Glover was reaching to point at a display, and Reisman was reaching for his microphone to tell the launch control team about the exact piece of telemetry.
"We’re ready to go," Reisman recalled thinking.
NASA astronaut Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, are both Artemis II mission specialists on the Artemis II test flight.
Artemis II will be only the second launch of NASA’s Space Launch System from Kennedy Space Center in Florida and the second orbit of the Moon for Orion, but this time with a crew of four onboard.
The Artemis II crew revealed they have named their spacecraft Integrity.
NASA DELAYS ARTEMIS MOON LANDING TO 2027 AFTER ORION HEAT SHIELD INVESTIGATION
If the test flight goes as designed, the Orion will fly 250,000 miles from Earth, orbit the Moon and return to Earth splashing down in the ocean.
The crew will be busy from before liftoff and over the 10-day mission. Besides testing all of Orion’s capabilities for a long-duration flight, the crew will be conducting biomedical research and taking lunar geology observations.
Orion Orbit Ops Joint Sim with Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, Jeremy Hansen, Andre Douglas, and Jenni Gibbons in an Orion Mockup on Sept. 15, 2025.
(NASA/Helen Arase Vargas / NASA)
Koch said they hope to be the first humans to see parts of the far side of the Moon.
"Believe it or not, human eyes are one of the best scientific instruments that we have," Koch said. "Our geologists are beyond excited for our eyes to look at the Moon. And we've been training how to turn those observations into tangible science for them."
Under the Artemis program, the agency hopes to study these shadowed regions of the Moon believed to contain ice that can be mined for fuel or water.
HISTORY MADE: NASA'S MOON ROCKET ROARS TO LIFE LAUNCHING ON ARTEMIS 1 TEST FLIGHT
Wiseman said NASA is targeting as early as February to open the launch window.
"We are going to launch when this vehicle is ready, when this team is ready, and we're going to execute this mission to the best of our abilities," Riseman said.