Artemis II Launch Day - First Mission to Moon in 50 Years
Apr 1 2026
"The Orion spacecraft’s SAWs (solar arrays wings) have fully deployed, completing a key configuration step for the Artemis II mission. Flight controllers in Houston confirmed that all four wings unfolded as planned, locking into place and beginning to draw power.
Each solar array wing extends outward from the European Service Module, giving Orion, named Integrity, a wingspan of roughly 63 feet when fully deployed. Each wing has 15,000 solar cells to convert sunlight to electricity. The arrays can turn on two axes that allow them to rotate and track the Sun, maximizing power generation as the spacecraft changes attitude during its time in Earth orbit and on its outbound journey to the Moon.
The next major milestones are the PRM (perigee raise maneuver) and ARB (apogee raise burn) that will increase the lowest and highest points of the Orion spacecraft’s orbit and prepare the spacecraft for deep‑space operations.
Following the burns, NASA will hold a postlaunch news conference at 9 p.m. from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Following the news conference, the Artemis II crew will begin preparations for Orion’s proximity operations demonstration. This demonstration will test the ability to manually maneuver Orion relative to another spacecraft, in this case, the interim cryogenic propulsion stage after separation.
Coverage on NASA+ will soon conclude, however 24/7 coverage will continue on NASA’s YouTube channel, and keep following the Artemis blog for live updates of key milestones throughout the mission.
Artemis II Launch Director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson conducted one of the most important steps before liftoff: the “go/no-go” poll for the team to proceed with the final 10 minutes of the countdown known as terminal count.
A unanimous “go” across the board signals that Artemis II is fully prepared to proceed toward launch. This moment represents the culmination of years of planning and hours of meticulous pre-launch work, bringing the mission to the threshold of history. " Source
Vid: The Artemis II's crew.
Vid 2: Lift off.
Vid 3: Longer take off and flight version.
1.
2. Artemis II pilot Victor Glover manually controls Artemis II’s Orion capsule Integrity.
