Artemis II Astronauts Christina Koch, Reid Wiseman Send Final Message Before Moon Launch
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is just hours away from sending astronauts to the moon for the first time in more than 50 years.
Artemis II, a follow up to the 2022 Artemis I uncrewed mission, is sending four astronauts on humanity's deepest venture into space since the 1972 Apollo 17 mission landed on the moon.
While Artemis II won't be landing on the moon, it sets the stage for the upcoming Artemis III test flight in 2027, Artemis IV landing in 2028, and NASA's plans to set up a lunar base.
Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch Offer Final Message
Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen will launch 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.
Koch and Wiseman both took to social media to offer a final message before launch on Wednesday night.
Koch, who set a record for the longest spaceflight by a woman with a total of 328 days in space, gave a full to-do list for fans to follow along with throughout the day.
"Tomorrow’s To do list," she started with a photo showing the rocket that will take her to the moon in the background.
- Weather briefing
- French braid hair
- Put on special orange suit
- Be in rocket on time
- Ride SLS
- Be ready to react to issue
- Be ready for any abort
- Activate space water and toilet
- Burn to raise perigee
- Change into comfy clothes
- Big Burn to raise apogee
- Run spaceship while friends change
- Separate from upper stage
- Manually pilot around upper stage
- Nap
- Burn to raise new perigee
- Nap
- Trans Lunar Injection burn to the Moon
- Talk to the world
- Gym time
- Sleep
Wiseman had a much more simple, straightforward message in his post by saying, "It is time to go to the moon."
Artemis II Launch Details
The current target for takeoff is a two-hour launch window that opens at 6:24 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
The weather forecast for launch day shows an 80% chance of favorable weather conditions with primary concerns being cumulus clouds, ground winds, and solar weather. "NASA and weather officers with the U.S. Space Force’s Space Launch Delta 45 will continue to monitor the weather leading up to liftoff," NASA said on its website.
NASA is providing launch day updates on its website, which shows everything has gone smoothly through the first few hours of Wednesday morning.