NASA says its Artemis 2 moon rocket is all fixed up. It could launch astronauts to the moon on April 1.

NASA's next launch to the moon is back on track.

Artemis 2 managers met over the past two days, conducting the mission's flight readiness review (FRR) ahead of rolling its Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion capsule back to the launch pad for liftoff. Repairs to the SLS were recently completed inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, where ground teams will now prepare the vehicle for transportation to KSC's Launch Complex-39B.

That rollout is now scheduled for March 19, with NASA targeting a launch as soon as April 1, agency officials announced today (March 12).

NASA completed the agency’s Artemis II Flight Readiness Review on Thursday, March 12, and polled “go” to proceed toward launch. NASA is targeting Thursday, March 19, to roll the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft to launch pad 39B in advance of a launch attempt Wednesday, April 1, pending close out of remaining open work.

Agency leaders provided updates about the outcome of the readiness review in a news conference.

Artemis 2 is NASA's first crewed mission to the moon in more than 50 years. It will launch NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, as well as Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, on a 10-day journey around the moon and back to Earth aboard the Orion spacecraft.

Their mission had been scheduled to get off the ground earlier this month. SLS had a shaky initial fueling test during the rocket's first "wet dress rehearsal" (WDR) countdown simulation but successfully completed that procedure during a second attempt in February. Procedures following that WDR, though, uncovered a disruption with the flow of helium in the SLS upper stage, which prompted a Feb. 25 rollback to the VAB for repair.

Source: www.space.com

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