Photo by NASA/John Kraus/Wiki commons
Orion spaceship is set to take human beings the farthest distance from Earth ever – but will it be today?
With over an hour for the scheduled lift-off, the Artemis II is now a ‘NO GO’, as engineers scramble to fix a safety issue and keep the launch for today.
If the technical problems are solved in time, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and Commander Reid Wiseman from NASA, along with Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen, from the Canadian Space Agency will depart to make space exploration history.
The Artemis II astronauts, now suited up for launch, are headed to the launch pad.
The crew includes NASA astronauts @Astro_Reid, @AstroVicGlover, and @Astro_Christina, and @CSA_ASC astronaut @Astro_Jeremy. pic.twitter.com/G8mGsJPgcQ
— NASA (@NASA) April 1, 2026
BREAKING: NASA is troubleshooting an issue that could delay the Artemis II launch. https://t.co/hvdX2AenHF
— CBS News (@CBSNews) April 1, 2026
CBS reported:
“The launch team is currently ‘NO-GO’ for launch due to an issue with a key safety system. ‘NO-GO’ does not mean the launch has been scrubbed, and NASA is proceeding in the hopes the problem will be fixed in time for launch.
NASA commentator Darrel Nail said the Eastern Range, which controls the airspace in the launch corridor, is working on an issue related to the rocket’s Flight Termination System, a safety system used to send a self-destruct signal to the rocket in the event it veers off path. It is required for launch.
The Eastern Range has asked the launch team for assistance to help verify the troubleshooting they’re doing to resolve the problem.”
UPDATE: Issue has been reportedly solved!
The New York Post reported:
“Artemis II is scheduled to blast off from Florida as early as 6:24 p.m. EST Wednesday on an epic mission not seen since Apollo 17 left the moon in 1972.
The crew of Artemis II will be the first humans to travel to the moon since Apollo 17 left it in 1972.
The launch will send four astronauts — three Americans and one Canadian — loaded into a cramped spacecraft on a series of Earth orbits, before firing away for a loop around the moon and then heading home for a Pacific Ocean splashdown.
Artemis II’s flightpath will follow a figure-eight trajectory, which will utilize the moon’s gravitational field to slingshot the capsule back to Earth across the roughly 240,000 miles of space separating the two bodies.”
We’re going around the Moon. Come watch with us. Artemis II’s four-astronaut crew is lifting off from @NASAKennedy on an approximately 10-day mission that will bring us closer to living on the Moon and Mars. The launch window opens at 6:24pm ET (2224 UTC). https://t.co/X27QJejNDt
— NASA (@NASA) April 1, 2026
WATCH:
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The post DEVELOPING: Today’s Artemis II Launch Potentially Delayed as Engineers Scramble to Fix Issue Before Launch to Historic 10-Day Mission – UPDATE: Issue Has Reportedly Been Solved, Launch Confirmed From 6:24PM ET appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.