NASA Artemis II mission will send four astronauts on historic 10-day lunar journey, marking major step toward future crewed Moon landings
TOI GLOBAL DESK | TOI GLOBAL | Mar 27, 2026, 23:03 IST
NASA to roll back Artemis II rocket on February 24 after helium issue
Next month, the Artemis II mission will make history by launching four astronauts on a groundbreaking 10-day journey to the Moon. This mission signifies a pivotal return to deep space exploration, a feat not achieved in half a century.
The Artemis II mission, scheduled to launch next month, will send four astronauts on a 10-day journey around the moon, marking the first crewed flight beyond Earth's orbit in 50 years. The mission will be overseen by teams at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida and Mission Control Center in Houston, Texas, with launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson and flight director Jeff Radigan playing key roles. The mission aims to test the Orion spacecraft and its systems with humans aboard, pushing the boundaries of human space exploration.
Firing Room 1 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida will be the site of the Artemis II liftoff. This historic location has previously witnessed the launch of Apollo missions and the maiden flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia. The launch control team will be situated in this nerve center, a space filled with workstations and monitors offering a direct view of the launchpad.
Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, launch director of NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems program, will lead the countdown for the Artemis II mission. She takes charge of the official countdown starting 49 hours and 15 minutes before launch. Blackwell-Thompson will give the go from Firing Room 1 at Kennedy Space Center.
As NASA’s first female launch director, Blackwell-Thompson leads a team responsible for propellant loading and adhering to the launch commit criteria. These criteria include factors such as temperature, wind, cloud cover, and the overall health of the launch vehicle. Blackwell-Thompson previously managed launch operations for Artemis I, the uncrewed mission that journeyed around the moon and back in late 2022.
"So as we count through those milestones of terminal count, the room is incredibly quiet in the firing room, because the team is focused on their data. They’re focused on their system. They’re focused on their go, no go or their launch commit criteria and ensuring that we are ready to go fly," Blackwell-Thompson explained in a podcast episode. This refers to the launch status check where the flight director queries each team to determine if the mission can proceed with liftoff.
Blackwell-Thompson, who has worked at NASA for 30 years, has a tradition she calls “green for go.” This involves wearing inexpensive little beaded bracelets as a personal symbol of commitment to the mission.
Once the countdown reaches zero and the Space Launch System rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft lifts off, Blackwell-Thompson hands over responsibility to Jeff Radigan, Artemis II lead flight director at Mission Control Center in Houston. Radigan and his team will oversee the mission until the Orion capsule splashes down in the Pacific Ocean 10 days later.
Rick Henfling, one of the flight directors who will be at mission control in Houston for launch, noted the extensive practice for this handover. "The only thing that’s different is out of the corner of my eye, I can see in one of the TVs that there’s fire coming out of the rocket," he told CNN.
Henfling, as the lead Artemis II entry flight director, is primarily responsible for the mission's conclusion, ensuring the Orion spacecraft returns home safely. In the first four hours after launch, his team will verify that all systems aboard the Orion spacecraft are functioning correctly as it ventures into space with humans for the first time.
"We did the Artemis I mission back in 2022 and we got a good shake out of Orion from a guidance, navigation, control and propulsion system perspective, but we really don’t know how Orion’s going to behave as a spacecraft," Henfling stated. He highlighted the need to understand how well the spacecraft will manage carbon dioxide removal and the performance of its toilet system.
The spacecraft will vent urine overboard, and NASA guidance systems must ensure this process does not affect the spacecraft's trajectory. Similarly, as astronauts breathe oxygen, carbon dioxide will be vented, exerting a force on the vehicle. "We have analytical models that are computer-based and they’re informed by the best test data that we have, but until you get the spacecraft with people inside, in the vacuum of space, you really don’t know what the true spacecraft response will be," Henfling explained.
A pivotal moment for the mission will occur approximately 24 hours into the journey when Orion’s propulsion system fires for the translunar injection burn, setting the spacecraft on its trajectory to fly by the moon. "The big milestone is the TLI decision — is the spacecraft performing well enough to send four people out potentially further than any people have ever gone before?" Henfling said.
Mission control in Houston will lose contact with the spacecraft when Orion travels behind the moon, an event scheduled for Day 6 of the mission. This communication blackout, apart from a brief period during reentry, is due to the dependence on a line of sight with Earth. "All of our communication depends on having a line of sight with Earth," Henfling noted.
"It’s nerve-racking, because whenever you don’t have communication with the spacecraft, you don’t have insight as to what’s going on," he added. However, Henfling anticipates this roughly 45-minute period will be a special moment for the crew, with the possibility of capturing a striking photo similar to the iconic Earthrise image.
"If we’re working through a problem, we will give the crew the best information that we have to continue over those 30 to 45 minutes without communication, and we’re confident that when it gets on the other side and the moon is not blocking them anymore, we’ll pick up where we left off," Henfling said.
The flight director does not routinely speak with the astronauts. That communication role belongs to the capsule communicator, or CapCom, who ensures clear and concise communication. Artemis II’s lead CapCom is NASA astronaut Stan Love, who previously served as CapCom during several space shuttle missions.
Henfling will speak with the crew the day before the mission's most critical phase: reentry into Earth's atmosphere and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. This conversation will be less formal than typical operational communications, allowing the crew to ask questions after studying their entry procedures.
The Orion crew capsule will enter Earth's atmosphere at approximately 25,000 miles per hour, transitioning from the vacuum of space to a dense atmosphere and enduring temperatures nearing 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Unlike spacecraft returning from the International Space Station, there is no option to wait for improved weather conditions on the ground. "I’m super confident in the team’s ability to execute," Henfling stated. "But once we hit entry interface, and the heat starts building up on the heat shield, there’s no turning back. We’re coming in and, you know, we’re going to safely finish that mission."
Radigan agreed that landing is uniquely challenging. "It’s always one of those, you know, operations that gets your heart pumping, and we all kind of hold our breath until we see the parachutes out and the crew hitting the water at a reasonable speed," he said in a podcast episode. "I’ll be sitting and watching Rick and his team do it, but we’ll be, we’ll be ready for it," he added.
Concerns have been raised by former NASA engineers and an astronaut regarding the heat shield of the Orion spacecraft. This vital component is nearly identical to the one flown on Artemis I, which returned with unexpected damage. NASA has modified the landing trajectory to create a more benign environment on the heat shield. "I have a lot of confidence in the engineering that was done and the testing that was done," Henfling said. "And so when I sit console on entry day, the heat shield is not going to be something that I’m thinking about."
Flight directors train for various scenarios, including a recent exercise simulating a fire on board the spacecraft before entry interface. Henfling, a flight director since 2015, was also in charge of the launch and landing of Boeing Starliner's test flight in 2024. While astronauts arrived safely at the International Space Station, they did not return with the spacecraft due to issues encountered. "We practice a lot of different scenarios, but there’s always failure of imagination things," he said. "Our training is not necessarily to train through all the thousands of things that could go wrong. It’s more to train the team to think critically and to have the critical thinking skills to respond to unforeseen problems."
Henfling does not have personal good luck charms, but a special cloth patch given to him by the Artemis II astronaut crew will be on his console. One side features the moon, the other Earth. "As soon as we get past the furthest point in the mission and start coming back home, … we’re all going to turn our patches around with Earth prominently displayed."
Henfling plans to rest during the 10-day mission but anticipates it will be difficult to stay away from Johnson Space Center. "I think once each of us wakes up, we’re going to want to get back to the Johnson Space Center and get back involved with the mission," he said. "This is a show of what’s possible when humanity works together towards a common goal. And I’m super excited to show that off to everybody."
Firing Room 1 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida will be the site of the Artemis II liftoff. This historic location has previously witnessed the launch of Apollo missions and the maiden flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia. The launch control team will be situated in this nerve center, a space filled with workstations and monitors offering a direct view of the launchpad.
Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, launch director of NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems program, will lead the countdown for the Artemis II mission. She takes charge of the official countdown starting 49 hours and 15 minutes before launch. Blackwell-Thompson will give the go from Firing Room 1 at Kennedy Space Center.
As NASA’s first female launch director, Blackwell-Thompson leads a team responsible for propellant loading and adhering to the launch commit criteria. These criteria include factors such as temperature, wind, cloud cover, and the overall health of the launch vehicle. Blackwell-Thompson previously managed launch operations for Artemis I, the uncrewed mission that journeyed around the moon and back in late 2022.
"So as we count through those milestones of terminal count, the room is incredibly quiet in the firing room, because the team is focused on their data. They’re focused on their system. They’re focused on their go, no go or their launch commit criteria and ensuring that we are ready to go fly," Blackwell-Thompson explained in a podcast episode. This refers to the launch status check where the flight director queries each team to determine if the mission can proceed with liftoff.
Blackwell-Thompson, who has worked at NASA for 30 years, has a tradition she calls “green for go.” This involves wearing inexpensive little beaded bracelets as a personal symbol of commitment to the mission.
Once the countdown reaches zero and the Space Launch System rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft lifts off, Blackwell-Thompson hands over responsibility to Jeff Radigan, Artemis II lead flight director at Mission Control Center in Houston. Radigan and his team will oversee the mission until the Orion capsule splashes down in the Pacific Ocean 10 days later.
Rick Henfling, one of the flight directors who will be at mission control in Houston for launch, noted the extensive practice for this handover. "The only thing that’s different is out of the corner of my eye, I can see in one of the TVs that there’s fire coming out of the rocket," he told CNN.
Henfling, as the lead Artemis II entry flight director, is primarily responsible for the mission's conclusion, ensuring the Orion spacecraft returns home safely. In the first four hours after launch, his team will verify that all systems aboard the Orion spacecraft are functioning correctly as it ventures into space with humans for the first time.
"We did the Artemis I mission back in 2022 and we got a good shake out of Orion from a guidance, navigation, control and propulsion system perspective, but we really don’t know how Orion’s going to behave as a spacecraft," Henfling stated. He highlighted the need to understand how well the spacecraft will manage carbon dioxide removal and the performance of its toilet system.
The spacecraft will vent urine overboard, and NASA guidance systems must ensure this process does not affect the spacecraft's trajectory. Similarly, as astronauts breathe oxygen, carbon dioxide will be vented, exerting a force on the vehicle. "We have analytical models that are computer-based and they’re informed by the best test data that we have, but until you get the spacecraft with people inside, in the vacuum of space, you really don’t know what the true spacecraft response will be," Henfling explained.
A pivotal moment for the mission will occur approximately 24 hours into the journey when Orion’s propulsion system fires for the translunar injection burn, setting the spacecraft on its trajectory to fly by the moon. "The big milestone is the TLI decision — is the spacecraft performing well enough to send four people out potentially further than any people have ever gone before?" Henfling said.
Mission control in Houston will lose contact with the spacecraft when Orion travels behind the moon, an event scheduled for Day 6 of the mission. This communication blackout, apart from a brief period during reentry, is due to the dependence on a line of sight with Earth. "All of our communication depends on having a line of sight with Earth," Henfling noted.
"It’s nerve-racking, because whenever you don’t have communication with the spacecraft, you don’t have insight as to what’s going on," he added. However, Henfling anticipates this roughly 45-minute period will be a special moment for the crew, with the possibility of capturing a striking photo similar to the iconic Earthrise image.
"If we’re working through a problem, we will give the crew the best information that we have to continue over those 30 to 45 minutes without communication, and we’re confident that when it gets on the other side and the moon is not blocking them anymore, we’ll pick up where we left off," Henfling said.
The flight director does not routinely speak with the astronauts. That communication role belongs to the capsule communicator, or CapCom, who ensures clear and concise communication. Artemis II’s lead CapCom is NASA astronaut Stan Love, who previously served as CapCom during several space shuttle missions.
Henfling will speak with the crew the day before the mission's most critical phase: reentry into Earth's atmosphere and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. This conversation will be less formal than typical operational communications, allowing the crew to ask questions after studying their entry procedures.
The Orion crew capsule will enter Earth's atmosphere at approximately 25,000 miles per hour, transitioning from the vacuum of space to a dense atmosphere and enduring temperatures nearing 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Unlike spacecraft returning from the International Space Station, there is no option to wait for improved weather conditions on the ground. "I’m super confident in the team’s ability to execute," Henfling stated. "But once we hit entry interface, and the heat starts building up on the heat shield, there’s no turning back. We’re coming in and, you know, we’re going to safely finish that mission."
Radigan agreed that landing is uniquely challenging. "It’s always one of those, you know, operations that gets your heart pumping, and we all kind of hold our breath until we see the parachutes out and the crew hitting the water at a reasonable speed," he said in a podcast episode. "I’ll be sitting and watching Rick and his team do it, but we’ll be, we’ll be ready for it," he added.
Concerns have been raised by former NASA engineers and an astronaut regarding the heat shield of the Orion spacecraft. This vital component is nearly identical to the one flown on Artemis I, which returned with unexpected damage. NASA has modified the landing trajectory to create a more benign environment on the heat shield. "I have a lot of confidence in the engineering that was done and the testing that was done," Henfling said. "And so when I sit console on entry day, the heat shield is not going to be something that I’m thinking about."
Flight directors train for various scenarios, including a recent exercise simulating a fire on board the spacecraft before entry interface. Henfling, a flight director since 2015, was also in charge of the launch and landing of Boeing Starliner's test flight in 2024. While astronauts arrived safely at the International Space Station, they did not return with the spacecraft due to issues encountered. "We practice a lot of different scenarios, but there’s always failure of imagination things," he said. "Our training is not necessarily to train through all the thousands of things that could go wrong. It’s more to train the team to think critically and to have the critical thinking skills to respond to unforeseen problems."
Henfling does not have personal good luck charms, but a special cloth patch given to him by the Artemis II astronaut crew will be on his console. One side features the moon, the other Earth. "As soon as we get past the furthest point in the mission and start coming back home, … we’re all going to turn our patches around with Earth prominently displayed."
Henfling plans to rest during the 10-day mission but anticipates it will be difficult to stay away from Johnson Space Center. "I think once each of us wakes up, we’re going to want to get back to the Johnson Space Center and get back involved with the mission," he said. "This is a show of what’s possible when humanity works together towards a common goal. And I’m super excited to show that off to everybody."