This is a day for every American to feel proud. After years of delays and setbacks, NASA’s Artemis II mission is lifting off from Kennedy Space Center tonight, with a launch window opening at 6:24 p.m. ET. For the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972, American astronauts are leaving low Earth orbit — and this time, they’re bringing a partner.
Can you see our Moon rocket lift off from your backyard?
— NASA (@NASA) March 31, 2026
Skywatchers in Florida and southern Georgia will have a shot. Check out this map to see when you should look up! Artemis II is targeted to launch no earlier than April 1. pic.twitter.com/3WsJlEVufK
Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen will spend ten days on a lunar flyby, testing critical systems for eventual surface landings and a permanent presence on the Moon.
The SLS rocket is waiting on the launch pad and the Artemis II crew is ready to go. Now it's time to launch four astronauts on a mission around the Moon!
— National Air and Space Museum (@airandspace) April 1, 2026
Launch of Artemis II is scheduled for tonight at 6:24 pm ET. Learn more about the mission: https://t.co/Ehbkevd7g4 pic.twitter.com/p1uOx5UXOd
This is American leadership in action: funding the research, building the rocket, and sharing the mission with a trusted ally who helped carry their weight. Canada’s inclusion is exactly the kind of allied partnership that works — they contributed, they earned a seat at the table, and that seat is on the most historic crewed mission in half a century.
Our Artemis II crew will be going around the Moon, but they'll always find their way back home 🌎
— NASA Artemis (@NASAArtemis) March 25, 2026
During this complex journey, the four astronauts will travel ~685,000 miles on a trajectory around the Moon and back to Earth.
See their daily agenda: https://t.co/172PVtri2Z pic.twitter.com/zsK5i6pirj
Weather is 80% favorable. The rocket is fueled. Godspeed, Artemis II.