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Explore the latest developments concerning NASA’s Artemis II.

NASA’s Artemis II Launch Mission Countdown Begins

The countdown for NASA’s Artemis II test flight is underway at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with members of the launch team arriving at their consoles inside the Rocco Petrone Launch Control Center. The onsite countdown clock started ticking down at 4:44 p.m. EDT to a targeted launch time of 6:24 p.m. on Wednesday, April 1. Artemis II is the first crewed launch of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft.  

With countdown officially underway, engineers are powering up flight hardware, checking communication links, and preparing the rocket’s cryogenic systems for the precise fueling sequence required to load hundreds of thousands of gallons of super-cooled liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. At Launch Pad 39B, teams will begin filling the sound suppression system’s massive tank with water, which will unleash a protective deluge at liftoff to shield the vehicle from the roar of its own engines. 

Countdown begins for first moon launch in 53 years

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NASA has begun the countdown for launching the Artemis II mission -humanity's first launch to the moon in 53 years. 

The 32-storey Space Launch System rocket is poised to blast off on April 1 (Thursday AEDT) with four astronauts from Florida's Kennedy Space Centre.

After a day in orbit around Earth, their Orion capsule will propel them to the moon and back. There are no stops – just a quick U-turn around the moon. The nearly 10-day flight will end with a splashdown in the Pacific.

AUDIO: Astronauts prepare for historic mission to the moon

Katherine Bennell-Pegg says Artemis II will send four astronauts around the Moon. (ABC News: Stuart Carnegie)

Four NASA astronauts are preparing to take off on a 10-day journey around the moon. 

The mission will be the first time humans have ventured that far since the Apollo-era in the 1960s and early 1970s. 

ABC NewsRadio’s Tamara Wearne spoke with Dr Rebecca Allen, Co-Director of the Space Technology and Industry Institute at Swinburne University of Technology.

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