NASA completed a dress rehearsal for Artemis 2 as it prepares a crewed lunar flyby that could launch as early as February 2026 or no later than April 2026. The four-person crew—Jeremy Hansen, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman and Christina Koch—practiced donning Orion Crew Survival System suits and boarding the spacecraft inside Kennedy Space Center’s Vehicle Assembly Building. A prior rehearsal was delayed after a blemish on Orion’s crew module thermal barrier prevented hatch closure; engineers have since addressed the issue. Artemis 2 will not attempt a landing but aims to send humans farther from Earth than any mission since Apollo.
Artemis 2 Crew Completes Dress Rehearsal Ahead Of Potential February 2026 Lunar Flyby
Over the weekend, NASA conducted a dress rehearsal for its scheduled February launch date of its Artemis 2 mission to the Moon.
If all goes according to plan, four astronauts will become the first humans in more than half a century to travel beyond Earth’s gravity well and loop around the Moon. NASA has completed a full dress rehearsal as it prepares the Artemis 2 mission, which could launch as early as February 2026 and no later than April 2026.
Mission Overview
Artemis 2 will send a four-person crew aboard an Orion spacecraft mounted on NASA’s massive Space Launch System (SLS) rocket for a crewed lunar flyby. The mission will not attempt a lunar landing—those plans are reserved for Artemis 3, currently targeted for around 2027—but it will likely carry humans farther from Earth than any mission since the Apollo era.
Dress Rehearsal Details
Over the weekend, the Artemis 2 crew completed a countdown demonstration that simulated launch-day activities. Photographs from the rehearsal show Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen and NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman and Christina Koch wearing the bright-orange Orion Crew Survival System suits—protective pressure suits developed for the Orion vehicle.
The test focused on procedures the crew will use on launch day, including donning suits and practicing ingress and egress from the spacecraft. Because the SLS rocket has not yet rolled out to the pad, astronauts conducted the boarding exercises inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at Kennedy Space Center, where Orion was stacked on the SLS in October.
Schedule, Issues, And Next Steps
Engineers are "conducting final preparations on the spacecraft, rocket, and ground systems," according to NASA. The dress rehearsal was originally planned for November 19 but was paused after a blemish was found on the crew module thermal barrier that prevented the hatch from closing. That issue was addressed and the demonstration proceeded.
NASA says Artemis 2 remains on track to launch no later than April 2026, with opportunities to launch as soon as February. The next major milestones include the SLS rollout to Launch Complex 39B and final integrated checks for the vehicle, spacecraft and ground support systems.
Why It Matters
Artemis 2 is a technically complex mission with significant scientific and programmatic value. If successful, it will mark the first time people travel that far from Earth since Apollo 17 lifted off about 53 years ago, and it will provide critical data and operational experience ahead of Artemis missions that aim to return humans to the lunar surface.
"The dress rehearsal served as the final verification of timeline and procedures for the crew and ground teams and will be followed by emergency-preparedness drills at the pad," NASA said.
