NASA targets Artemis II crewed moon mission for April 1 launch

https://www.npr.org/2026/03/12/nx-s1-5746128/nasa-artemis-ii-april-launch

41•Brajeshwar•2h ago

Comments

abeppu•1h ago

April 1 is an in interesting choice for a big event that will be news if it goes well and bigger news if it goes badly

jedberg•1h ago

They don't really have a choice. The launch window is small and they either make it or they don't.

philipwhiuk•1h ago

There is a window on the 2nd. But you don't aim for the second half of the launch period and hope you make it, you aim for the start to allow time to resolve issues without waiting for the next window (which is the end of the month).

ohyoutravel•1h ago

Well at least there’s a 50% probability of success

echelon•45m ago

What factors are there for the lunar launch window?

It can't be weather, here, right? That's too far ahead.

Is it perigee?

If this window is missed, when is the next one?

jedberg•43m ago

The position of the moon relative to the earth and the sun. The windows are about a month apart.

hypeatei•46m ago

"April fools, your space shuttle just disintegrated!"

edgyquant•1h ago

“As early as April 1” is a weird way to describe something that is two months behind schedule

NitpickLawyer•1h ago

That's probably a "layman's terms" translation of a more technical term NET April 1, which would be "Not Earlier Than" and is widely used in the industry.

Insanity•1h ago

Messaging is everything!

StableAlkyne•1h ago

Being a few months behind schedule is forgivable for human space flight.

If a SpaceX Falcon blows up on the pad, that's one thing. It's expensive but they accept that risk to move faster. At least they gain knowledge of what failed, to do better next time.

You can't apply that mentality once a human is piloting it however. That's how you get Columbia, Challenger, or Apollo 1.

philipwhiuk•1h ago

> If a SpaceX Falcon blows up on the pad, that's one thing. It's expensive but they accept that risk to move faster. At least they gain knowledge of what failed, to do better next time.

Assuming it's not carrying a SpaceX Crew Dragon with crew onboard ;)

Also, it's a bit of a dated metaphor. Falcon 9 is by most accounts, now the most reliable rocket in history and is pretty design-locked. The modern metaphor is SpaceX Starship :)

u1hcw9nx•1h ago

Six day launch window April 1-6.

bcraven•1h ago

As it's currently March, April seems very close to me. I didn't know there was a moon flight planned so this is a great headline to me.

dylan604•1h ago

Seeing how the last test at the beginning of Feb found hydrogen leaks, it does sound very early to me

tekla•32m ago

Why? They fixed it.

dylan604•8m ago

In a month is why. It seems if it was fixed that fast it was easy to find. If it was so easy to find, why was it not found. These are the types of questions that seem to make NASA push things further than just a month. So again, it seems fast to me

bombcar•59m ago

I didn't even know we were within years of putting people around the moon, so I was surprised!

throwawaymobule•8m ago

Scott Manley does a roundup video every two or so weeks called 'deep space updates' that I suggest watching.

The start is all rocket launches, which gives a good idea of how much is happening.

mikkupikku•1h ago

Can't they just schedule it for March 32nd?

AverageSavage•1h ago

They are snip hunting that day.

AverageSavage•1h ago

Operation: Sike! is a go! ;)

la3lma•1h ago

Surely they are joking?

pfdietz•59m ago

The whole program is a joke.

dmix•32m ago

Then we just have to see if SpaceX can pull off orbital refueling at scale.

Starship 3 first launch will be in April as well https://www.caller.com/story/news/local/2026/03/11/spacex-st...

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Comments

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