NASA reached a major milestone on January 17, 2026, as the fully assembled Artemis II vehicle rolled out to Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center. The move marks a key step toward returning astronauts to the Moon.
The journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building began at 7:04 a.m. ET and ended at 6:42 p.m. ET. The 322-foot-tall Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft traveled four miles on the Crawler-Transporter at less than one mile per hour.
Artemis II will be the first crewed mission of the Artemis program. It will also be the first time humans travel toward the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.
The four-person crew is making history. Commander Reid Wiseman leads the mission, while pilot Victor Glover will become the first person of color to travel to lunar distance. Mission specialist Christina Koch will be the first woman to go beyond low Earth orbit.
The crew also includes Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen. He will be the first non-American to leave Earth’s orbit on a mission toward the Moon.
The 10-day mission will test Orion’s life-support, navigation, and communication systems. After circling Earth twice, the spacecraft will fly around the Moon on a free-return path.
At its farthest point, Artemis II will travel about 6,400 miles beyond the Moon. This will be the greatest distance humans have ever flown from Earth.
With the rocket now on the pad, NASA will begin final tests, including a wet dress rehearsal in early February. The agency is targeting a launch no earlier than February 6, 2026, with backup windows later in the spring.
