Astronauts complete practice countdown for upcoming trip around the moon

December 22, 2025

TL;DR

Artemis 2 astronauts conducted a dress rehearsal countdown in their Orion spacecraft.
The test is a major milestone for the mission, aiming for an early February launch, potentially moving to early March.
The astronauts, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen, practiced launch day procedures.
The test involved boarding the spacecraft atop the Space Launch System rocket inside the Vehicle Assembly Building.
The flight plan includes testing life support, propulsion, and navigation systems in Earth orbit, and practicing rendezvous procedures.
Artemis 2 will be the first piloted trip to the Moon since 1972, taking the crew farther from Earth than ever before.
The mission sets the stage for Artemis 3, which aims to land astronauts on the lunar south pole by 2028.
China also plans to land astronauts on the Moon by 2030, indicating a new space race.

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