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yesterday

Artemis II Crew Begins Prelaunch Quarantine

A wet dress rehearsal at Pad 39B will determine whether an early February liftoff remains possible.

The Artemis II crew poses in front of an Orion simulator Jan. 23, 2026 at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
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Artemis 2 will follow a figure-8-shaped path that will send astronauts around the Moon before returning them to Earth. Credit: Astronomy: Roen Kelly
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Overview

  • The four astronauts entered NASA’s 14-day health stabilization program on Jan. 23 to protect launch readiness.
  • The fully stacked SLS–Orion is on Pad 39B for final checkouts ahead of fueling and a full simulated countdown.
  • NASA lists Feb. 6 as the earliest launch opportunity, with a firm date to follow wet dress data and subsequent reviews.
  • Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canada’s Jeremy Hansen will fly a roughly 10-day figure-8 free-return around the Moon after a high‑Earth‑orbit systems checkout and a proximity-operations demonstration.
  • Recovery teams are practicing Pacific splashdown retrieval as the crew remains in quarantine in Houston before relocating to Florida about six days before liftoff.