Overview
- The four-person crew began NASA’s health stabilization quarantine on Jan. 23 in Houston, maintaining limited contact under strict guidelines to preserve launch flexibility.
- The stacked SLS–Orion is at Launch Complex 39B for a wet dress rehearsal targeted around Jan. 31–Feb. 2, loading over 700,000 gallons of cryogenic propellant and running countdowns to about T-30 seconds.
- Mission managers will use wet dress data to inform the Flight Readiness Review and determine if February launch opportunities remain viable.
- NASA has not set a launch date, with available windows Feb. 6–8 and 10–11, and additional opportunities in March and April.
- Teams are addressing minor prelaunch items—adjusted emergency egress baskets, extra testing after elevated organic carbon in Orion’s water samples, and cold-weather protections—while safety reviews continue, including scrutiny of the capsule’s heat shield, and recovery forces rehearse a Pacific splashdown for the ~10-day lunar flyby.