Overview
- NASA postponed weekend tanking because a rare arctic outbreak in Florida would have violated launch safety limits.
- Teams started the roughly 49-hour practice run, aiming to load about 700,000 gallons of cryogenic propellants and count down to T-33 seconds.
- If the rehearsal succeeds, managers can set a launch target on Feb. 8 with backup options on Feb. 10 and 11; further slips push to March windows.
- Engineers have heaters and purge systems protecting Orion at Pad 39B, while the four astronauts remain in health-stabilization quarantine in Houston.
- NASA is coordinating schedules and recovery assets with SpaceX’s Crew-12, which could adjust its timing depending on Artemis II’s February outcome.