Richard T. Par
Happy belated New Year, everyone! Since yesterday was a holiday, there were no major space-related news to be shared on this blog...until this afternoon.
NASA tweeted the update below that announced the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket for Artemis 2 will be rolled from the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) to Launch Complex (LC)-39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida less than two weeks from now! It also maintained that the first day of the Artemis 2 launch window is still set for Friday, February 6.
We can obviously expect another update next week which will reveal the exact date that SLS and the Orion Integrity capsule will make their 4.2-mile (6.8-kilometer) journey from the VAB to LC-39B. When that happens, the reality that humanity is very close to returning to the Moon for the first time since 1972's Apollo 17 will become more tangible. It's when NASA conducts its agency-wide Flight Readiness Review and officially confirms a launch date that the spaceflight community, and the general public in particular, can start expressing even more excitement in the historic moment that's about to transpire early next month!
Stay tuned.
🚨Mission Update: Rollout for Artemis II is less than two weeks away.
— Bethany Stevens (@NASASpox) January 2, 2026
This milestone begins final, system-wide testing as NASA prepares to send astronauts around the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years, with a launch window opening as soon as February 6. pic.twitter.com/gKRqUXIfMg
