NASA’s Artemis II mission is rolling toward the launch pad, marking a major step toward humanity’s next journey around the Moon.

NASA could be sending a crew on the Orion spacecraft out past the moon in less than a month if everything falls into place. But first the agency has to get its rocket to the launch pad.

NASA announced that the earliest launch window for Artemis II is Feb. 6, 2026, with 12 more possible dates available from February-April. The Artemis mission, a followup to the Apollo program, hopes to have astronauts back on the moon’s surface by 2027.

The 250th anniversary year of the Declaration of Independence will also feature the historic Artemis 2 astronaut mission around the moon.

"It’s amazing to think that this thing I have been working on in various capacities for the last eight years is about to send four astronauts around the moon for the first time in a half-century.”