NASA completes second launch rehearsal for Artemis II and clears path for March launch

NASA completed a second wet dress rehearsal for the Artemis II mission that reached past T‑minus 30 seconds twice without exceeding ground safety limits for hydrogen leaks, and the next launch opportunity is in early March.

NASA conducted a second wet dress rehearsal for the Artemis II crewed mission and reached just past T‑minus 30 seconds twice. The exercise included Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen and NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch and Victor Glover. The rehearsal focused on loading the rocket's core and second stages with liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen, a step that has caused delays in past attempts because of hydrogen leaks. This run had a ground communication hiccup but did not exceed the agency's ground safety limit for hydrogen concentration. Key details: - The rehearsal reached the goal of counting down to just past T‑minus 30 seconds on two occasions. - Teams loaded both the core stage and the second stage with liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen using a slow fill followed by a fast fill. - Earlier attempts suffered hydrogen leaks that exceeded safety thresholds and required stopping tanking operations. - During this rehearsal no hydrogen leak above the ground safety limit was reported, according to NASA's Artemis blog. - There was a ground communications issue during the rehearsal, but the second stage also experienced no reported problems. - NASA has scheduled a press conference for 11 a.m. ET tomorrow to discuss the wet dress rehearsal findings, and the next Artemis II launch opportunity is in early March. Summary: The rehearsal addressed the hydrogen‑loading hurdle that affected earlier tanking attempts and reached the intended countdown milestone without exceeding safety limits. NASA will present test findings at a press conference tomorrow, and the program is proceeding toward an early March launch opportunity.