Artemis II: Countdown to launch day | See full timeline

NASA's historic mission around the moon is inching closer, targeting an April 1 launch date.

"Looking at some of the timelines and all, when you see on there ‘go for translunar injection,’ those are words that we haven't heard since 1972," Don Platt said.

He serves as the department head for the College of Engineering and Science at the Florida Institute of Technology. Platt's work has involved developing, testing and flying different types of avionics, communications and rocket propulsion systems.

He said when it comes to Artemis II, it will launch when it's ready.

"There’s always concern about something that may pop up," Platt said. "As they’re monitoring, there could be an issue, even with some ground support system equipment, that could cause a problem and a slight delay. There’s always a concern about weather."

March 27

On Friday, the Artemis II crew arrived at Kennedy Space Center.

"Basically, they’ll be getting ready for the launch and going into quarantine, so that means they can’t really interact with anybody," Platt said. "They definitely don’t want them to get sick."

March 29

On Sunday, March 29, NASA will give an update on the launch status.

"A big update for that end-of-weekend briefing will be the weather, as well as the technical status of the rocket," Platt said.

March 30

On Monday, March 30, NASA will provide another update on launch preparations after a mission management meeting among agency officials.

April 1

On Wednesday, launch day, tanking operations to load fuel into the Space Launch System rocket will begin at 7:45 a.m., nearly 12 hours before the launch window opens at 6:24 p.m.

"Really, the vehicle comes to life when they start fueling it," Platt said. "They typically also have a crew that walks around the base of the rocket, looking to make sure that everything is good on the hydrogen sensors."

The fueling process will take hours. NASA builds in extra time in case something comes up.

They could enter a "hold," where they pause operations to fix any issues along the way.

"Once they feel pretty good about fueling, with no leaks and all, then the crew will be ready to do their famous walkout, waving to everyone, and they’ll drive out to the pad and be ready to go multiple hours before the mission actually takes off," Platt said.

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