Artemis 2 astronauts enter quarantine ahead of historic NASA moon launch

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NASA just took another big step toward launching its next crewed moon mission.

The four astronauts of the Artemis 2 mission went into quarantine on Friday (Jan. 23) in Houston, keeping everything on track for a possible liftoff early next month.

"This period, called the health stabilization program, typically starts about 14 days before launch," NASA officials said in a statement on Friday. "Beginning quarantine now preserves flexibility as teams work toward potential opportunities in the February launch period."

Artemis 2 will send NASA's Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, on a roughly 10-day flight around the moon aboard an Orion capsule.

The mission will not land on the lunar surface or even enter orbit around Earth's nearest neighbor. Still, it will be the first crewed flight to lunar realms since Apollo 17 back in 1972.

As NASA's Friday statement noted, the agency is eyeing a liftoff as soon as February. There are five potential launch dates next month: Feb. 6-8 and Feb. 10-11.

Two other windows are open if Artemis 2 can't get off the ground in February — one in March (March 6-9 and March 11) and one in April (April 1, April 3-6 and April 30).

If all goes well with quarantine in Houston, the Artemis 2 astronauts will fly to the launch site — NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida — about six days before liftoff. There, they'll live and work in the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building.

"During quarantine, the crew can continue regular contact with friends, family, and colleagues who are able to observe quarantine guidelines, and will avoid public places, wear masks and maintain distance from others they come into contact with as they continue their final training activities," NASA officials wrote in Friday's statement. "Those training activities will continue in the days ahead with mission simulations and medical checkouts."

NASA is currently gearing up for a pivotal Feb. 2 fueling test with Artemis 2's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, which rolled out to KSC's Launch Pad 39B on Jan. 17.

There's no guarantee that everything will go well with that test, which is called a wet dress rehearsal. For example, wet dress rehearsals with the Artemis 1 mission revealed leaks of liquid hydrogen propellant, which contributed to lengthy delays. Artemis 1 eventually launched in November 2022, successfully sending an uncrewed Orion to lunar orbit and back to Earth.