NASA's Artemis II mission launches today, April 1, at 6:24 PM Eastern from Kennedy Space Center, marking humanity's first return to deep space since Apollo. The two-hour launch window carries an 80% favorable weather forecast, following critical health checks on the Space Launch System rocket. Engineers completed final preparations overnight, with propellant loading starting at 7:45 AM ET.

Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Jeremy Hansen will embark on a 10-day lunar orbit mission. This historic flight tests how extended space travel affects human physiology while demonstrating the capabilities of the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft system. The mission represents NASA's most ambitious crewed exploration effort in over 50 years.

Previous launch attempts in February and March faced setbacks due to technical issues including hydrogen leaks and helium system problems. If today's launch fails, NASA has another opportunity on April 6. Full coverage begins at 12:50 PM ET across NASA+, Amazon Prime, and YouTube platforms.