{"id":261608,"date":"2026-01-31T22:23:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T22:23:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/261608\/"},"modified":"2026-01-31T22:23:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T22:23:13","slug":"artemis-2-sls-wet-dress-rehearsal-latest-news-nasa-to-take-stations-for-moon-rocket-fueling-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/261608\/","title":{"rendered":"Artemis 2 SLS wet dress rehearsal latest news: NASA to take stations for moon rocket fueling test"},"content":{"rendered":"

Refresh <\/p>\n

2026-01-31T16:48:13.998Z
\nArtemis 2 fueling test to begin preps tonight<\/p>\n

\n

\"An\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Space.com \/ Josh Dinner)<\/p>\n

Good morning, Space Fans!<\/p>\n

Today is Saturday, Jan. 31 and tonight NASA is gearing up to to begin its first fueling test for the the Artemis 2 Space Launch System<\/a> moon rocket for a so-called “wet dress rehearsal.” That’s NASA-speak for let’s gas up the rocket and see if it is working right.<\/p>\n

While the fueling test is actually scheduled for Monday, Feb. 2, the work actually begins tonight at about 8 p.m. ET (0100 Feb. 1 GMT). That’s because launch flight controllers and pad engineers need to begin taking their stations 49 hours BEFORE the fueling test’s planned T-0 “launch” time of 9 p.m. ET on Monday.<\/p>\n

The Artemis 2 fueling test is being conducted at Launch Pad 39A of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where the towering 322-foot rocket was rolled out earlier this month.<\/p>\n

The fueling test has seesawed a bit back and forth. It was originally scheduled for Feb. 2, then moved up to Jan. 31, then pushed back to Feb. 2 due to freezing temperatures at the Kennedy Space Center this weekend.<\/p>\n

The Artemis 2<\/a> launch date will depend on the results of this fueling test. Currently, Artemis 2 is scheduled to launch 4 astronauts to the moon no earlier than Feb. 8.<\/p>\n

\"Tariq<\/p>\n

Tariq Malik<\/p>\n

Editor-in-Chief<\/p>\n

2026-01-30T23:44:33.209Z
\nArtemis 2 moon launch may delay ISS Crew-12 mission<\/p>\n

\n

\"four\n<\/p>\n

The Crew-12 astronauts are (from left to right): NASA astronauts Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev.\u00a0 (Image credit: NASA)<\/p>\n

NASA’s plan to launch its Artemis 2<\/a> astronauts around the moon around Feb. 8 has cast doubt on whether the next U.S. crew launch to the International Space Station will lift off on time.<\/p>\n

Artemis 2 is currently scheduled to launch<\/a> four astronauts around the moon late in the evening on Feb. 8 from Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Crew-12 mission<\/a> to the ISS was scheduled to launch on a SpaceX Dragon capsule<\/a> and Falcon 9 rocket from a nearby pad at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.<\/p>\n

But if Artemis 2 launches on time, or anytime during its launch window of Feb. 8 to Feb. 11, NASA will wait to launch Crew-12 to the International Space Station until at leas Feb. 19, after the Artemis 2 astronauts return home from their 10-day mission, NASA officials said in a press conference today.<\/p>\n

See our full story by Josh dinner here:<\/p>\n

NASA’s Artemis 2 mission to the moon puts Crew-12 SpaceX launch in delicate dance<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Tariq<\/p>\n

Tariq Malik<\/p>\n

Editor-in-Chief<\/p>\n

2026-01-30T17:37:35.624Z
\nNASA delays Artemis 2 fueling test back to Feb. 2<\/p>\n

\n

\"An\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Space.com \/ Josh Dinner)<\/p>\n

Happy Friday, Space Fans! It is Jan. 30 and this morning, NASA pushed back its planned “wet dress rehearsal<\/a>” test of the Artemis 2<\/a> moon rocket to no earlier than Feb. 2 (it’s original date) due to freezing temperatures at its Launch Pad 39B pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.<\/p>\n

Here’s our latest update from writer Josh Dinner: <\/p>\n

NASA delays critical Artemis 2 rocket fueling test due to below-freezing temperatures, launch no earlier than Feb. 8<\/a><\/p>\n

Notice anything about that headline? If you said the launch date, you get a prize.<\/p>\n

With the wet dress rehearsal, essentially a critical fueling test of the Artemis 2 Space Launch System<\/a> moon rocket, now back on Feb. 2, NASA said in a statement<\/a> that it can no longer target Feb. 6 or Feb. 7, the first two days of its launch window. The Artemis 2 launch window originally ran from Feb. 6 to Feb. 10.<\/p>\n

NASA does have opportunities to launch the mission on Feb. 8, Feb. 10 and Feb. 11. A Feb. 8 launch would lift off at 11:20 p.m. ET (0429 GMT), NASA has said.<\/p>\n

\"Tariq<\/p>\n

Tariq Malik<\/p>\n

Editor-in-Chief<\/p>\n

2026-01-29T13:58:26.223Z
\nNASA beginning wet dress rehearsal operations Thursday evening<\/p>\n

\n

\"a\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: NASA\/Rad Sinyak)<\/p>\n

Artemis 2 mission operators at NASA are preparing the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket for it’s last critical test before launch.<\/p>\n

The SLS wet dress rehearsal will simulate a mission countdown for ground teams to power on and fuel the rocket as a final qualifying check before Artemis 2 launches to the moon.<\/p>\n

NASA is targeting a call to stations as early as 8:00 p.m. EST (2000 GMT) on Thursday (Jan. 29), about 49 hours before a simulated liftoff time on Saturday, at 9:00 p.m. EST (0200 GMT, Feb. 1).<\/p>\n

If the test goes smoothly, NASA could choose to proceed toward the February launch window for Artemis 2, which opens Feb. 6-10.<\/p>\n

Please follow our community guidelines<\/a>.”><\/p>\n

You must confirm your public display name before commenting<\/p>\n

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.<\/p>\n

Logout<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Refresh 2026-01-31T16:48:13.998Z Artemis 2 fueling test to begin preps tonight (Image credit: Space.com \/ Josh Dinner) Good morning,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":259141,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[111,139,69,147,392],"class_list":["post-261608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261608\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}